At least 11 people, including six policemen, were injured on Tuesday when Karachi police tried to disperse city-wide sit-ins against the recent killings in Parachinar, located in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The religious political party Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) had called for protests throughout the country to express its solidarity with the people of Parachinar, who have also been carrying out a sit-in since December 20 against the law and order situation and against road closures.
Protesters are protesting the ongoing violence in Kurram as well as an incident in which two people were killed and then beheaded after being assaulted on their way to Parachinar in the Bagan area of the district.
talking to dawn.comMWM spokesperson Syed Ali Ahmer Zaidi alleged that the police resorted to tear gas shelling and baton charges at “ten places including Abbas Town, Power House and Kamran Chowrangi” and got the roads cleared.
However, he added, sit-ins continued at three places, namely at Numaish Chowrangi, Ancholi and Rizvia Society. He criticized what he called “state tyranny against peaceful protesters.”
Violence also broke out on the main national highway in Malir, where police and protesters clashed, resulting in injuries to several police officers and protesters.
Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said four injured people, including one in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center from Malir.
He said three police officers from Malir were also brought with injuries caused by hard and blunt instruments. The police surgeon further said that three policemen were injured in clashes with protesters at Numaish Chowrangi, two constables and the station house officer of Pak Colony, and were also taken for treatment.
Dr Summaiya said a person with a gunshot wound on the left arm was shifted from Numaish Chowrangi to Karachi Civil Hospital.
Malir Superintendent of Police (SP) Saeed Rind said sunrise.com that protesters blocked the Malir-15 highway at night. He said that when the police took action to clear the road; The protesters who were armed allegedly resorted to “direct shooting,” resulting in gunshot wounds to two police officers.
He said police resorted to tear gas shelling and dispersed protesters who fled into the streets. The Malir SP refuted the protesters’ allegations that the police resorted to shooting at them and claimed that only tear gas was used.
Meanwhile, the MWM spokesperson said in a statement that “the police resorted to shooting directly at the sit-in participants in Malir, resulting in gunshot wounds to nine people, including two in critical condition.”
The spokesperson said they would not be deterred by bullets and threats and that a large number of people had again started gathering at Numaish Chowrangi while a pop-up meeting of the MWM was being held to chalk out the future course of action.
MWM Information Secretary Asif Safvi condemned the alleged heavy firing and shelling by police and security forces on protesters at Numaish Chowrangi. He also condemned the alleged violence against prominent religious scholar Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi by paramilitary forces, “who failed to open the roads in Parachinar”.
Safvi maintained that the protest “will continue in any case.”
“The Sindh government has used force. “We will fight against state oppression,” he said. He added that dozens of protesters were injured by police brutality at Numaish Chowrangi and condemned the arrest of Allama Naqvi.
“The government and some black sheep are conspiring to create communal riots in the city,” he said. “Banned sectarian groups are being given free rein on the streets as part of a conspiracy to suppress public demands.”
He asked the Sindh government to stop brutality against innocent civilians, adding that protesting is the right of every citizen.
He also asked PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and President Asif Ali Zardari to take note of the “state oppression” by the Sindh government.
MWM leader Allama Mukhtar Emami blamed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Bilawal for the attack on Naqvi, who was allegedly kicked and punched.
“The FIR for the murderous attack on Naqvi will be registered against Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah,” he said and reiterated that protests in solidarity with the protesters in Parachinar would continue.
“The PPP government has revived the memory of the Zia era,” the MWM leader said. “The Sindh government has shown that it is not with the oppressed but with the oppressors.”
Earlier today, CM Shah confirmed that “administrative action” was taken against protesters in some places to clear roads and reopen them to traffic.
The city’s police chief had stated that blocked streets in the metropolis would be cleared of protests yesterday afternoon, later clarifying that he meant that they would be organized in a way that would not disrupt the flow of traffic.
Later, Allama Naqvi asked the protesters to keep a path open on the roads where sit-ins were being held to facilitate the flow of traffic. However, he made it clear that these sit-ins would continue until the blocked roads in Kurram were reopened.
An MWM spokesperson had stated that the sit-in on the main Sharea Faisal Road near Natha Khan Bridge had ended to facilitate the movement of people.
Earlier in the day, several roads in Karachi were reopened to traffic as the sit-ins subsided following warnings from police. Roads at six different locations, out of 13 where they were held yesterday, had been reopened to vehicles after the protests ended, according to a traffic update shared by the Karachi Traffic Police.
The six places that were cleared for traffic included Jauhar Mor in the direction of Jauhar Chowrangi; Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad; Shamsuddin Azeemi Road towards KDA Flats in Surjani town; Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road in Nazimabad-1 towards Nazimabad-2; and Ancholi and Ayesha Manzil in Shahrah-i-Pakistan.
However, traffic police said protests continued in four different parts of the city.
In Abbas Town in Malir district, both lanes of the Abul Hasan Ispahani Road towards the highway remained closed, where diversions have been planned for traffic from Paradise Bakery to Fariya Chowk and inner roads and from Rangers’ Cut to a service lane towards Punjab Adda (bus stop).
In the Eastern District, MA Jinnah road near Numaish Chowrangi remained closed where alternative diversions have been provided from Capri Cinema to Soldier Bazaar and Saddar Dawa Khana.
Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar was also closed, with Mosmiyat vehicles directed towards University Road and the inner streets of Munawar Chowrangi.
University Road towards Samama Mall and Nipa Roundabout was closed at Metro Safari Store, where diversions were provided from streets within residential areas.
Outlawed ASWJ begins counter protests
On the other hand, the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) today started its counter protests in at least two places in Karachi.
This came a day after the group’s announcement yesterday that it would be staging sit-ins at 60 locations across the city starting today.
According to ASWJ spokesperson Umar Muavia, the group had started a sit-in protest in Sharea Faisal, while another was reported in Qayyumabad.
According to the video available with sunrise.comspeaking at a protest near a railway track, an ASWJ leader stated: “As soon as the leaders announce, God willing, from Karachi to Khyber, no train will run on this railway track.”
The leader raised the slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad” and “Pakistan Army Zindabad”, demanding that a military operation be carried out in Kurram and the decisions of the KP high committee be implemented.
Protests ended in 8 points out of 12: Sindh CM
Meanwhile, CM Shah said the protests organized by the MWM at a total of eight places had ended so far, pointing out that they remained at 12 points till Monday night.
Addressing a press conference in Thatta, CM Shah said, “The sit-ins continue at four points. “We are talking to them and also taking some administrative measures where necessary, which may also upset people.”
He further said: “Now, in the four remaining places [to be cleared]”We will clarify the protests by talking to them and taking administrative measures.”
The prime minister recalled that negotiations with the MWM continued last night and highlighted that they were even offered to hold a single protest without interrupting the flow of traffic.
He stressed that “distressing other people” was not the solution to the crisis that had been going on in Kurram for more than a month.
