Peshawar: Violent protests continued for a
second day in Abbottabad and nearby areas on Tuesday against the
renaming of Pakistan`s NWFP leaving one person dead, taking
the total number of deaths in two days of violent protests to
eight.
Protesters went on a rampage looting weapons from
policemen and arms shops, and torching a government building.
One person was electrocuted while removing a portrait of
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif while three more were wounded during
demonstrations, taking the total number of deaths during the
protests to eight.
Seven persons were killed and over 100 injured when
police opened fire yesterday to disperse protestors.
Abbottabad district police chief Muhammad Iqbal Khan told
PTI that protestors attacked two arms shops at Fowara Chowk,
the main market in the city, and looted 150 guns and revolvers
and a large quantity of ammunition. Some protestors snatched
rifles from two policemen.
The protestors also set on fire a state-run rest house
and a vehicle, Khan said.
The paramilitary Frontier Constabulary was called in to
protect government buildings and police stations. Police
arrested 26 people as part of efforts to quell the protests.
Hundreds of people from across the Hazara division,
opposed to the renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa, joined
protests today in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Haripur, Balakot and
Shinkiari.
Life in Abbottabad and other cities was paralysed by the
protests.
In Abbottabad, a strike was observed to protest the death
of people in yesterday`s police firing.
Protestors besieged the area between Fowara Chowk and
Meezail Chowk, the two main squares of the city, and closed
all shops. They also burnt tyres and other materials to block
roads.
A public rally was held at Manshera, where life was hit
by a strike. Police fired in the air and used teargas to
disperse hundreds of demonstrators. Footage on television
showed that the protestors in Abbottabad were armed with
sticks, rods and weapons.
They shouted slogans against the NWFP government and
demanded the creation of a separate province comprising the
Hazara division.
NWFP police chief Malik Naveed Khan said his force was
observing "maximum restraint" and making "minimum use of
force" while dealing with the protests.
Police fired yesterday only after protestors attacked two
police stations, he told the media.
"They tried to burn a police station and six policemen
were injured, including some who sustained bullet wounds," he
said.
Additional Chief Secretary Fayaz Toru and an official
delegation held talks with the leaders of the protestors and
urged them to cooperate with authorities in maintaining law
and order. Both sides agreed to continue talks.
Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain
told reporters that the PML-Q was responsible for the unrest
in Abbottabad.
The NWFP cabinet, which held a special meeting to review
the situation, observed that the role played by the PML-Q
leadership was "very negative," he said.
The protests were largely spearheaded by the Movement for
the Province of Hazara.
The organisation`s president Sardar Haider Khan said its
struggle for a Hazara province is peaceful and would continue
till the fulfilment of the demand.
The Hazara division is dominated by people who speak
Hindko while most other parts of NWFP are dominated by the
Pashtuns.
The people of the region have opposed the renaming of the
NWFP as part of a major constitutional reforms package that
was recently passed by the National Assembly or lower house of
parliament.
The protests have also strained relations between the
Awami National Party, which rules the NWFP, and the opposition
PML-Q and PML-N, which had opposed the renaming of the
province.
PTI
