The Awami National Party on Wednesday took to streets in the provincial metropolis and other parts of the province to protest restrictions imposed by the government of Punjab on the transportation of flour and massive power load shedding in the Frontier Province.
The ban on the transportation of flour to NWFP has created severe Atta shortage in the province causing unprecedented increase in the price of the commodity in the local market. The formation of long queues in front of the Fair Price Shops established by the provincial government had become a routine matter and the consumers had to wait for hours to get a single bag of the commodity.
The massive power load shedding has not only made the lives of the people miserable, but has also played havoc with the industrial production in the province. The hour-long power loadshedding has also threatened the employment of 60000 industrial workers in the province.
"The Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco), has resorted to three-hour load shedding on a daily basis for the industrial consumers while all steel factories in Hattar, Gadoon and industrial estates of Peshawar have completely suspended production " Nauman Wazir, president, Industrialists Association Peshawar said.
The steel factories, he said has Rs 30,000 fixed electricity charges and Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro had hinted at tariff exemption during the period of the load shedding. In Peshawar, the nationalist political party staged two separate protest rallies; one at Peshawar Cantonment and the other at Soekarno Chowk, Khyber Bazaar.
In Peshawar Cantonment, the demo was started from Green's Hotel and culminated at public gathering near Takhtu Mosque, was led and addressed by ANP provincial president Afrasiab Khattak, Haji Adeel, Syed Aqil Shah and ANP candidates on NA-2 Arbab Najeebullah, NA-3 Hashim Baber and NA-4 Arbab Zahir Khan Khalil.
The second rally staged at Khyber Bazaar was led and addressed for provincial president Bashir Ahmed Bilour, The protest rally started from Soekarno Square and after passing through Qissakhwani Bazaar, Khyber Bazaar, Chowk Yadgar ended at main GT Road peacefully.
The participants were holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans against President Musharraf, the Punjab government and threats to stop the gas and electricity supply from Frontier to Punjab if the supply of wheat flour was not restored to the province. They were chanting slogans like "Atta Dogai tu Bijli Logai", Na Bijli na Atta- Musharraf ko Tata", "Ya atta do ya sadarat chorh do," and various other slogans.
Addressing the protesters Afrasiab Khattak said that ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan had warned the federal government as well as the Punjab government to stop the indifferent attitude towards the Pakhtun province and restore the supply of atta and wheat to the Frontier province.
Otherwise, he said the ANP workers would remove the check post from Attock Bridge by force and proceed to Islamabad to overthrow the illegal and unconstitutional government of General Musharraf.
He said that the Wednesday's protests were just a rehearsal and in case of the failure of the government in acceptance of our demands within two weeks then we would be free to besiege all the dams and grid stations located in our province. "Flour and bread are our basic need and right," but the Punjab and federal government have snatched these very basic right to the Pakhtuns, saying that the killing of people and bombardment on residential population were cheaper than everything else in Musharraf regime.
He said that on one hand popular political leader Benazir Bhutto was killed by some hidden hands while on the other the blame was put on the Pakhtuns to create mistrust and rifts amongst different nationalities.
Bashir Ahmed Bilour while addressing the emotionally charged gathering at Soekarno Square said that the rulers and chauvinists had snatched away morsel from the mouths of Pakhtun children and pounded them with shells and bombs in their areas.
He alleged that the military rulers had killed Nawab Akbar Bugti in Balochistan, Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi and hundreds of innocent Pakhtuns in Swat and Waziristan, saying that if the Pakhtuns were not united at this critical juncture under the banner of ANP then their survival and existence would be at stake.
The ANP leaders also criticised the caretaker government for supporting PML (Q) candidates and utilising government funds and machinery in the election campaign of the King's party. They claimed that the ANP would sweep the upcoming elections in the Frontier province.