PESHAWAR, June 10: Mohammad Idrees Kamal, a leading peace activist of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and member of National Party, died of brain hemorrhage in Quetta on Monday. He was around 50. Idrees Kamal, a known voice of sanity in the province, had gone to Balochistan to attend the oath taking ceremony of Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik. His body is expected to reach here on Tuesday. His close friends said that after arrival of his body he would be laid to rest at his ancestral village Tarkha in Nowshera district. His funeral is likely to be held on Tuesday evening. Considered one of the most vocal progressive activists and an active member of civil society, Idrees Kamal was the founding members of Amn Tehreek (Peace Movement), a network of civil society members launched few years ago to raise voice for peace and against militancy and terrorism. He had always remained in forefront in arranging rallies, peace processions and vigils against acts of terrorism in the province and adjoining tribal areas. Presently, he was executive director of an organisation ‘Citizen Rights and Sustainable Development’ (CRSD), which was set up in 2008 and has been active in divergent fields including human and women rights, peace, environment, labour, political awareness, etc. His organisation played an active role in the 2010 devastating floods in Nowshera and was involved in looking after several camps set up for the flood-affected people. Prior to that, he had set up social Welfare Society Tarkha in 1988. Being an activist of repute known for selflessly raising important issues, the news of his death spread like jungle fire. There were widespread condolences and messages of sorrow and shock on social media. Several of the people wrote that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost a brave son. “I am finding it hard to accept that Idrees Kamal — a soft spoken activist with a firm commitment to secular Pakhtun lands — is no more,” stated a US-based columnist Dr Mohammad Taqi. The deceased was the moving spirit behind a national peace conference held in Peshawar in 2010 during which the ‘Peshawar declaration’ was passed that is considered a comprehensive paper about how to eradicate militancy from the region. Idrees Kamal was an active member of Democratic Students Federation in late 1980s and early 90s when he was a student at Quaid-i-Azam Commerce College in Peshawar and afterward. One of his close friend and Peace activist Idrees Kamal is dead senior advocate Kifayatullah Khan told Dawn that the deceased was selfless and dedicated person, who had taken upon himself to reform the society, preach peace and tolerance and promote freedom of expression. He added that his death was a great loss for the civil society and rights activists. During last couple of years, he had focused on activism especially in peace related and human rights activities. In 2009 when acts of terrorism had become almost daily routine and devastating blasts took place in the provincial capital on alternate days, Idrees Kamal and several other members of Amn Tehrik turned into symbol of courage for the people of Peshawar. They declined to stop their activities and on regular basis they used to hold peace rallies. Following the devastating bombing at Peshawar’s Meena Bazzar in Oct 2009, when the city roads were offering deserted look, the members of the movement held torch-bearing processions despite warning given by the law enforcement agencies. The deceased was a vocal critic of the judicial and administrative system in Fata and staunch opponent of the colonial era Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). When it comes to the rights of tribal people he never hesitated in criticising the successive governments as well as security apparatus that he held responsible for the plight of tribal people.dawn/2013/06/11/peace-activist-idrees-kamal-is-dead-2/
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:02:40 +0000
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