Staff Reporter
Peshawar:
Scholars, mosque caretakers, and other employees of the Mushtarka Auqaf Council Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued their sit-in for the second consecutive day at the central headquarters lawn of the Auqaf Department. Protesters staged a demonstration and chanted slogans in support of their demands.
On Wednesday, clerics, mosque caretakers, and government employees serving in mosques administered by the Auqaf Department arrived in large numbers from Peshawar and other parts of the province to participate in the protest. Demonstrators carried banners and placards bearing slogans against senior officials of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Auqaf Department.
When Abdul Khabir Azad, Chairman of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, arrived at the Auqaf office, protesters raised strong slogans against him.
The demonstrators stated that employees of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Auqaf Department have been deprived of their salaries for several years. They demanded the immediate payment of all pending salaries and arrears for serving employees, clerics, mosque caretakers, and pensioners.
The protest was led by APCA Auqaf President Humayun Khan Gandapur, Senior Vice President Maulana Bashir, Maulana Akbar, Molvi Fazal, Abid Shah, and Maulana Muhammad Shoaib. The speakers alleged that Assistant Hakam Khan has been working with the Auqaf Minister for the past thirteen years and has been interfering in departmental affairs, allegedly contributing to corruption. They called for a transparent inquiry against him, claiming that recruitments were made on his directives in exchange for large sums of money.
The protesters demanded the immediate removal of Hakam Khan and the appointment of an honest and sincere officer in his place. They also warned that they would not allow any meeting to take place at Auqaf Hall and called for the cancellation of what they termed illegal 15-year lease agreements.
They further announced that if their demands were not met, they would expand their protest to the Provincial Assembly building.
