PESHAWAR, Dec 15: The Awami National Party has urged the government to hold an inquiry into police violence against activists of the Pukhtun Action Committee in Karachi on Friday and punish those responsible.

In a statement issued here, ANP additional secretary-general Afrasiab Khattak, termed the police action state terrorism against the Pukhtuns and said that there was an immediate need to ensure their protection.

He said the committee represented 1.5 million Karachi-based Pukhtuns ands it had given the protest call for the solution of their problems.

The way in which they were beaten and humiliated by police reminded one of the actions of the Israeli army against the Palestinians, he said.

The ANP leader said the Karachi district government was responsible for the action against the Pukhtuns, who were making efforts for the solution of their problems through democratic means.

He said the harassment and highhandedness of police had shown that the Pukhtun had been victims of state-sponsored repression from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to Karachi. Mr Khattak demanded a judicial inquiry into Friday's incidents and warned of dire consequences if the matter was not resolved and the perpetrators not taken to task.

The incidents, he said, had sent a wave of shock and resentment against the government among the Pukhtuns and they were feeling insecure.