September 3, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Saani24,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: Around 300 women, displaced as a result of Ghazi-Barotha project, staged a protest demonstration in front of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) headquarters against the detention of their men here on Monday.

The protesters were holding placards inscribed with slogans like “stop injustices against the affectees of GBHP”, “The World Bank should fulfil its promises”, “Take your money and give us our land back”.

According a press release, the NAB has arrested more than 90 people on charges of receiving overpayments by producing fake documents.

“People have been illegally detained for the last 13 months and are not being produced before the court, instead the NAB is asking for the money which most of us have already spent on the construction of our new houses,” the statement said.

It added the people had already vacated the land for a national cause and now they had nothing to fulfil the NAB’s demand.

It said, in 59 villages of the area, where Ghazi-Barotha dam was being constructed, people were paid Rs4 billion only.

Ms Fatima, one of the participants, said: “We are also Pakistanis and should be treated as citizens of this country.”

The participants of the demonstration threatened that if the government did not listen to their complaints, they would commit collective suicide in front of the NAB office.

This is the fifth time that the women protested in Islamabad to register their complaints. “Instead the NAB is threatening serious action against the affected people of Ghazi Barotha project,” they said.