TAKHTBHAI: The Jamiat Ulema-e_Islam-Fazl (JUIF) on Tuesday staged a protest sit-in against the murder religious scholar Maulana Muhammad Idrees and blocked the Mardan-Malakand road at the Sugar Mills Chowk for all kinds of traffic.
Members of other political parties and the trader community also joined the protest, and the road remained closed for three hours while demonstrators chanted slogans.Addressing the protesters, speakers including Maulana Ziaullah Jan, JUIF central council member Dost Muhammad Darvesh, Allama Muhammad Siddiq, Maulana Ibrahim Jan, traders leader Sher Qayyum Mastkhel, Maulana Ibrahim Pir Sahib, Qazi Muhammad Iqbal, Maulana Ataullah, and Pakistan People’s Party, Mardan division vice president Irfan Mohmand expressed deep sorrow and grief over the killing of the renowned scholar. They termed the incident as brutal and condemnable, saying it had shocked people of all segments of society. They said that the martyrdom of Maulana Idrees was a great tragedy, whose loss was not limited to his family but the entire nation and religious circles.
Criticizing the government and law enforcement agencies, they said previous incidents, including the killings of Maulana Hassan Jan, Mufti Munir Shakir, and Mufti Khan Zrb in broad daylight, reflected their failure, and that targeting religious scholars was tragic and regrettable.
