ABBOTTABAD/HARIPUR: Tehreek-i-Sooba Hazara leader Baba Haider Zaman has demanded the creation of four provinces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying it will benefit the people of neglected areas.

He also urged the people of Hazara division to vote for the political parties, who support their struggle for a separate province.

The TSH leader was addressing a public meeting held in Abbottabad to mark 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.

Also among speakers were head of the All Pakistan Muslim League retired general Pervez Musharraf, MNA Jamshed Dasti and former federal minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi.

Mr Zaman said the struggle for the creation of Pakistan was carried out by the poor and middle class people but they were denied basic rights in the country.

Baba Haider demands four provinces in KP

He said the next general elections would serve no purpose and that their holding would be just a waste of the taxpayers’ money until the entire system of governance was revamped.

Mr Zaman said every political party came to power to cheat the poor people.

He said there was a need for getting rid of the corrupt and faulty system of governance, which served the elite only.

APML chief Pervez Musharraf supported the movement for Hazara province and said the number of tehsil and districts had increased all over the country but ironically, the number of provinces continued to be the same.

He said more provinces should be created to help check corruption of the rulers.

MNA Jamshed Dasti said the current rulers were the worst in the national history as their policies and steps had cost the country dearly.

He said the government’s internal and foreign policies had miserably failed.

The MNA said the people should take revenge from the current rulers in the next elections by voting against them if they wanted to live with honour and dignity.

Hameedullah Jan Afridi supported the creation of Hazara province and demanded the creation of the Qabailistan for tribals as a separate province.

LAWYERS BOYCOTT COURTS: The lawyers boycotted courts in Haripur on Thursday to support the call for Hazara province.

The boycott was part of the events marking the eighth anniversary of Hazara province movement across Hazara division.

The Tehreek Sooba Hazara of Baba Haider Zaman and some other political parties organised the events highlighting the objectives of the Hazara province movement.

The lawyers opted not to appear before the courts and thus, leading to the adjournment of their cases. The litigants and prisoners returned as no hearing took places.

Published in Dawn, Aprill 13th, 2018