MULTAN - The PML-N activists marked Saturday as a protest day against federal government’s intentions to create Bahawalpur South Punjab Province as they brought out about half a dozen rallies from different areas of the city and held a big public meeting at Nawan Shehr Chowk. The rallies begun from Qasimpur Colony, Bosan Road, MDA Chowk and Kutchery Chowk under the leadership of parliamentarians Senator Rafiq Rajwana, MNAs Sheikh Tariq Rasheed, Rana Mehmoodul Hassan and Shaheen Shafiq, MPAs Amir Saed Ansari, Abdul Waheed Arrain and Rana Ijaz Noon and local leaders. The protesters marched on city roads and shouted slogans against the president Asif Ali Zardari, proposed province and Punjab Governor.
Later on, addressing the participants of protest meeting, PML-N’s coordinator for South Punjab Tehmina Daultana said that Zardari befooled the residents of South Punjab in the name of province. She warned that the PML-N would not let anyone make pieces of Punjab with vested intentions. She added that the elements like MQM and ANP, who had no connection with South Punjab, were active for making so-called Bahawalpur South Punjab province. She claimed that the president Asif Ali Zardari wanted to exploit the residents of this region. She maintained that the Zardari government ruined national institutions like PIA, Railway and Pakistan Steel but now it was bent upon destroying the country. She said that the credit of non-availability of basic facilities like gas and electricity went to the government. “We don’t need one province. We demand creation of two provinces in light of Punjab Assembly’s resolution,” she demanded. Speaking on this occasion, senator Rafiq Rajwana said that today’s mammoth gathering was a public referendum against Zardari’s conspiracy against the residents of South Punjab. He added that the massed reject the policy of Zardari.
Provincial minister Haji Ehsan Uddin Qureshi said that PPPP was doing political point scoring on the issue of province. Firstly he gave the lollypop of Saraiki Province to the people and then backed out.
Earlier, the participants of rallies carried out non-stop sloganeering against the government. they were holding national and PML-N flags and they staged a number of demonstrations at Daulat Gate, Chungi No-9, Hussain Agahi and Ghanta Ghar Chowks too.