GWADAR: Several leaders of some political parties courted arrest on Thursday in protest against long hours of power loadshedding and water shortage in Gwadar and other areas of Makran division.

A strike was also observed in all areas of the district on the call of these political parties. All shops, shopping plazas and business centres remained closed in the city.

Prominent among those who courted arrest on Thursday were: Balochistan National Party-Mengal’s leaders Kohda Ali and Majid Sohrabi; National Party’s district president Faiz Negori and tehsil president Naghman Abdul; Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s leaders Maulana Abdul Hameed Inqilabi and Abdul Hadi; Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s leaders Maula Bux Mujahid and Murad Malang; Jamaat-i-Islami’s leaders Shakeel KD and Abdul Razaq; Pakistan Peoples Party’s leaders Yousuf Faryadi and Afzal Jan; Anjuman Tajiran’s leaders Ghulam Hussain Dashti and Sharif Miandad; BNP-Awami’s leader Nabi Bux Babar; and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s leader Mohammad Bizenjo.

Earlier, political workers, traders and members of civil society marched on main roads of the port city to highlight the issues. They carried banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (Qesco) and water shortage.

The parties’ leaders also held a meeting with officials of the local administration. The local administration informed them that Qesco officials were not serious about solving their problems.

Later, the protesters marched towards Levies’ police station where they staged a sit-in and courted arrest.

Gwadar’s Assistant Commissioner Mir Baz Khan Marri and officials of Qesco rushed to Levies’ police station and held talks with the leaders, but the talks failed to produce any result.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2019