CHARSADDA:March 11: A jirga on Saturday asked the militants holding the kidnapped vice-chancellor of Islamia College University (ICU) Ajmal Khan to release him on humanitarian grounds.

The jirga was held at the residence of Major (R) Mustafa Kamal, brother of Ajmal Khan. It was attended by local elders including Abdullah Jan, Major (R) Akbar Jan, Pir Hidayatullah Shah, Major (R) Tariq Bacha, Major (R) Naeem Khan and others.

They came down hard on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor and the Awami National Party-led provincial government for failing to secure the release of the kidnapped vice-chancellor.

Ajmal Khan was kidnapped on September 7, 2010 from near his residence at the Professors’ Colony in Peshawar.

The elders said they had held several meetings with the authorities to take steps for Ajmal Khan’s recovery but to no avail. They said protest campaign would be launched if the government failed to secure his release forthwith.

“We appeal to the kidnappers to release the ailing vice-chancellor in line with Pakhtuns traditions,” his brother Mustafa Kamal said, adding that they would come up with the future line of action if the government did not heed their demand.

On Wednesday, in a fresh videotape and the fourth since he was kidnapped, Ajmal Khan once again appealed to the government to secure his release from the captivity of the militants.

In the four-minute footage, the bearded vice-chancellor complained that he had been in the captivity of the Pakistani Taliban for the last 18 months but the government had failed to secure his release. He said the Pakistani Taliban wanted the release of four of their colleagues held by the government in return for his freedom. He asked the government to accept the militants’ demand so that he could come home.The news.