Shutdown, wheel-jam in Hazara against renaming

The News International Shutdown, wheel-jam in Hazara against renaming

Tuesday, April 06, 2010 By Our correspondent

ABBOTTABAD: The Karakoram Highway (KKH) remained blocked for more than nine hours on Monday after protesters blocked roads and closed the markets as complete shutdown and wheel-jam strike was observed in Hazara Division against the renaming of the province as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The protesters blocked the busy route with heavy containers and tree trunks at several places, making the movement of the commuters and motorists impossible. The roads were blocked from Jharikas to Kohistan at a number of places by parking containers, busses and even putting trunks of trees to block the movement of the vehicular traffic. The angry protesters burnt tyres on the roads and the residents particularly women, the elders and students including those having the Secondary School Certificate examination in progress faced immense hardships. Led by former minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Haji Qalandar Lodhi, ex-deputy speaker Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob, ex-nazim Haider Zaman, former provincial minister Sardar Idrees, Taj Muhammad Khan, Shakira Anwar, Saeeda Begum, Waseem Khan Jadoon led the main protest rally in the city. Addressing the rally, the leaders accused MNA Sardar Mehtab Khan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of giving in to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa name for the province. Slogans were raised against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz elected lawmakers from Hazara and the party chief Nawaz Sharif. People belong to various walks of life including the government officials from the far and wide of Abbottabad district participated in the protests rally and asked the government to declare Hazara a separate province. A group of protesters visited various markets in Abbottabad early in the morning and asked shopkeepers to close their shops. They also blocked various roads. Our correspondent from Mansehra adds: A protest rally was also staged in Mansehra city. Addressing the protesters, former district nazim Sardar Muhammad Yusuf Zaman, Shahzada Gustasap, Maulana Qazi Khalil Ahmad and other leaders criticised the federal government for renaming the province. They accused the Awami National Party (ANP) of blackmailing the national leaders about changing the name of the province. The protester blocked the main road for all kinds of traffic for more than five hours. The leaders urged the elected representatives to quit and join the movement for a separate province. Our correspondent from Haripur adds: Rallies were also staged in various parts of Haripur to register protest at the renaming of the NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The rallies passed through various bazaars and culminated at a protest meeting at the main chowk of the Haripur city.

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