The News International Pakistan  
Friday April 01, 2005-- Safar 21, 1426 A.H.
ISSN 1563-9479
 

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PONM strike in Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP

Several vehicles torched in Karachi

KESC centre ransacked; violence in Quetta, Peshawar

By A H Khanzada

KARACHI: Businesses and transport shut down in Balochistan, the rural areas of the NWFP and most parts of Sindh on Thursday in response to a strike call by the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) to protest against Kalabagh dam, Thal canal, Army "operation" in Balochistan, price-hike and unemployment.

Unidentified miscreants, who appeared all of a sudden in different areas of Karachi, torched at least nine vehicles and ransacked a Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation (KESC) customer service centre.

Violence was reported from few areas of North Nazimabad, Lyari, Sohrab Goth and Malir, while unidentified troublemakers set three vehicles on fire in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Dalmia and Bahadurabad areas late Wednesday night to force people to observe strike..

Several hundred people gathered in Malir area where they tried to block vehicular traffic by blocking roads. Some of the miscreants, chanting slogans in favour of their demands, intercepted a taxi (PL-1448) and set it on fire.

In the jurisdiction of Sohrab Goth police, a group of people gathered at the Super Highway near New Sabzi Mandi and tried to block traffic. Police were deployed in the locality but some of lawbreakers intercepted a radio cab and set it ablaze.

Some people gathered in North Nazimabad, Block T in Sharae-Noorjahan police jurisdiction, and attacked a customer service centre of KESC, where they ransacked the centre and torched at least three parked vehicles of the corporation.

Police dispersed the mob, which later divided into two groups and one of them set two other vehicles on fire, parked in Mochi Gali, a nearby vicinity. Police said the two vehicles in Mochi Gali suffered partial damage.

Another group of people gathered in Chakiwara vicinity of Lyari, where they tried to block roads by pelting vehicular traffic with stones. The mob forced shopkeepers to close their business. When police reached the scene, people turned violent and torched a minibus of route 19-D near the Sahara Petrol Pump.

On late Wednesday night, few persons at the NIPA Chowrangi turned violent and set a minibus (JE-1093) of route No G-3 on fire, chanted slogans against the government and escaped. In another incident, over a dozen lawbreakers gathered near Naval Colony in Dalmia Colony and chanted slogans against the government and torched a bus (PA-0309) and fled. Unidentified persons also set a bus on fire near Bahadurabad Chowrangi and escaped.

Except for these incidents of violence, the rest of the metropolis remained peaceful with businesses, other commercial activities and traffic remaining normal. Our interior Sindh correspondents add: Complete strike was observed in Thull, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kandhkot and Ghotki, Thatta, Khairpur, Jamshoro and Dadu. Groups of political activists clashed with police in Shikarpur. In Kotri, some violent incidents were reported where angry youths torched tyres on the main road of Khursheed Colony following an attempt by the police to reopen the closed shops. Police arrested at least 17 PONM activists in Jamshoro district. PONM activists were also arrested in Larkana and Khairpur.

Our Quetta correspondent adds: Complete strike was observed in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan on Thursday to protest against the Gwadar mega project, Kalabagh dam and other development projects. Transport was off the road in the provincial capital.

All business centres and markets of Quetta remained closed throughout the day and business activities also remained suspended in other districts of the province. Attendance remained thin in educational institutions and offices and people had to face great inconvenience in reaching their offices and workplaces.

Reports reaching Quetta from Pishin, Qillah Abdullah, Qillah Saifullah, Musakhel, Barkhan, Kohlu, Muslim Bagh, Sibi, Kalat, Khuzdar, Gwadar, Turbat, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad and others parts of the province said that there was complete strike

Hundreds of supporters of the nationalist groups stayed on the streets of the cities in Balochistan during the day to ensure a shutter-down and wheel-jam. The activists also burnt tyres at different places in Quetta and other parts of the province and smashed glasses of dozens of vehicles at different localities in some districts.

In some districts, including Jaffarabad and Pishin, police lobbed tear-gas shells after the activists pelted them with stones.

The leadership of PONM said the police and law-enforcement agencies had arrested over 100 activists of the PONM in different raids conducted in different parts of the province, including Quetta, Jaffarabad and Pishin. Police confirmed they arrested over four dozen miscreants on charges of pelting stones and setting up roadblocks.

In Pishin district, some 50 kilometres north of Quetta, one policeman was injured when dozens of protesting students pelted an official convoy with stones. Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani was travelling in the convoy but was unharmed. Thirty people were arrested for rioting, police said.

In Chaman, angry protesters tried to block the Quetta-Chaman railway line and placed barriers on the Quetta-Chaman highway. Police said the protesters also burnt tyres at railways track near Sariab area in Quetta. The railway authorities had to suspend the Quetta-Chaman train services on Thursday in view of the situation, sources added.

In Jaffarabad, police said over two dozen activists tried to block the National Highway but were arrested. Heavy contingents of police and law enforcement agencies had been deployed at important places in Quetta and other parts of the province to maintain law and order as the activists of the nationalist parties kept on patrolling throughout the day at various places to "ensure" the strike’s success.

The Quetta-Karachi national highways were blocked by the protesters throughout the day at different places. The office-bearers of the PONM claimed that all the national highways in the province were blocked during the strike and no vehicle from Quetta to Karachi, Lahore or DG Khan moved.

However, air traffic remained undisturbed. Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, central secretary general of National Party (NP), told The News that the strike was complete and successful and the people of Balochistan had rejected the government plan to construct Gwadar port, cantonments, Kalabagh dam, Thal canal and strongly condemned the killings of innocent Pashtoon in South Waziristan of the NWFP.

A senior office-bearer of the Pashtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) thanked the people of the province for ensuring a successful shutter-down and wheel-jam in Balochistan. He strongly condemned the government’s negligence in connection with drought and flood-affected areas of Balochistan, particularly Pashtoon dominated areas.

Our Peshawar correspondent adds: Due to complete wheel-jam and partial shutter-down strike in the provincial metropolis very thin attendance was observed in educational institutions, hospitals and government as well as private offices bringing routine activities there to a standstill. There was partial strike elsewhere in the province.

In Peshawar, after waiting for long on bus stops, people returned to their homes due to non-availability of conveyance. Few vehicles mostly Suzuki pick-ups could manage to cross the roadblocks and agitated mobs to ply on the routes normally full of vehicles. Commuters were seen hanging on to these few vehicles like bees.

As it was March 31 and annual results in all the public sector schools and most of the private schools were scheduled to be announced, many of the schoolgoing children preferred to go to their schools on foot.

The teachers and students remained absent from the three universities, Engineering, Agriculture and Peshawar University and six colleges, Islamia college, Jinnah college, Home Economics, Quaid-e-Azam commerce college, Khyber Medical College, Khyber College of Dentistry and Jinnah College for Women due to non-availability of public transport.

Similar picture was presented by the three major hospitals of the provincial capital — Lady Reading, Khyber and Hayathabad Medical Complex. The doctors were unable to attend their duties. Also the ratio of patients remained very thin in these hospitals. Same was the situation in government offices. "There was no one present on duty in our station," said Syed Fazle Akbar, an inspector of FIA.

PPI adds: Police arrested more than 25 persons when a violent mob attacked private buildings at the University Road in Peshawar where activists of various political parties tried to enforce complete shutter-down.

In order to disperse the violent protesters, police used tear-gas and resorted to baton charge that injured some of the protesters. According to the police, the mob attacked a foreign burger outlet, Honda office and other private buildings at the University Road and damaged property. Meanwhile, ANP leaders denied involvement of their workers in violence and said people of the province gave a positive response to their call and peacefully observed the strike.


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