November 10, 2007	Saturday	Shawwal 28, 1428

PESHAWAR, Nov 9: Political parties on Friday took out processions across the province to denounce the imposition of a state of emergency, removal of superior court judges, detention of politicians and fresh curbs on the media.

Police tear-gassed and baton-charged protesters and arrested scores of political workers.

The Punjab police had virtually cut off the province from the rest of the country by closing all exit and entry points. The police had closed the Attock Bridge, Taxila-Haripur Road, Hassanabdal-Hazara Road, Murree-Muzaffarabad Road, Kohat-Rawalpindi Road and the Dera Ismail Khan-Bhakkar Road by putting containers and barbed wires on the roads inside Punjab. The federal government had closed the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway.

When PPP workers started their march from the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry building on the G.T. Road towards the Soori Bridge, a heavy contingent of police stopped them from moving forward. But the activists broke through the police lines and kept marching. They chanted slogans against the government.

Police had to use teargas shells and batons to disperse them.

Police arrested the provincial information secretary of the PPP, Arbab Alamgir Khan, district president Israr Khan Nahqi, former Peshawar nazim Azam Afridi and other party leaders.

Talking to Dawn by telephone, PPP’s divisional president and former MPA Syed Zahir Shah, who is under house arrest, condemned the thrashing and arrest of party workers.

After Friday prayers, activists of the Awami National Party and the Jamaat-i-Islami played ‘hide-and-seek’ with police at the Soekarno Chowk and the Chowk Yadgar. Police arrested three ANP workers.

Members of the Khyber Union of Journalists also observed a ‘black day’ on a call of the Federal Union of Journalists. They hoisted black flags and banners on the Peshawar Press Club building. Later, they staged a protest demonstration on the Mall Road.

Muqaddam Khan adds from Swabi: Four people, including a sub-inspector and two lawyers, were injured in a clash on Friday after police arrested 31 political workers.

Police claimed that the protesters had resorted to firing when they fired teargas shells to disperse them.

Leaders of the All Parties Democratic Movement, however, said police had tear-gassed and baton-charged their workers without provocation. Police pushed back the protesters on Swabi-Mardan, Swabi-Jehangira and Swabi-Maneri roads.

Later, APDM leaders and lawyers organised a public meeting on the Swabi-Mardan road. They criticised the military regime for imposing a state of emergency, terming it martial law. They demanded restoration of the Constitution and reinstatement of the deposed judges.

Nasir Iqbal adds from Karak: The APDM took out a procession which culminated in a public meeting at the Tehsil Chowk.

Later at a joint press conference, local Jamaat-i-Islami chief Maulana Samiur Rehman, former district nazim and Awami National Party leader Sharif Khattak, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party leader Omer Khan, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf general secretary Noor Mohammad and Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Shamsur Rehman Khattak condemned the imposition of emergency.

They paid tribute to the judges who had refused to take the oath under the Provisional Constitution Order. They accused Gen Pervez Musharraf of committing treason by suspending the Constitution.

They condemned restrictions on the media and expressed solidarity with journalists.

Ghulam Mursaleen Marwat adds from Lakki Marwat: Police and Frontier Constabulary personnel clashed with ANP activists when the latter broke a siege laid by the former.

Police raided houses of ANP leaders and arrested party’s district president Saddaruddin Khan Marwat, vice-president Malik Hamidullah, former senior vice-president Saifullah Khan, Pakhtun Students Federation leader Mohammad Riaz Khan Marwat and other leaders. A reporter of a private TV channel, Mohammad Zaman Nadim Khattak, was also arrested.

After the arrests, ANP activists took out a procession in the Lakki Marwat city and held a demonstration at the Kargil Chowk.

Abdul Sami Paracha adds from Kohat: The APDM took out a procession here which was led by leaders of the ANP, JUI, JI, PML-N and the PTI.

Through a unanimous resolution, the participants demanded reinstatement of superior court judges, apprehending that the judges who had taken oath under the new PCO would not be able to remain neutral under the prevailing situation.

Nisar Ahmed Khan adds from Mansehra: Hundreds of people took to the streets against the imposition of emergency and the arrest of political activists.

Haleem Asad adds from Timergara: Political workers, lawyers and students held a joint protest demonstration on a call of the APDM.

Workers of the JI, ANP, PML-N, Islami Jamiat-i-Talaba, Jamiat Talaba Arabia and the Pakhtun Students Federation took part in the demonstration.

Supporters of the JI and its students’ wing took out a procession from Balambat. Processions of the ANP and the PML-N joined the rally in the Timergara bazaar.

M. Sadaqat adds from Haripur: To prevent PPP workers from attending the party’s Rawalpindi meeting, the Punjab police blocked entry points to the province from Haripur.

Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the blocked points.

Saeed Akhtar Khan, vice-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, condemned what he called inhuman treatment meted out to Munir A. Malik, former president of SCBA, in the Attock Fort and the “humiliation” faced by SCBA president Aitzaz Ahsan in the Adiala Jail.

Talking to Dawn from Haripur, he said the legal fraternity would defend the autonomy of the Bar Council of Pakistan and it would not allow the government to transfer its powers regarding delegation of membership to lawyers to high courts and the Supreme Court.

Mohammad Iqbal adds from Mardan: The Sarhad Bar Council, Peshawar, condemned the imposition of emergency, removal of judges and restrictions on the media.

The meeting decided to extend financial aid to the detained lawyers and not to file applications for their release.

Police arrested a number of PPP workers in the district. Journalists also observed a ‘black day’ against curbs on the media.

Abdus Salam adds from Bannu: Police arrested leaders and workers of the ANP, PMAP and the PML-N after a protest rally in Bannu. Police also used teargas and batons against the protesters.

Syed Zahid Jan adds from Upper Dir: The ANP and the JI staged separate demonstrations as protests against the proclamation of emergency continued here.

The ANP leaders criticised the army role and its frequent intervention in politics.

The JI leaders vowed to resist what they called the tyrannical rule of Gen Musharraf to save the country. They said the country was on the verge of collapse due to wrong policies of the dictator.

Mushtaq Paracha adds from Nowshera: Police arrested seven PPP workers in Khairabad. They had marched from Nowshera to Khairabad and staged a demonstration on the NWFP side of the Attock Bridge.

APDM parties also took out a procession from the Nowshera cantonment.