Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai speaks during an exclusive interview with Reuters in Maiduguri, Nigeria, July 18, 2017. Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde/Files

 

Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday requested the top government and military brass to take notice of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sit-in amid the locals' concerns and provide just to the family of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a victim of alleged police brutality.

"I express my solidarity with the ongoing peaceful #IslamabadSitin," said Malala, who was appointed the UN Messenger of Peace by the body's Secretary-General earlier this year.

Malala, 20, also appealed to "the Prime Minister, the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take immediate notice of the genuine demands of the people of FATA and Pukhtoonkhwa".

She added two hashtags to her tweet: #PukhtoonLongMarch and #JusticeForNaqib.

The demonstration in KP continues on from sister sit-ins in Islamabad and Karachi.

Sit-in at National Press Club

Islamabad sit-in seeking justice for Naqeebullah enters second day

Scores of people reached Islamabad from KP and FATA on Thursday and have started a protest sit-in outside the National Press Club

Last week, on Friday, a protest demanding justice in the Naqeebullah killing case ? in front of the National Press Club ? continued, with protesters reaching Islamabad a day prior in the form of a rally from Dera Ismail Khan demanding the arrest of suspended SSP Malir Rao Anwar.

Anwar is wanted to the authorities for the extrajudicial killing of Mehsud, a 27-year-old native of Waziristan who was killed along with three others in a fake encounter in Karachi on January 13.

The protesters ? which comprised residents of DI Khan, FATA, and other areas of KP, as well as Islamabad ? had said their sit-in will continue till the arrest of Anwar and his accomplices and that a decision on continuation of the sit-in would be taken in consultation with their jirga.

PM meets delegation

Naqeebullah murder: PM assures Mehsud delegation of justice

The delegation will apprise the premiere of the demands, said sources

Then, on Tuesday, as the sit-in entered the sixth day, a 15-member delegation of the tribe met Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, wherein the premier stressed that all resources would be used to arrest Anwar as it issue is not merely a provincial matter but a matter of the state.

Abbasi added that all requirements of justice would be fulfilled in the case and a college would be built in Waziristan to be named after the slain youth.

The meeting also discussed the issues faced by the tribal people and was attended by governor KP and Ameer Muqam. 

Jirga in Sohrab Goth

Jirga protesting Naqeebullah?s killing ends in Karachi

JI chief Siraj-ul-Haq demanded Rao Anwar be hanged to death

On January 31, members of the Mehsud tribe ended their jirga held in Sohrab Goth to protest the killing of Naqeebullah in a "fake police encounter".

According to jirga chairperson Rehmatullah Mehsud, IGP Sindh A.D. Khawaja assured taking the case to its logical end. Therefore, he added, they had decided to give more time to the investigation.

The jirga was set up following the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah, with leaders of various political parties visiting the camp to express their solidarity with the bereaved family.

Supreme Court's direction

In the suo motu case hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had directed the country's intelligence agencies to assist the Sindh Police in nabbing Anwar.