MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan-occupied Kashmir witnessed a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike on Tuesday as part of an ongoing protest campaign by civil society against the “sky-high power tariff” as well as for the resolution of other issues, Dawn News reported on Wednesday.
During the strike, all the businesses remained closed and traffic crawled near Mangla Dam, one of the largest multipurpose water bodies used for irrigation and hydroelectric power in the country.
As per the Pakistan-based news daily, the strike call was given by the District Bar Association (DBA), headed by firebrand Chaudhry Kamran Tariq, in collaboration with the civil society organisations, mainly the Mirpur Protection Forum, Anjuman-i-Tajran, Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Transporters Union.
According to witnesses, many people from the suburban areas also participated in a demonstration, held in the lakeside city’s famous Chowk-e-Shaheedan in this regard.
On September 5, an effective shutter down strike was observed in the Mirpur division, comprising three districts, following which PoK Premier Chaudhry Anwarul Haq held a meeting with a representative delegation from Mirpur’s civil society, led by Tariq, in a bid to allay their concerns.
Dawn News reported that the Haq had promised the delegation that he would ensure relief to the people over the next 45 days, which ended on November 2.
However, the DBA leadership had made it clear that in the event of non-fulfilment of the commitments made by the PoK prime minister, it would be left with no choice but to stage another shutter-down and wheel-jam strike on November 7.
“It is ironic that the government has miserably failed to provide any tangible relief to the masses as their right and not as any favour,” said DBA president Tariq at the Chowk-e-Shaheedan demonstration.
He asserted that since 2003 the PoK government had been purchasing electricity at Rs 2.59 per unit from Wapda and selling the same to the PoK people at exorbitant rates ranging from Rs 30 to Rs 40 per unit, Dawn News reported.
“Now it’s binding upon the government to provide relief to the masses from the money it has unlawfully extorted from the consumers over the past 20 years,” he said, stressing that the slab system in power bills should be abolished forthwith and per unit cost should be reasonable and similar for all units consumed by users.
Tariq as well as other speakers also listed several other issues “haunting the Mirpur residents for long due to the apathy of the rulers” on the occasion.
“Within the next two weeks, the DBA will organise a convention of lawyers from all over the state to fully connect the entire legal fraternity with the people’s rights movement,” Tariq declared.
Dawn News reported that previously, Muzaffarabad and Poonch divisions have also observed successful wheel-jam and shutter-down strikes against inflated electricity bills and other allegedly unattended area-specific issues under the aegis of local ‘action committees wherein mostly the trader leaders are the spearhead.
Tariq warned that after the passage of two weeks, the movement in Mirpur would be linked with the main rights movement of the entire liberated territory, which could include a long march either towards the PoK Legislative Assembly or the residences of ministers in Muzaffarabad or the Mangla powerhouse in Mirpur.
He expressed the hope that the rulers would “act sensibly” and take steps without further loss of time towards implementation of the ‘charter of demands’ to defuse the situation and earn respect and goodwill among the masses. (ANI)
Also Watch: