The News : Tribal jirga asks UK to free youth

Tribal jirga asks UK to free youth

April 22, 2009

WANA: After the arrest of his young son Abdul Wahab in UK on terror charges, the father of the victim lost the faculty of hearing due to the trauma the whole family was passing through.

This was revealed here on Tuesday by chiefs of the Burki tribe in a jirga that was convened at the house of Malik Muhammad Qareeb Burki. The jirga elders included Malik Abdul Qadeer Khan, Malik Jan Alam, Dr Taj Muhammad, Dr Muhammad Shafi, Irfan Burki, Rasool Jan and several others.

Addressing the jirga, 80-year-old elder of the Burki tribe, Malik Qareeb said he did not expect this treatment from the British. He said there was a time when the British were known for their fair-play and justice, particularly in this part of the world while they were ruling the subcontinent.

Qareeb said the elders who had experienced their government in the sub-continent to date recalled and praised their sense of responsibility and the way they ruled the hearts and mind of the people.

He said the Burki tribe was utterly shocked at the manner 11 innocent Pakistan students, including Abdul Wahab were arrested on baseless charges of plotting terror in the UK. The elder said the Burki never indulged in violence or terror-related incidents and the fact could be got verified as the whole tribe vouched for the innocence of Abdul Wahab. The brother of the arrested youth, Gulzar Jan Burki, said due to grief his frail and aged father Malik Khan Muhammad Burki had lost the sense of hearing while their mother was in extreme trauma.

He said the 26-year-old Wahab had gone to the UK in the first week of October 2006 on valid visa with the dream of doing his master’s in computer science and his last semester was nearing completion.

However, the British police held him on false charges as he was never a terrorist but a law-abiding person. The jirga on the occasion demanded of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Foreign Minister David Miliband and the British high commissioner in Pakistan to release him forthwith and save the family from undergoing further torture and agony. It may be added here that Wahab hails from the underdeveloped southern district of Tank who was arrested in UK along 10 other Pakistani students by the British police.