Gunfire, rioting mar anti-cartoon protests: Two dead in Peshawar; shops, property set ablaze
By Shafiq Ahmad
PESHAWAR, Feb 15: Two people were killed and over 60 injured in Peshawar on Wednesday in what may be called a repeat of mob violence in Lahore a day earlier during protests against the publication of blasphemous cartoons.
The Frontier Constabulary was called in to assist the police. At least 200 rioters were detained, most of them in Gulbahar and Hashtnagri areas.
Widespread rioting, looting and arson attacks on international food outlets, cellular phone companies, banks, stores and a bus company saw Peshawar plunging into complete chaos.
A poorly-equipped and small police force was seen making desperate attempts to control mobs which attacked installations and property at free will.
South Korean transport group Sammi-Daewoo and Norwegian telecommunication giant Telenor were the worst victims. The Mobilink office and KFC outlet on the University Road were set on fire. Three cinema houses, several banks, stores, petrol pumps and private vehicles were also damaged.
Incidents of firing were reported on the GT Road, Nishtarabad, Khyber Bazaar and Khyber supermarkets in the cantonment area.
“It was the worst agitation in the history of Peshawar,” acknowledged Senior Superintendent of Police (operation) Saeed Khan Wazir.
“Police were fired upon, but we showed maximum restraint,” said NWFP police chief Rifat Pasha.
The protest was staged in response to a strike call given by various trade and transport organizations, but youths in small groups took control of the situation, literally bringing down the city administration.
Chief Minister Akram Durrani blamed ‘troublemakers’ and urged people to avoid violence.
“We will not ban rallies against sacrilegious cartoons but protesters must remain peaceful,” he told reporters.
His appeal went unheeded.
Talking to Dawn from Islamabad, NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman said that the government and the provincial police chief had been asked to impose Section 144 CrPC to prevent the situation from worsening.
“They did not do it. I don’t know what stopped them,” he said, pointing to the widely-held view that the working relationship between the governor and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government was far from ideal.
Reacting to the statement, Mr Durrani said that being the chief executive of the province it was his prerogative to take any decision.
Protesters armed with sticks, iron bars and spades had gathered on streets and main roads in the morning and started destroying traffic signals and signboards.
Students of seminaries and those belonging to Islami Jamiat Talaba and jihadis waving their organisations’ flags were there in significant numbers. Workers of politico-religious organisations and Afghan refugees living on the city’s suburbs also took part in the protests.
The rioters stormed the Sammi-Daewoo bus stand on GT Road and started firing. Two Sammi-Daewoo workers, Fazle Rabbi and Akbar, were wounded and taken to the Lady Reading Hospital. The mob ransacked the offices and torched 12 busses and four intra-city coaches.
They damaged several private buildings and set on fire the Picture House, Shabistan and Novelty cinemas.
They attacked and looted the Telenor offices in Nishtarabad, Peshawar City, Saddar Cantonment and University Road and set afire three of them.
Police fired teargas shells, but failed to disperse the mob. Several policemen were injured in the ensuing melee.
A policeman blew up his hand when his tear-gas shelling gun exploded. He was taken to the Lady Reading Hospital where his condition was reported serious.
Protester Feroz Shah was electrocuted when live wire, snapped by gunshots, fell on him. Mohammad, 12, died when a bullet hit him on the head.
Police fired teargas shells on Bilal Town, Sikandar Town, Nishtarabad and Gulbahar, when protesters ran into lanes after attacking private and public properties.
Branches of a number of banks, including the First Woman Bank, National Bank, Askari Commercial Bank, Askari Leasing, Allied Bank, Soneri Bank and Muslim Commercial Bank were attacked.
The mob also ransacked stores and looted a Bata shoes shop in cantonment. They took away two motorbikes from the showroom of Pak Hero Motors on GT Road after ransacking it.
Several people suffered bullet and stone injuries on GT Road and Khyber Bazaar. Sources in the Lady Reading and Khyber Teaching Hospitals said over 60 people had been injured.
As the situation went out of control, the government called in the Frontier Constabulary. The FC personnel started patrolling roads at about 3pm.
SSP Wazir said police had started arresting rioters since morning and by evening over 200 people had been detained in Gulbahar and Hashtnagri areas.
An FIR was registered against 60 people, including Jehangir Afridi and Sher Ali, the president and general secretary of the Trader Association, respectively.
According to sources in Tank town, a police official was injured when protesters opened fire during a demonstration in Tank bazaar on Wednesday. People had gathered in the main market on the call of the traders’ association.
The traders observed strike and people marched on roads. The protesters attacked and damaged seven audio-video and CDs shops and Internet cafes.
The protesters allegedly fired on District Police Office Atiqullah Wazir and injured him when police tried to stop them from destroying property.
