• Sit-ins over Parachinar murders spread to other cities in Sindh
• MWM leader holds the government responsible for any inconvenience to the people
• Says there is no Shia-Sunni conflict in Kurram
KARACHI: As multiple sit-ins organized at the request of the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) to protest the killings in Parachinar continued in the metropolis for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, the blockade of several important roads led to a traffic disorder across the city. city in the seven districts and caused difficulties for the people.
The MWM had expanded its protests to almost all of Karachi on Thursday and, as of 10pm on Friday, its sit-ins were continuing on the main MA Jinnah road near Numaish and on Abul Hasan Ispahani road near Abbas Town; at Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad. University Road near Samama Mall, Main Sharea Faisal near Star Gate, Korangi, Main National Highway near Malir 15, Shamsuddin Azimi Road in Surjani Town, Shahrah-i-Pakistan near Ancholi, Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar , Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road near Nazimabad No 1 and the main national highway near Steel Town.
Similar sit-ins were also held in different cities of the province, including Hyderabad and Sukkur, where a large number of MWM workers and supporters, including women and children, were present despite the cold weather.
In Karachi, traffic police diverted vehicular traffic to alternative routes, but long queues of cars, trucks, trailers, etc. could be seen on almost all the streets of the city until late into the night.
DIG-Traffic Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said Sunrise They have not only provided alternative arrangements/routes to citizens to avoid getting stuck in traffic jams but have also appointed traffic police for day and night shifts to ensure smooth flow of traffic.
He said several international passengers missed their flights as protesters blocked both Sharea Faisal roads near Karachi airport.
However, a central MWM leader stated that their “peaceful protests are not causing any problem to the citizens and if there is any problem then the government is responsible.”
In a press conference on Friday afternoon, Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi, referring to last month’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf march on Islamabad, said that the federal capital was sealed for a week and that it was the Pakistan government the one who “blocked” the country to prevent a sit-in there.
“Our protest is peaceful as traffic is moving at Numaish Chowrangi and shops are also open,” he said, referring to the central MWM sit-in.
He said that for the last 90 days, roads in Parachinar were closed, leading to shortage of essential commodities and medicines.
He said the people of Parachinar had been staging a sit-in and the protests in Karachi and other parts of the country were aimed at expressing solidarity with them. “The protests will continue until the Parachinar sit-in ends,” he promised.
“There is no conflict between Shiites and Sunnis”
Allama Naqvi declared that there was no “Shia-Sunni conflict” in Parachinar and warned against giving the humanitarian issue “a color of sectarianism.”
“If there is a land dispute, who is involved in it… we do not consider the situation in Parachinar as a sectarian issue,” he said, adding that Parachinar was surrounded by “terrorists from three sides” and the government was well aware of it. those involved in the murders of innocent people there.
“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and the local administration are incompetent,” he alleged, even though the MWM is a key ally of the Imran Khan-led PTI.
The MWM leader said the party leadership has already conveyed its concerns about the KP administration to Imran Khan.
He said the federal government cannot absolve itself of responsibility by blaming the KP government.
“The federal government has established its mandate in Islamabad but could not get roads opened in Parachinar,” he said.
He asked when air strikes against terrorism can be carried out in other parts of the country and why similar operations to eliminate terrorists are not carried out in Parachinar.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also earned the ire of Allama Naqvi for describing the Parachina issue as “local”.
“The Sindh CM is creating division among the nation by terming a national issue as a local one,” he said.
Published in Dawn, December 28, 2024
