Pakistan: Al-Qaeda Still Wants Bloody Revolution

Invisible hands have been trying to push Pakistan to a bloody revolution. The invisible hands may be of Al-Qaeda is trying to weaken the frontline in the war on terror. Pakistan is frontline state in war against terrorism. Militants have blocked the Pak-Afghan Highway, which is the main supply line to NATO forces fighting a fierce battle against Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

Frequent electricity breakdown and shortage of edible items have been infuriating the common people. Some of the tribal elders think that war-like situation is being created in Pakistan. According to them, terrorists want to divert attention of security agencies and this is the reason that they have been creating crisis in the country. Terrorists, who are planning terrorist attacks actually want to get some more time for carrying out the terrorists.

The new administration of Pakistan has failed in controlling the situation. According to reports taken from various sources, thousands of people angered by power cuts staged a violent protest in Multan, a city of Punjab province, leaving 40 people wounded and around 50 under arrest.

Police fired shots into the air and launched tear gas shells to disperse demonstrators in the city after they attacked offices of the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) and torched two banks, a petrol station, dozens of shops, and several vehicles, the police said, adding that a 10-kilometre stretch of the road on which the MEPCO offices were situated was blanketed in smoke.

Express News television showed protesters armed with sticks breaking windows, overturning cars and severely beating three men inside the office compound before they were chased away by a man in civilian clothes who fired an assault rifle over their heads, Reuters reported.

“More than 40 people were wounded including 11 power company employees, seven policemen, and two television cameramen,” local police officer Mirza Muhammad Ali told Daily Times.

Some protesters carried a banner reading “Constant load shedding is our financial murder”, according to AP.

Witnesses told AFP that 21 protesters from local textile factories forced to shut down by the outages lasting several hours, were among those injured in the rioting.

The police detained around 50 people for incidents of violence, Ali said.

“We are facing up to 20 hours load shedding [daily], and about 500,000 loom workers and their families are facing starvation if the businesses are shut down,” said Khalid Sandhu, a leader of the All Pakistan Power Looms Association (APPLA).

The APPLA warned MEPCO five days ago about the protest. On April 12, the APPLA and the MEPCO agreed on the load shedding timetable. However, MEPCO didn’t follow the timetable. As a result, power loom workers staged a peaceful protest on Sunday.

Later, MEPCO Chief Executive Brigadier (r) Tariq Rasool told a press conference at his office that the company had deviated from the agreement with the APPLA by only 15 minutes.

The government blames the previous government for the neglect and has pledged to address the shortfall.

Power cuts, as well as food shortages and inflation, fuelled anger against the previous government and contributed to a landslide opposition victory in the February 18 general election.

Meanwhile, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has urged the government to honour its pledge regarding holding negotiations with Taliban to pave way for durable peace in the region. This was stated by Molvi Umar, spokesperson for the TTP, while talking to reporters from an undisclosed location Monday.

Molvi asked the government to stop use of force for restoration of peace and launch dialogue process to resolve all the issues. He said the TTP was expected to make an important announcement about peace in ?Ghazi Islam Conference? which will be held in the Lal Masjid of the Mohmand Agency today (Tuesday).

Molvi said top leaders of the TTP and tribal elders would address the conference and would make important announcement about peace in the country. ?The Ghazi Islam Conference will again prove our loyalty to Pakistan as our struggle is aimed at only expelling the US and coalition forces from Afghanistan?, he added. Molvi Umar added that previously the tribesmen in Mohmand Agency used to celebrate annual Urs, which was against the spirit of Islam and tribal traditions, adding Ghazi Islam Conference would be a purely spiritual gathering.

Meanwhile, death toll from the ongoing clashes rose to 48 as seven more people were killed and 16 others sustained serious injuries here on Monday. Five people were killed when a mortar shell hit a trench in Parachamkani and one each was killed in the Balashkhel and Sadda areas, sources said. The sources said the clashes resumed immediately after the paramilitary forces vacated the Khoshan Gul checkpoint for unknown reasons where the tribal elders gathered on Monday to effect a ceasefire among the rival groups as agreed on Sunday evening.
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