Public transport did not make an appearance and all shopping and business centres remained closed.
Consequently, attendance in public and private sector offices was thin and the majority of the educational institutes did not open their doors either. This created a number of problems for ordinary citizens who did not have the luxury to take the day off. For instance, many students who had to appear for their matriculation exams faced difficulties in reaching their examination centres as public and school transport was unavailable.
Similarly, the 10-hour-long blockade of the Karakoram Highway hampered the movement of travellers.
Life in the city was also paralysed due to the unrest created by the protesters who held demonstrations all over the city and blocked roads by burning tyres on them.
A crowd even attacked and damaged an office of the Awami National Party as well as a number of privately owned vehicles parked on roads. Angry protesters also forced shopkeepers to close their shops.
Processions were led from different parts of the city that came together as a large protest rally which was addressed by a number of political leaders from a range of large and small parties, including some of those who have supported the constitutional amendment package which has proposed the change in the province's name.
The speakers included PPP's Sardar Yaqoob, Sardar Idrees, Gulzar Abbasi and Naheed Gul Abbasi; People's Youth Federation's Waseem Khan Jadoon; Baba Haider Zaman, the former nazim of Abbottabad; JI's Zardad Khan; Hazara Awami Ittehad's Wali Mohammad Khan and trader representatives' Mumtaz Khan and Nasser Khan Jadoon. The rally participants, however, represented a wider range of political parties, including the PPP, the PML-Q, Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf, Hazara Qaumi Mahaz and Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
The majority of the speakers criticised the renaming of the province, claiming that it had robbed the people of Hazara Division of their identity. Most of them also went so far as to warn that the government had left these people with no choice but to demand the creation of Hazara province.
Despite the presence of some of these parties' members, the PPP, PMLN and ANP were criticised by the protesting leaders; the ANP was accused of taking revenge from the people of Hazara, who unlike the ANP supporters, were in favour of the creation of Pakistan. In contrast, the PPP and the PML-N were spared such heavy criticism and were only charged with playing “a negative role”.
PTI leader, Qari Rashid Mehmood, was one of the most critical speakers. He rejected the change in name and said that his party wanted a referendum on the issue.
Our Haripur Correspondent adds The shopping and business centres in the city remained closed for a day to protest the change in the name of NWFP.
This shutdown was in response to the call given by the All Traders' Association, the Hazara Qaumi Mahaz and the PML-Q. As a result, traffic on the GT road as well as the other main arteries remained thin.
