The Arwali graveyard is located on the road to Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram tribal agency. The cemetery has five graves protected by a concrete boundary and steel grill. Every Thursday people visit the graves and tie threads and pieces of cloth of different colours to the grills and taste salt put in clay bowls, which have been placed on these graves. People believe this ritual will cure them of their disease.
These are the graves of Al Qaeda fighters killed in fighting with Pakistani paramilitary forces. These Al Qaeda men came to Pakistan to escape US bombing in Tora Bora in Afghanistan in December 2001. They were arrested by Pakistani security forces in Parachinar. The paramilitary forces were transporting 156 captives, mainly Arabs, to Kohat Jail. En route, the Al Qaeda men overpowered the paramilitary guards and opened fire on them at Arwali, 46 kilometres east of Parachinar. Around 10 Al Qaeda men and as many security guards were killed in the encounter. Five of the Al Qaeda members were buried in Arwali, two in Narali and three in Bagzai.
“We give shelter to anyone who asks for it. Sometimes these people are murderers but we give them temporary respite. We just want to save lives,” Qurban Ali, a member of the peace committee, told Daily Times. However, he said, the committee wanted peace in the agency and did not want to disturb it by giving shelter to foreigners.
“Initially, only a few people visited the graves to offer a prayer. Gradually, Afghan refugees, particularly women, also stared visiting these graves praying for cures for their ailments by tying threads and pieces of cloth and tasting salt left in the clay bowls on these graves,” Noor Jamal, a resident of Arwali, said. He said that after the Afghan refugees went back to Afghanistan the number of visitors to the graves decreased but a few locals continued the practice. |