CM visit: Amid protests, Hoti seeks to allay demands of a new province
Karakoram Highway blocked for six hours; development package for Hazara announced.
ABBOTABAD:
As Abbottabad protested for a separate province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister (CM) Saturday announced a package aimed at addressing issues in Hazara Division in an effort to allay the dissenting sentiments.
On his second visit to the city, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti was received by a group of Tehrik-i-Suba Hazara (TSH) activists, who blocked the Karakoram Highway for over six hours. They chanted slogans against him and the leadership of ANP and PML-Q, suspending traffic and creating problems for local residents.
The protesters gathered at Shuhada Chowk and blocked the road by setting logs on fire. They kept chanting slogans against the ANP leadership, calling them “murderers” of the eight innocent people who had been killed on April 12, 2010, while protesting against the renaming of NWFP to K-P.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed, but they stayed on the fringe and did not force protesters to open the road.
The CM was scheduled to travel to by road but had to use a helicopter to get to K-P House, Abbottabad. To create a landing site for the helicopter, the local authorities chopped down three rare trees from the vicinity of K-P House, official sources said.
CM Hoti inaugurated the gravity flow water supply scheme worth Rs4.5 billion. He said the project will overcome water scarcity in Abbottabad and shows the “sincerity” of the provincial government. He said the government will set up four new industrial zones in Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra and Hattar to boost economic activity in the region and to create employment opportunities.
The chief minister also announced the installation of a sewerage system, a trauma centre, an IT park, replacement of old electricity lines and an upgrade to the three public hospitals in the city.
He said the K-P government will also pursue with the federal government the establishment of a branch of State Bank, Pakistan Television centre, a campus of Hazara University and construction of flyovers and bypasses for Abbottabad.
He said the demand for a separate province is a fundamental right of Hazara people; however, they should raise their demand by adopting the constitutional way.
“Since the party of late Khudai Khidmatgar Bacha Khan believes in politics of non-violence, the ANP leadership will continue to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood with Hazara people and utilise its resources to put an end to their deprivation,” he said.
A failed call for strike
On Friday, TSH leader Baba Haider Zaman had given a call for strike after CM Hoti did not cancel his visit despite warnings.
However business centres and shops remained open, as the traders’ union was taken into confidence by the local administration and their leaders were invited to have a meeting with the CM.
Irked bystanders
During the protest, long queues of vehicles stretched from Havelian to Abbottabad city on the Haripur side, while on the Mansehra side, hundreds of passengers and motorists were stranded for six hours.
“The ANP leadership’s love for the people is evident from today’s visit by the CM, who despite knowing of the expected resentment against him, did not cancel his tour,” said Naeem Khan, a resident of Haripur, who was stuck in the queue near Havelian with his ailing mother, whom he was taking to Ayub Medical Complex.
Another woman, Maida Jan, cursed both protesters and the government, saying that they were “least concerned with the sufferings of people stranded in traffic”.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2011.
As Abbottabad protested for a separate province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister (CM) Saturday announced a package aimed at addressing issues in Hazara Division in an effort to allay the dissenting sentiments.
On his second visit to the city, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti was received by a group of Tehrik-i-Suba Hazara (TSH) activists, who blocked the Karakoram Highway for over six hours. They chanted slogans against him and the leadership of ANP and PML-Q, suspending traffic and creating problems for local residents.
The protesters gathered at Shuhada Chowk and blocked the road by setting logs on fire. They kept chanting slogans against the ANP leadership, calling them “murderers” of the eight innocent people who had been killed on April 12, 2010, while protesting against the renaming of NWFP to K-P.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed, but they stayed on the fringe and did not force protesters to open the road.
The CM was scheduled to travel to by road but had to use a helicopter to get to K-P House, Abbottabad. To create a landing site for the helicopter, the local authorities chopped down three rare trees from the vicinity of K-P House, official sources said.
CM Hoti inaugurated the gravity flow water supply scheme worth Rs4.5 billion. He said the project will overcome water scarcity in Abbottabad and shows the “sincerity” of the provincial government. He said the government will set up four new industrial zones in Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra and Hattar to boost economic activity in the region and to create employment opportunities.
The chief minister also announced the installation of a sewerage system, a trauma centre, an IT park, replacement of old electricity lines and an upgrade to the three public hospitals in the city.
He said the K-P government will also pursue with the federal government the establishment of a branch of State Bank, Pakistan Television centre, a campus of Hazara University and construction of flyovers and bypasses for Abbottabad.
He said the demand for a separate province is a fundamental right of Hazara people; however, they should raise their demand by adopting the constitutional way.
“Since the party of late Khudai Khidmatgar Bacha Khan believes in politics of non-violence, the ANP leadership will continue to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood with Hazara people and utilise its resources to put an end to their deprivation,” he said.
A failed call for strike
On Friday, TSH leader Baba Haider Zaman had given a call for strike after CM Hoti did not cancel his visit despite warnings.
However business centres and shops remained open, as the traders’ union was taken into confidence by the local administration and their leaders were invited to have a meeting with the CM.
Irked bystanders
During the protest, long queues of vehicles stretched from Havelian to Abbottabad city on the Haripur side, while on the Mansehra side, hundreds of passengers and motorists were stranded for six hours.
“The ANP leadership’s love for the people is evident from today’s visit by the CM, who despite knowing of the expected resentment against him, did not cancel his tour,” said Naeem Khan, a resident of Haripur, who was stuck in the queue near Havelian with his ailing mother, whom he was taking to Ayub Medical Complex.
Another woman, Maida Jan, cursed both protesters and the government, saying that they were “least concerned with the sufferings of people stranded in traffic”.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2011.