Power cut: Tank residents hold mock funerals for CM, MNAs during protest
Threaten to boycott polio drives, suspend electricity from Gomal Zam Dam if power cuts not reduced.
As a form of protest, residents carried out a mock funeral prayer of Minister of Water & Power Abid Sher Ali. PHOTO: ONLINE
DI KHAN:
Residents of Tank adopted a unique, if not ominously chilling, form of protest against unscheduled power outages by holding mock funerals of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali and the area’s MNA Dawar Khan Kundi.
Tank city and its surrounding areas of Kot Azam Fader and Dabara Fader have been bearing the brunt of excessive load-shedding.
Protesters on Wednesday blocked the main road linking DI Khan with Wana, South Waziristan by putting burnt tyres on the road and suspending traffic for several hours. They also raised slogans against the district, provincial and federal governments.
“Tank district has been suffering from power outages since a long time, but no one is trying to fix the situation. People are even deprived of drinking water because of this,” Sherpao Advocate said, while addressing protesters. He added it was inhumane to deprive people of electricity for over 20 hours in a day.
Malik Janan Mehsud, one of the men leading the protest, said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Kundi “were begging us for votes” before the elections but now they are nowhere to be seen. We will do everything it takes to make our voices heard, he added.
The protesters warned if load-shedding continues for its present duration they will not refrain from taking extreme measures such as boycotting vaccination drives and halting the supply of electricity from the Gomal Zam Dam in South Waziristan to other parts of the country.
The protesters dispersed after officials of the district government assured them the issue will be resolved soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2014.
Residents of Tank adopted a unique, if not ominously chilling, form of protest against unscheduled power outages by holding mock funerals of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali and the area’s MNA Dawar Khan Kundi.
Tank city and its surrounding areas of Kot Azam Fader and Dabara Fader have been bearing the brunt of excessive load-shedding.
Protesters on Wednesday blocked the main road linking DI Khan with Wana, South Waziristan by putting burnt tyres on the road and suspending traffic for several hours. They also raised slogans against the district, provincial and federal governments.
“Tank district has been suffering from power outages since a long time, but no one is trying to fix the situation. People are even deprived of drinking water because of this,” Sherpao Advocate said, while addressing protesters. He added it was inhumane to deprive people of electricity for over 20 hours in a day.
Malik Janan Mehsud, one of the men leading the protest, said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Kundi “were begging us for votes” before the elections but now they are nowhere to be seen. We will do everything it takes to make our voices heard, he added.
The protesters warned if load-shedding continues for its present duration they will not refrain from taking extreme measures such as boycotting vaccination drives and halting the supply of electricity from the Gomal Zam Dam in South Waziristan to other parts of the country.
The protesters dispersed after officials of the district government assured them the issue will be resolved soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2014.