ZHOB: A major protest demonstration was held at Zarif Shaheed Park on Tuesday, organized by the Pashtunkhwa National Awami Party (PkNAP) against crippling power outages, deteriorating security, and government policies causing widespread public distress.
Senior party leaders, including Provincial Vice President Abdul Qayyum Mandokhel, addressed the gathering. They launched a severe critique against the Quetta Electric Supply Company (KESCO), accusing it of “severely torturing” people across the province, particularly in southern Pashtunkhwa, by shutting down all electricity feeders. The speakers argued this has devastated agricultural and domestic consumers alike.
Further escalating their allegations, the leaders claimed that alongside feeder shutdowns, public property is being “systematically looted” with wires stripped from poles. They contested KESCO’s ownership of this infrastructure, stating it was installed using MP-funded PSDP schemes, granting the utility no moral or legal right to remove it.
The protest also highlighted a severe security breakdown. Speakers cited rampant armed robberies on highways from Zhob to Quetta and an unchecked drug trafficking epidemic ensnaring the youth. They questioned the efficacy of numerous Frontier Corps check-posts, calling the persistent crime wave “beyond comprehension.”
Finally, the demonstrators condemned the sitting “Form 47 government,” accusing it of closing employment avenues and pushing thousands of families into economic hardship through policies like banning the petrol business. The rally served as a broad indictment of administrative and security failures in the region.
