All the commercial and educational institutes in the Hazara Division Thursday reopened as situation returned to normalisation after protests triggered because of the passage of 18th Amendment and renaming of the NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. Karakurm Highway (KKH), also known as silk route, connecting Pakistan and China, which was closed for all kind of vehicular traffic for the last three days was reopened after normalcy in violence-hit Abbottabad, headquarter of Hazara region.
A large number of residents of Kohistan, Manshera, Batgram districts and Gilgit-Baltistan who were stranded due to the closure of roads in the wake of violent protests in Abbottabad, started returning to their native towns. Educational institutions, public and private sector offices and roads in the region also reopened and traffic plying on the roads.
"The situation is under control of the administration and police has been directed to show friendly attitude to people," District Co-ordination Officer (DCO) Abbottabad, Zaheer-ul-Islam told media. Vehicular traffic on the city roads is in full swing and people are moving to reach their respective offices and homes without any restriction. Moreover, supply of food and medicines to the city market and hospitals has been resumed after a halt of 4 days.
The protestors led by Tehreek Sooba Hazarah chairman Sardar Haider Zaman Baba had rejected the renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa and demanded establishment of a new province, carrying the name of Hazara. Addressing the High Court and District Bar Associations Abbottabad, Haider Zaman said strike was called off to bring normalcy to the city and avoid losses to public and private properties.
He said that elements involved in damaging public and private properties are not affiliated with the Hazara Sooba Movement and demanded fast track probe into Abbottabad incident and unmasking of those responsible for unrest. The provincial government has announced a compensation of Rs 0.3 million for the families of those who lost lives, and Rs 0.1 million for each injured in the Abbottabad mayhem.
On Monday last, situation in Hazara turned violent after protestors violated section 144 that resulted in clashes with police, killing 10 persons and injuring 100 others. The brutal killing of protestors sparked widespread violence in Haripur, Abbottabad and Manshera where angry mob pelted stones on vehicles, public properties and brunt down tyres to exhibit their anger on the incident.
After the clashes, the leadership of Hazara Action Committee announced three-day mourning to express solidarity with members of the bereaved families. Meanwhile, situation in Mansehra has also normalised and all link roads connecting it with KKH have reopened. Moreover, district administration has lifted Section 144 in the district.
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