Unpopular proposal: Protest against Mianwali’s proposed inclusion in new province

MIANWALI:

More than 300 shopkeepers observed a shutter-down strike across the district on Monday to protest against the proposal of including Mianwali in the proposed Bahawalpur-South Punjab province.

The protesters organised sit-ins at several areas in the city with the biggest sit-in at Jahaz Chowk. The protesters included university students, members of the district bar council, traders, representatives of the civil society and religious organisations and members of Jamaat-i-Islami, Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. They gathered at the chowk and blocked the roads leading to Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi.

They said that the people of the Mianwali district did not want to be part of the Bahawalpur-South Punjab province.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2013.