PESHAWAR: Demonstrations held against emergency : Hundreds of political workers detained in NWFP
Dawn Report
PESHAWAR, Nov 13: The protest movement against declaration of a state of emergency is gaining momentum in the NWFP as rallies were held across the province while police rounded up leaders and workers of political parties in Peshawar and other towns on Tuesday.
Police arrested provincial Awami National Party (ANP) chief Afrasayab Khattak with workers in the heart of the provincial capital, while former chief minister Senator Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Ali Afzal Jadoon were kept under house arrest in Abbottabad.
The Pakistan People’s Party, ANP, Jamaat-i-Islami, PML-N and lawyers staged rallies in Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Karak, Bannu, Kohat and Swabi.
The ANP said 600 of its workers and leaders had been rounded up across the province.
Riot police battled with the workers of Jamaat-i-Islami and ANP in the provincial capital and tear-gased protest rallies at Khyber Bazaar, Chowk Yadgar, Ashraf Road and Grand Trunk Road. Hide and seek between protesters and police continued for more than three hours.
Protesters hurled bricks and stones at police and blocked roads. Police resorted to baton-charge and fired tear-gas shells to disperse them, injuring two activists.
ANP workers, led by Mr Khattak, took out a procession from Khyber Bazaar. Mr Khattak, former provincial minister Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti and 10 party workers were arrested and taken to the Peshawar Central Jail.
Jamaat-i-Islami’s workers staged rallies in Nishtarabad and Hashtnagri and clashed with police on the GT Road. A group of students of the Government College also joined the protesters. A protest demonstration was held in front of the Peshawar Press Club.
ANP workers held a demonstration in Pabbi, Nowshera district. Police raided the protest meeting to arrest the party’s leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain but he escaped.
In Abbottabad, police put former chief minister Mehtab Abbasi under house arrest with former provincial minister Ali Afzal. At least 10 workers of the PML-N and the ANP and some lawyers were arrested.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed outside the District Bar Room to prevent the lawyers from bringing out a procession. Some people gathered in the area and tried to hold a rally but were quickly caught by police.
The City Courts gave a deserted look as lawyers did not appear in the lower courts and the Peshawar High Court’s Abbottabad Circuit Bench. Lawyers wearing black armbands set up a protest camp.
The Bannu District Bar Association staged a rally and announced that it would hold token hunger strike from Wednesday in protest against the state of emergency and suspension of the constitution.
The lawyers locked the offices of the judges of the district courts. Police arrested four workers of the ANP for holding a rally.
In Swabi, the ANP staged a protest demonstration and police arrested former district nazim Jehanzeb Khan.
Lawyers constituted an action committee to run the campaign for independence of the judiciary and reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other judges. They vowed to continue their protest at all costs despite arrests.
In Kohat, former MPA Aurangzeb advocate said at a protest meeting that the ANP would boycott elections held under the Provisional Constitution Order. He said army should immediately return to the barracks from the tribal and settled areas to ensure free and impartial elections.
He condemned President Pervez Musharraf for gagging the press and controlling the judiciary and alleged that the United States wanted to divide the Pukhtuns.
In Karak, the PPP decided to launch a protest movement at the district level if orders for the house arrest of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and detention of party workers is not withdrawn. District PPP chief Malik Sher Qanoos condemned the arrests of political workers, lawyers and journalists in different parts of the country.
ANP workers tried to take out a procession but police foiled their attempt.
In Mardan, about 15 PPP workers were arrested when they were going to participate in a ‘long march’ on the call of Ms Bhutto.
In Lakki Marwat, police and Frontier Constabulary personnel arrested district ANP chief Sadruddin Khan and about a dozen other local leaders who staged a demonstration in Serai Naurang after breaking the siege of law-enforcement agencies. Police also clashed with ANP workers and baton-charged them.
A reporter of a private TV channel, Mohammad Zaman Nadim Khattak, was also arrested.
In Timergara, lawyers continued their protest and boycott of courts. They also observed hunger strike and took out a procession, which was joined by students and political workers.
The speakers said lawyers, journalists and political activists were protesting across the country but the government was not ready to accept their demands.