Political parties on Tuesday held sporadic protest demos against the imposition of the state of emergency and suspension of the constitution by President General Pervez Musharraf.
The workers of nationalist Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (J.I) held separate demos at different parts of the provincial metropolis. The ANP staged its demo in Namak Mandi, which restored police to charge baton and tear gas shelling to disperse the protesting political activists. The police also arrested the provincial president of ANP and known human rights activist, Afrasiab Khattak and central senior vice president Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti and others for violating of ban on holding demo against the imposition of emergency rule by the government.
The workers of J.I, an organised political party vigorously fought the police through spreading the protest to various busy roads of the capital city. The charged activist prevented police from arresting their provincial chief Siraj-ul-Haq who suddenly appeared to address a protest rally.
The J.I braved heavy shelling and baton charge and prevented the police to reach and arrest their party leader covering him from all sides till his disappearance in narrow streets of the city. They also succeeded in releasing former MNA Bakhtiar Maani and Asif Luqman Qazi from police custody.
The JI workers despite heavy deployment of police marched towards Chawk Yadgar and came back to old Kachery road where the protest rally was addressed by the provincial leadership.
Addressing the protestors, the J.I leaders including Asif Luqman Qazi, son of the central Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Siraj-ul-Haq and former MNA Bakhtiar Maani vowed to continue their struggle till restoration of constitution and independence of judiciary.
The lawyers in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the subordinate courts also continued their protests against the imposition of emergency rule. Meanwhile the NWFP Bar Council has decided that the subordinate courts would keep boycotting the court proceedings for two hours from Wednesday.