As demonstrations over the recent killings in Parachinar, which is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram District, continued on Wednesday, Karachi residents faced traffic problems for the seventh day in a row.
The representatives from Lower Kurram have not yet signed the peace agreement, which has been negotiated by a Grand Jirga in Kurram. Since last month, at least 130 people have died in clashes resulting from long-standing land conflicts, and weeks-long road blockades have caused shortages of food and medication.
In protest of the law and order situation and road closures in Parachinar, Upper Kurram, residents have also been holding a sit-in since December 20. A Dawn.com correspondent reported that the sit-in is still going on today.
Following a nationwide call for protests by the religiopolitical Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) to show support for the people of Parachinar, sit-ins in Karachi started on December 24 and grew last Thursday, causing traffic jams.
As police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators demonstrating against the blockade and killings in Parachinar, pitched fights between police and groups of young people occurred yesterday in many locations in Karachi, injuring at least 11 individuals, including six police officers.
Roads were blocked for traffic in 18 spots throughout the city Friday night as the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) also began counter-protest sit-ins at 14 locations.
The Karachi Traffic Police said in a statement at 11 a.m. that the MWM sit-ins were still blocking Abul Hasan Ispahani Road near Abbas Town, Kamran Chowrangi, Numaish, University Road heading towards Samama Shopping Centre, and Water Pump Chowrangi at Ancholi. The MWM demonstrations entered their ninth day and continued at four points, while the ASWJ protests continued for a second day.
Abul Hasan Ispahani Road, running from Paradise Bakery to the Superhighway, was closed, while the opposite road, which led from the Superhighway towards Maskan Chowrangi, remained open for two-way traffic.
According to the traffic police, a similar two-way scenario was observed at Ancholi and Numaish, where the road leading to Gurumandir was closed. Heavy traffic was being redirected through residential streets at University Road, while smaller vehicles were being moved to the service lane.
On the other side, protests by the ASWJ continued at Paracha Chowk near Gulbai and Shahrah-i-Orangi, the traffic police stated.
However, the group was holding protests at eight different places, including Naagin Chowrangi, Orangi Town, Sher Shah Chowk, Jilani Center near Tower, Fresco Chowk, Qayyumabad, Korangi No. 5, and Quaidabad, according to ASWJ spokesperson Umar Muavia.
Nine police officers and seven protesters were injured during yesterday’s police action, according to lists released by the Sindh police and made available by Dawn.com.
Six police officers, including the superintendent of the Counter-Terrorism Department, were hurt by stones at Numaish Chowrangi, and one was hurt by “firing” during protests at Malir 15, National Highway.
The banned group had demanded in a statement that there be a military operation in Parachinar, as well as compensation for the victims’ heirs and damage to the property there.
According to a different list released by the Sindh IG Operations Room, seven demonstrators were transported to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) after being “injured by firing” at Malir 15.
Dr. Summaiya Syed, a police physician, told Dawn.com that four males who were on the police-issued list of protestors were shot.
Ali Raza was in serious condition after suffering a “gunshot injury to his head,” according to Dr. Syed. The doctor also mentioned that Mohsin Anwar had a gunshot wound on his right leg, Qasim Zafar had a wound on his left leg, and an unnamed individual had a wound on his belly.
Ghulam Nabi Memon, the Sindh Inspector General of Police, promised in a statement that those who “attacked the police and took the law into their hands during the protests” will face serious consequences.
The IGP Memon stated that the “unfortunate incidents during establishing law and order” will be investigated on a merit basis and that the police had taken action to establish the writ of law.
He added that officers were hurt and that police property was damaged.
Ziaul Hasan Lanjar, the home minister of Sindh, paid a visit to the injured police officers undergoing treatment at the Aga Khan University Hospital.
He ordered that the injured officers receive the finest medical care available and that a police liaison stay in touch with their families.
According to the Sindh information department, among the injured were Nawaz Ali from the Special Security Unit, Ayaz Khan from Shaheen Force, and Zagham Abbas from Model Colony Police Station.
At least four protesters and two police officers were shot during a battle between police and agitators in Malir 15 later that evening. At first, the police had encountered no opposition when they broke up tents and dispersed demonstrators at nearly six places.
In reference to the police response at Numaish, IGP Memon had stated that “some arrests” had been made and that the demonstrators had also set fire to a few police motorcycles.
The MWM, in the meantime, denounced the police action and said that more than two dozen of its employees were taken into custody.
MWM spokesperson Syed Ali Ahmer Naqvi told Dawn that the police “forcibly ended the sit-ins” in the morning by using tear gas shells and charging demonstrators with batons at ten locations, including Abbas Town.
In a statement, the MWM spokesperson said that Allama Syed Hasan Zafar Naqvi, an old scholar, was physically assaulted by the police in Numaish.
The demonstration will go on, the party has pledged.
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