CHARSADDA/PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Thursday alleged that the Indian intelligence agency, RAW, was involved in the Bacha Khan University Charsadda terrorist attack.

He asked the federal government to take up the issue with India immediately.

“Pakistan is accused of carrying every small act of violence in India day in and out, so why we should not talk to India over the involvement of RAW in terrorism in Pakistan through Afghanistan,” he told reporters at the Bacha Khan University.

The chief minister said the time had come that the federal government should take up the issue with India.

“Enough is enough. We should talk clearly to India about the acts of terrorism in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr Khattak said the law and order situation in Pakistan had shown signs of improvement for which the credit went to the army.

He said Afghan people came to Pakistan and went back via the long border without carrying travel documents, especially passports, and thus endangering the province’s security.

The chief minister appreciated the army and the province’s police for their bravery in killing the university attackers and said for the first time, the people had stepped out to fight militants in Charsadda, which a very encouraging development in the fight against militancy.

He said the residents of Charsadda had shown great courage against militants.

Mr Khattak praised the varsity’s security guards for containing militants until the arrival of the security personnel.

“How can we stop the terrorists when our routes are used by illegal and undocumented people from Afghanistan? There should be a proper mechanism to ensure that the people crossing the border possess valid travel documents like passports and visa,” he said.

Mr Khattak, who cut short his Scotland visit after the Wednesday BKU attack, which killed 21 people, later visited the District Headquarters Hospital.

He said illegal Afghans had become an immense problem for the province, which wanted the federal government to regulate the bordering crossings.

The chief minister said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had requested the centre time and again to return FC troops created for it (province), but to no avail.

He said the FC soldiers were supposed to be deployed on the KP-Fata border areas but the centre used them as watchmen.

“Thousands of FC vacancies should be filled. The force should be put on the disposal of our province,” he said.

The chief minister also demanded the calling of a multi-party conference without delay to review progress on the National Action Plan and make up for the weakness.

Earlier, BKU students held protests against the VIP visits to the campus and stopped PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf from entering the premises.

Pervez Khattak was also stopped from going out of the campus briefly with the protesters asking him to visit the houses of those killed in the attack.

Later, the CM condoled with the families of the attack victims.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq on Thursday said India’s role and involvement of ‘hidden hands’ could not be ruled out in the BKU attack.

He said this while addressing a seminar at the party’s provincial secretariat, which was organised in connection with the death anniversary of Qazi Hussain Ahmad, according to a press release.

Declaring India an enemy, Mr Siraj alleged that New Delhi was hatching conspiracies against Pakistan and that its (Indian) role in the attack on the university could not be ruled out.

He said there were possibilities that Indian agencies had planned the barbaric attack.

The JI chief said India had opened consulates in different cities of Afghanistan to plan acts of terrorism against Pakistan on the Afghan soil.

He said the recovery of Afghan SIM cards from attackers proved Indian involvement in the BKU attack and that the government should not ignore the threatening statement of the Indian defense minister in this respect.Mr Siraj urged the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments not to keep the nation in the dark about the attack and share inquiry reports with it.

He later visited the BKU and participated in Quran Khwani on the campus and offered Fatha for the departed souls.

He also went to the District Headquarters Hospital Charsadda to inquire after the injured.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2016