February 3, 2006	Friday	Muharram 4, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

RAWALPINDI, Feb 2: The local police on Thursday arrested over dozen activists of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Bhasha Dam Naam Namanzoor Committee (BDNNC), including their chiefs, for defying a ban on demonstrations and rallies and blocking Murree Road disrupting traffic.

The participants of the rally demanded that Bhasha dam should be named as Diamer dam and its royalty given to the Northern Areas. A large number of students from Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir attended the rally. The participants were beaten up by the police in front of the historic Liaquat Bagh.

JKLF chairmen, Amanullah Khan, Raja Mazhar Iqbal, Muhammad Asif, Ehsan Ishaq, Mr Danyal, Zahid Qaisar, Hanan Khan, Malik Abdullah, Ghulam Mustafa, Ahmed Khan, Mr Saqib, Irfan Mustafa and BDNNC chairman Haji Ghandal Shah were arrested under Sections 16 MPO and 341 and brought to the City police station amidst a stiff resistance put up by the protesters.

Former chairman of Gilgit-Baltistan National Alliance (GBNA) Inayatullah Shamali, who led the rally, broke the police cordon and escaped.

According to the eye-witnesses, police arrived at the scene when the rally was about to disperse and arrested the leaders and activists after they had passed resolutions at the Rawalpindi Press Club.

Later, the protesters staged a demonstration in front of the police station demanding the release of their leaders. They held Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao responsible for the arrest of their leaders.

According to SHO Raja Fiaz, the protesters and their leaders were arrested for raising anti-Pakistan slogans and blocking the road.

Earlier, speaking to the participants of the rally, Haji Ghandal Shah said the people of Gilgit and Baltistan were not against the construction of Bhasha dam rather they wanted it to be christened as Diamer dam.

He said the densely populated 23 villages situated in the south of the dam would submerge for which the people of these villages must be properly compensated.

“According to the Constitution, Northern Areas is not a part of Pakistan, therefore, the royalty of Diamer dam must be given to us and the power station should also be built in Gilgit- Baltistan,” Mr Shah maintained.

Amanullah Khan criticised the government for naming the dam as Bhasha dam and said that his organisation was ready to go to any length to get the dam named as Diamer dam.