Four protestors, three cops injured as police thwart move to intercept AJK PM's cavalcade

Four protestors were injured when police fired tear gas and launched baton charge at a mob trying to disrupt the movement of Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider’s cavalcade in Bhimber district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday.

Police said they were forced to use batons after the mob, affiliated with a former legislative assembly speaker from the area, attacked the convoy and resorted to stone pelting, breaking windowpanes of at least three vehicles.

The stone pelting also left three policemen slightly wounded, police claimed.

The incident occurred near Bab-e-Kashmir Bridge at about 9:30am, when Mr Haider was heading towards Samahni valley to address a political gathering on the last leg of his four-day tour to the southernmost district, most of which straddles the Line of Control.

The protest was linked with likely acquisition of land for an industrial zone under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, even though the government has not decided exact site for it as yet. 

It may be recalled that recently the AJK government had told media that Beijing had agreed to set up an industrial zone in Bhimber district under CPEC due to the area’s proximity with GT Road.

According to officials, four different sites in district Bhimber were under consideration for the proposed industrial zone, to be spread over 8000 kanals of land.

However, around one hundred supporters of former speaker Anwaar ul Haq assembled along the route of the premier to “draw his attention towards their demands,” which included that “acquisition should not be initiated before distribution of their share in shamilat land.”

Witnesses and official sources told that officers of divisional and district administration tried to convince the protestors to avoid disrupting the movement, but to no avail.

Sources disclosed that Mr Haq wanted Mr Haider to visit his place to “allay the concerns of the people of the area,” a demand which the prime minister’s staff told him could not be met immediately due to the already scheduled engagements. 

However, the prime minister had agreed to have a meeting with a delegation anytime later.

When the cavalcade drove past the protestors, some of them tried to come in front of the premier’s staff car, but officials thwarted their bid.

Policemen trying to keep the protestors away from PM's staff car

As the PM’s vehicle moved ahead, the protestors started pelting stones on other vehicles in the cavalcade, which compelled the police to lob tear gas shells and launch baton charge to disperse them, sources said.

Nevertheless, the vehicles of principal secretary, director general PM office and press secretary to the PM were slightly damaged, they added.

In the ensuing clash between both sides, seven persons, including three cops, received minor injuries and bruises. Only one protestor had his wound stitched.

A senior police officer who spoke to this scribe on condition of anonymity said that the protestors appeared to be non-serious in dialogue on their demands.

“They just wanted to create an issue and make headlines in the media,” he remarked.

The officer said that the police and administration showed leniency towards them or else the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the PM’s cavalcade demanded a strict action against troublemakers.

Police were reported to have booked several persons for creating law and order problem. 

An official spokesman said the protest appeared to settle some political score in the name of a process that was yet to be kicked off - a reference to the acquisition of land. 

It may be recalled that Mr Haq had held the office of speaker from Aug 2010 to July 2011 in a term mired in allegations of favouritism as he made more than 60 appointments of his constituents, including that of his cousin as LA secretary in BS-21, at his sole discretion.

He joined PPP in April 2011, but lost general elections in July the same year  to Chaudhry Tariq Farooq of PML. During the PPP government, he was appointed as chairman of a so-called “good governance committee” by Ms Faryal Talpur who called the shots in AJK then.

However, shortly before July 2016 elections he declined to accept PPP ticket and contested as an independent candidate, once again to be defeated by Mr Farooq, currently the senior minister in PML-N government.

At a press conference in Bhimber, Mr Haq hurled several allegations on Mr Farooq, including that he had received a share from Rs12 billion earmarked by the federal government from CPEC to establish industrial zone in Bhimber.

He added that he could produce evidence that the minister had “forged papers to receive money from the project.”

However, Mr Farooq declined to offer any comment on his allegations, saying that his electorate as well as his party leadership in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad knew well the actual cause of discomfort of his rivals.

“It’s for the first time a prime minister has held a detailed tour of Bhimber in almost a decade, has addressed and attended over a dozen public meetings and development briefings, and announced several uplift projects… This obviously has not gone well with the people who deliberately kept this district backward in the past, notwithstanding their clout,” he said.

Tariq Naqash