Residents of Karachi continued to face traffic problems for the seventh day as protests against the recent killings in Parachinar, located in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, continued on Wednesday.
In Kurram, a Grand Jirga has been working towards a peace agreement, and representatives from Lower Kurram have not yet signed the agreement. Clashes stemming from decades of land disputes have claimed at least 130 lives since last month, and food and medicine shortages have been reported due to weeks-long road blockades.
Residents of Parachinar in Upper Kurram have also been staging a sit-in since December 20, which dawn.com The correspondent confirmed that it would continue today, against the public order situation and the closure of roads.
The religious political party Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) had called for nationwide protests to express solidarity with the people of Parachinar, following which the sit-ins in Karachi began on December 24 and further expanded last Thursday, causing traffic interruptions.
Yesterday, pitched battles broke out between the police and youth groups in multiple places in Karachi, with six police officers among at least 11 people injured, while law enforcement forces fired tear gas to expel protesters who were staging sit-ins against the blockade and killings in Parachinar.
While the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) also started counter-protest sit-ins at 14 locations, roads remained closed to traffic at 18 locations in the city last night, with MWM protests continuing at four points.
Traffic disruptions persisted today as well after the MWM protests entered their ninth day.
According to a Karachi Traffic Police statement issued at 11am, “MWM sit-ins continued to block Abul Hasan Ispahani Road near Abbas Town, Kamran Chowrangi, Numaish, University Road towards Samama Mall. and Water Pump Chowrangi in Ancholi. “
The Abul Hasan Ispahani road, which runs from Paradise Bakery to the highway, was closed, while the opposite road, which runs from the highway towards Maskan Chowrangi, was open to traffic in both directions.
A similar situation occurred in Ancholi and Numaish, where the road leading to Gurumandir was blocked, traffic police said. On University Road, smaller vehicles were being diverted to the service lane while heavier traffic was diverted onto residential streets.
On the other hand, ASWJ protests continued at Paracha Chowk near Gulbai and Shahrah-i-Orangi, the traffic police said.
However, according to ASWJ spokesperson Umar Muavia, the group was organizing protests at eight places: Naagin Chowrangi, Orangi Town, Sher Shah Chowk, Jilani Center near Tower, Fresco Chowk, Qayyumabad, Korangi No. 5 and Quaidabad.
In a statement, the banned group demanded a military operation in Parachinar and compensation to the heirs of the victims and damage to the properties there.
9 police officers and 7 protesters injured during a police action
Yesterday’s police action left nine police officers and seven protesters injured, according to lists published by the Sindh police, available with dawn.com.
At Numaish Chowrangi, six policemen, including a superintendent of the Anti-Terrorism Department, were injured by stones and one was injured by “gunshots”, according to a list.
Two police officers were injured by “gunshots” during the protests at Malir 15, National Highway, according to the list.
Another list, issued by the Sindh IG Operation Room, stated that seven protesters were “injured by firing” at Malir 15 and were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC).
Police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed confirmed that dawn.com that four men, named on the list of protesters issued by the police, suffered gunshot wounds.
According to Dr. Syed, Ali Raza had a “gunshot wound in [his] head” and was in critical condition. Qasim Zafar suffered a gunshot wound in the left leg, Mohsin Anwar in the right leg and an unidentified man received a gunshot wound in the abdomen, the doctor added.
In a statement, Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon promised that concrete action would be taken against those who “attacked the police and took the law into their own hands during the protests.”
Stating that the police had taken steps to establish the warrant, IGP Memon said “unfortunate incidents during the establishment of law and order” would be investigated on merit.
Additionally, he noted that police property was damaged and police officers were injured.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Lanjar visited the injured policemen who were undergoing treatment at the Aga Khan University Hospital.
He ordered that the injured police officers be provided with the best possible medical facilities and that a police contact person remain in touch with their families.
Among the injured were Zagham Abbas of Model Colony police station, Ayaz Khan of Shaheen Force and Nawaz Ali of Special Security Unit, the Sindh information department said.
Police initially encountered no resistance as they dismantled tents and dispersed protesters at nearly six points, but later in the night, a clash between police and agitators at Malir 15 resulted in gunshot wounds to at least four protesters and two policemen
Regarding the police action in Numaish, IGP Memon said protesters also set fire to some police motorcycles while “some arrests” were made.
Meanwhile, the MWM condemned the police action and stated that more than two dozen of its workers were detained by law enforcement.
MWM spokesperson Syed Ali Ahmer Naqvi said Sunrise that in the morning, police fired tear gas and attacked protesters with batons at 10 locations, including the city of Abbas, and “forcibly ended the sit-ins.”
The MWM spokesperson claimed in a statement that law enforcers manhandled elderly scholar Allama Syed Hasan Zafar Naqvi in Numaish.
The party has promised to continue the protest.
Additional contributions from Javid Hussain
