October 27, 2002	Sunday	Sha’aban 20,1423

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MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 26: The administration of Mirpur, a southern AJK city, on Saturday released 11 persons who were arrested on Sept 30 for protesting against the upraising of Mangla Dam.

President Pervez Musharraf was in the city, at the time of protest, to perform the ground-breaking ceremony of the controversial project.

One of the detainees released, Hamayun Zaman Mirza, told Dawn by telephone from Mirpur that “none of them had filed any application for bail, and the administration had released them unconditionally.”

The protesters who were released include: an spokesman for the anti-Mangla Dam extension committee, Chaudhry Arif, Chaudhry Mohammad Amin, Raja Ali Zaman advocate, Chaudhry Javed Zafar, Sagheer Chaudhry, Ihtesham, Rizwan Karamat, Chaudhry Iqbal, Shaukat Mehmood and Raja Mushtaq.

Police had picked up them near Chowk Shaheedan when they tried to break a police cordon to proceed towards the Quaid-i-Azam Stadium, where Gen Musharraf was speaking at the ceremony.

Mirza said Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan had issued their release orders after a series of protest demonstrations across Azad Kashmir to condemn the “immoral and unlawful action on part of the police and administration.”

He alleged that they had been subjected to torture in the Mirpur jail for their “inflexible stand” on the controversial project.

“This project does not suit the people of Kashmir in general and of Mirpur district in particular,” he asserted. “We will continue to voice our concern against this project,” he said.

Mirza said that a big rally would be staged in Mirpur on Sunday under the aegis of anti-extension committee, while similar programmes would be held in Dadyal and Chakswari shortly.