Complete strike observed in Hazara Division

ABBOTTABAD Blindly following the directives of their masters, Abbottabad Police killed three more innocent protesters and injured three others critically as the Hazara movement for provincial autonomy enters third week. The protesters on Tuesday, once again, peacefully assembled in the city when the 'outer police called from Mardan, Bannu, Peshawar and other cities opened indiscriminate fire to kill three more protesters. The death toll now rises to 19, following horrifying bloodshed by the Frontier Police, on the instructions of NWFP Chief Minister. The funeral prayers of the innocent martyrs were held at Main Fawara Chowk Abbottabad and heartrending scenes were witnessed on the occasion. Plain clothed policemen were using private ambulances to roam around and the police officials were seen directly targeting the protesters from the side windows of those ambulances. Out of the two of the total three that were killed on Tuesday, one teenager was shot straight in the head while other one was shot in the left ribcage. The former died at the spot and the latter succumbed to the injuries on the way to hospital. DIG Abbottabad, who had gone in hide after the brutal massacre of the innocent civilians, was not accessible to media despite attempts. Sources in DIG office told TheNation that the orders of straight firing at the protestors were issued by Chief Minister NWFP Ameer Haider Khan Hoti. Yet again, the shrewd security gurus floated the news of murder of Chairman Tehreek-e-Hazara Sardar Haider Zaman, but to no avail. Talking to this correspondent Haider Zaman said that such cowardly rumours would not stop the public movement. He deplored the statement of CM NWFP that ANP would initiate dialogue with PML-N regarding the issue. Haider said that PML N was rejected by the people of Hazara and Tehreek-i-Hazara was not associated with any political party, rather it was indigenous movement of common people of Hazara. Talking to the TheNation, Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob, central leader of Tehreek-i-Hazara, said that DIG, DCO, Comissioner Hazara Division killed the people on the orders of the ANP Government. He said DIG Abbotabad, Imtiaz Altaf Shah fired the first shot that immediately killed a protestor. Also, he added, the protest movement remained peaceful for last two weeks but it turned violent all of sudden due to the policy of ANP Government to crush the people of Hazara. After receiving wide criticism for having been succumbed to ANPs pressure to compromise on the wishes of general public in Hazara Division, the PML-N leaders tried to gain some public support by giving statements against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the public anger refrained them to appear in public. PML-N leader Mehtab Abbasi and his son Shamoon Abbasi were thrashed by protesters the other day. Complete shutter down strike was observed in Hazara Division comprising Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra and related parts. The late night reports regarding the removal of DCO, DIG were also floating in the city.