Restrictions demanded: After murder, demonstrators burn shops of Afghan businessmen, want refugees out
Demand that the government restrict all Afghan refugees to their camps
MANSEHRA:
A protest against Afghan refugees sparked by the murder of a Suzuki driver continued on Saturday morning as demonstrators set ablaze several fruit and vegetable shops, pushcarts and kiosks owned by Afghan businessmen.
An Afghan refugee, Khairullah, is suspected to have murdered a local driver, Shafqat, the son of Akhlaq Khan, after an argument over a small issue on Friday evening. Locals subsequently protested against Afghan refugees by standing in the middle of the Karakoram Highway with the body.
They demanded that the government restrict all Afghan refugees to their camps and bar their entry into the city for at least 22 hours. The protesters warned the administration that they would take matters into their own hands if it didn’t do something in the next 24 hours.
DSP Headquarters Zulfiqar Jadoon and Assistant Commissioner Dr Qasim managed to persuade the protesters to peacefully end the agitation, assuring them that they would take up with senior officials the matter of banning the entry of refugees to the city.
Meanwhile, the accused, who has been arrested, was presented before a magistrate for remand and the court granted him to police custody for one day.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2014.
A protest against Afghan refugees sparked by the murder of a Suzuki driver continued on Saturday morning as demonstrators set ablaze several fruit and vegetable shops, pushcarts and kiosks owned by Afghan businessmen.
An Afghan refugee, Khairullah, is suspected to have murdered a local driver, Shafqat, the son of Akhlaq Khan, after an argument over a small issue on Friday evening. Locals subsequently protested against Afghan refugees by standing in the middle of the Karakoram Highway with the body.
They demanded that the government restrict all Afghan refugees to their camps and bar their entry into the city for at least 22 hours. The protesters warned the administration that they would take matters into their own hands if it didn’t do something in the next 24 hours.
DSP Headquarters Zulfiqar Jadoon and Assistant Commissioner Dr Qasim managed to persuade the protesters to peacefully end the agitation, assuring them that they would take up with senior officials the matter of banning the entry of refugees to the city.
Meanwhile, the accused, who has been arrested, was presented before a magistrate for remand and the court granted him to police custody for one day.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2014.