ABBOTTABAD/MANSEHRA: Tehreek-i-Sooba Hazara chairman Baba Haider Zaman on Saturday reiterated the call for the creation of Hazara province and said the struggle for the purpose would continue until the its objective was achieved.

He was speaking at a public meeting held in Abbottabad to mark the fourth anniversary of the April 12, 2010 killings in the firing of local police during riots, which erupted across Hazara division over the re-naming of the province as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Baba Haider told participants that the people of Hazara wanted ‘independence’ as their rights were denied and that their rights could be protected only if Hazara was made a separate province.

He said the recent provincial assembly resolution demanding creation of Hazara province was eyewash.

MQM MPA from Karachi Syed Waqar Shah, Hazara Qaumi Mahaz chairman Qazi Azhar, central Tehreek-i-Sooba Hazara leaders Engineer Sultan Khan Jadoon, Sultanul Arfeen and others spoke on the occasion.

Another function to mark the day was held at the Jalal Baba auditorium.

It was organised by Sooba Hazara Tehreek led by federal religious affairs minister Sardar Mohammad Yousaf.

Sardar Yousaf, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said the PML-N government had chosen the legal and constitutional path for the creation of Hazara province.

He said the federal government would table the provincial assembly resolution on Hazara province in the National Assembly soon after winning the support of political parties.

“Our target is to win the status of a province for Hazara. The PML-N central leadership, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and other political leaders, including Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Imran Khan, Sirajul Haq, and PPP central leadership, had given us full assurance of supporting the Hazara province movement . We are hopeful that our struggle will bear fruit,” he said.

The minister said the creation of Hazara province was an administrative need and had no lingual basis. PTI ministers Qalandar Khan Lodhi and Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, MNA Dr Azhar Khan Jadoon, adviser of the chief minister Akbar Ayub Khan, MPAs Wajeehuz Zaman, Saleh Mohammad and Sardar Mohammad Idrees, and chief coordinator of the function Abdur Razzaq Abbasi were among the key speakers.

Also in the day, the Hazara Awami Jirga led by Naseer Khan Jadoon took out a rally to mark the fourth anniversary of the April 12, 2010 killings in Abbottabad.

It began from Mandian and ended at the main Fawara Chowk.

TRANSPORT REMAINED OFF ROADS: Public transport in Mansehra remained off roads, while local bazaars and private schools were closed to mark the fourth anniversary of the 2010 killings in Abbottabad.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf organised a big rally in Shinkiari demanding of the federal government to amend the Constitution to pave the way for creation of more administrative units in the country.

Noted among the speakers were PTI central leader Aftab Shah, former opposition leader in the provincial assembly Shahzada Gustasib Khan, former candidate for a provincial assembly seat Babar Saleem Swati and PTI district president Shafahat Ali Khan.“We want (prime minister) Nawaz Sharif to come forward to fulfil his pre-election commitment for creation of Hazara province. His party is in power and can amend the Constitution to create more federating units in the country,” said Syed Aftab Shah.Shahzada Gustasib Khan said the federal government should realise the importance of the creation of more federating units in the country.

Also in the day, Tehreek-i-Sooba Hazara (Haqiqi) took out a rally in Mansehra demanding the PML-N government in the centre to bring changes to the Constitution for creation of more provinces in the country.