MARDAN, Jan 27: People held a rally here on Friday to protest against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s plan to construct a girls’ degree college on the premises of Dang Baba Public Park.

The protesters, led by former Hoti town union council nazim Mehmand Khan and elders of the area, were carrying banners inscribed with condemnation notes against the Awami National Party and provincial government.

They marched through various bazaars and in the end held a protest outside the press club, warning the authorities concerned to change the plan and build the college at some other site otherwise they would expand their protests.

Some of the elders, who spoke on the occasion, said that the construction of girls degree college in the park would not only deprive the people of the only place of recreation, but also a site for funeral prayers within the park limits.

They said that the surrounding areas had become much populated and except this park there was no other open space for the residents to hold their social, religious and recreational activities.

They alleged that a political tussle between ANP leader Azam Khan Hoti and Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti was behind this move.

They pointed out that in 1995 the then provincial minister Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti had established the Dang Baba Park and because of this he was popular among the residents.

They said that people of the congested localities had been frequently using the park for sports, exercise, funerals and Eid prayers, political meetings and community functions. The elders said that it was the duty of rulers to provide playgrounds, parks and other recreational facilities to the young generation.

They said that they were not against the construction of the college, but the government’s choice of the site for it.