PESHAWAR: Politicians and traders on Friday condemned the Peshawar mosque bombing and demanded of the federal government to take effective steps for the eradication of terrorist groups in the country.

They also called for the provision of the Shuhada Package compensation to the families of those, who lost life in the suicide blast.

In separate statements, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Pakistan Peoples Party provincial president Najamuddin Khan, Pakistan Muslim League-Fazl provincial information secretary Ikhtiar Wali Khan and ANP central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, and trader leaders declared the terror attack against worshipers worst kind of barbarism in the country’s history and sympathised with the families of the dead.

The ANP chief warned that the law and order situation would worsen in the country if the federal government didn’t crackdown on terrorist outfits immediately.

Politicians, traders also call for Shuhada Package for mosque bombing victims

He said the fresh acts of terrorism in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces had caused a serious sense of insecurity among the people.

Mr Asfandyar said the Peshawar mosque bombing showed that terrorists followed no religion, so they deserved no leniency.

He said thousands of people, including personnel of law-enforcement agencies, had lost lives during terrorist attacks in the country.

QWP chief Aftab Sherpao complained that Prime Minister Imran Khan wasn’t bothered about the protection for public life and property and that his only priority was to protect his government from the combined opposition’s bids to oust it.

He said the government should take effective measures to protect the life and property of the people.

ANP leader Mian Iftikhar said his party had a clear stand against terrorists and had always called for the effective implantation of the National Action Plan on security to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the country once and for all.

He said the government wasn’t serious about a decisive action against anti-state elements.

PML-N leader Ikhtiar Wali Khan condemned the mosque bombing and said the terrorist attack showed the failure of the government’s security policy.

He said it was the duty of intelligence agencies to monitor the activities of anti-state groups and hit them hard.

Mr Ikhtiar said interior minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad should admit his failure to deliver the goods and step down.

PPP leader Najamuddin Khan condemned the killing of people in the mosque attack and asked the government to compensate the families of those who were killed in the bombing.

During a visit to the Lady Reading Hospital to inquire after the injured victims of the blast, he sympathised with them and the families, who lost members in the attack.

National Commission for Human Rights, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, chief Tariq Javed condemned the bombing and expressed sympathies with the affected families.

In a statement, he called for a strict action against terrorist groups without delay.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal provincial chief Senator Maulana Attaur Rehman, Peshawar mayor Zubair Ali, Jamaat-i-Islami provincial chief Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and representatives of various organisations of business community also condemned the suicide bombing.

Our Parachinar correspondent adds: Leaders of the Anjuman-i-Hussainia and Tehreek-i-Hussaini Inayat Hussain, Haji Abid Hussain, Prof Jameel Kazmi and others condemned the bomb blast and demanded of the government to announce compensation under the Shuhada Package for the people, who were killed and injured in the terrorist attack.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2022