Protest against power outages in Hunza

Published August 9, 2008

HUNZA, Aug 8: Frequent power outages Friday triggered a violent protest here, the constituency of Chief Executive of Northern Areas.

A large number of protesters mostly youth from Karimabad and Hyderabad staged the protest demo at Karimabad, capital town of Hunza and damaged the generator room and glasses of windows of some rooms of the Chief Executive’s hotel.

They also hurled stones on the power complaint office and manhandled the officials. The protesters marched from Hyderabad around 10pm who were joined by youth from Karimabad.

The protesters shouted slogans against the Chief Executive Ghazanfar Ali Khan and the Northern Areas Power and Works Department (NAPWD) for 18 hours power cuts a day. They said that the Chief Executive and other influential people have been getting uninterrupted power through special lines while the common people are deprived of electricity even for weeks. The police detained about 10 protesters, most of them were students but they were released after some time on the intervention of notables and local administration.—Correspondent