At least 11 injured in clashes as Karachi police attempt to disperse protests against Parachinar killings

At least 11 people, including six cops, were injured on Tuesday as the Karachi police attempted to disperse sit-ins across the city against the recent killings in Parachinar, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram District.

The religiopolitical Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) had given a country-wide call of protests to express solidarity with the people of Parachinar, who have also been staging a sit-in since December 20 against the law and order situation as well as road closures.

The demonstrators are protesting the ongoing violence in Kurram as well as an incident where two people were killed and later decapitated after being waylaid on their way towards Parachinar in the district’s Bagan area.

Speaking to Dawn.com, MWM spokesperson Syed Ali Ahmer Zaidi alleged that the police resorted to tear gas shelling and baton-charge at “10 places — including Abbas Town, Power House and Kamran Chowrangi” — and got the roads cleared.

However, he added, the sit-ins at three locations were continuing, namely at Numaish Chowrangi, Ancholi and Rizvia Society. He criticised what he called “state tyranny against peaceful protesters”.

Violence also erupted on main National Highway in Malir where police and protesters clashed, resulting in injuries to several policemen and protesters.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that four injured people, including one in critical condition with a bullet wound to the head, were brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre from Malir.

She said three policemen from Malir with injuries caused by hard and blunt instruments were also brought. The police surgeon further said that three policemen were injured in clashes with the protesters at Numaish Chowrangi, two constables and the Pak Colony station house officer, and were also brought for treatment.

Dr Summaiya said one person with a gunshot injury on his left arm was brought from Numaish Chowrangi to Civil Hospital Karachi.

Malir Superintendent of Police (SP) Saeed Rind told Dawn.com that the protesters blocked the highway at Malir-15 at night. He said when the police took action to get the highway vacated; the protestors who were armed allegedly resorted to “straight firing”, resulting in bullet injuries to two policemen.

He said the police resorted to tear gas shelling and dispersed the protesters who fled towards the streets. The Malir SP refuted charges of the protesters that the police resorted to firing on them, saying that only tear gas shelling was used.

Meanwhile, the MWM spokesperson in a statement said that the “police resorted to straight firing on participants of the sit-in in Malir, resulting in bullet injuries to nine persons including two in critical condition.”

The spokesperson said they would not be deterred by bullets and threats and a large number of people had again started gathering at Numaish Chowrangi while an emergent meeting of the MWM was underway to chalk out 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 alleged violence on senior 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 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 the demands of the public.”

He called on the Sindh government to stop brutality against innocent civilians, adding that protesting is the right of every citizen.

He also called on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and President Asif Ali Zardari to take notice of the “state oppression” by the Sindh government.

MWM leader Allama Mukhtar Emami held Sindh Chief Minster Murad Ali Shah and Bilawal responsible 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 the 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 proved that it is not with the oppressed but with the oppressors.”

Earlier today, CM Shah confirmed that “administrative action” was taken against protesters at some locations to get the roads cleared and reopened for traffic.

The city police chief had claimed that the blocked roads in the metropolis would be cleared of protests by yesterday evening, clarifying later that he meant they would be organised in a way that does not disrupt the traffic flow.

Subsequently, Allama Naqvi asked protesters to keep one track open of the roads where sit-ins were being held for the smooth flow of traffic. However, he made it clear that these sit-ins would continue until the blocked roads in Kurram were reopened.

A spokesperson for the MWM had stated that the sit-in on the main Sharea Faisal near Natha Khan Bridge had been ended to facilitate people’s movement.

Earlier in the day, several roads in Karachi were reopened for traffic as the sit-ins eased after police warnings. The roads at six different locations — out of 13 where they were being held yesterday — had been reopened for vehicles after the protests ended, according to a traffic update shared by the Karachi Traffic Police.

The six locations that were cleared for traffic included Jauhar Mor heading to 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 going towards Nazimabad-2; and Ancholi and Ayesha Manzil on Shahrah-i-Pakistan.

However, the traffic police said the protests continued at four different points across the city.

At Abbas Town in District Malir, both tracks of Abul Hasan Ispahani Road towards Superhighway remained closed, where diversions have been provided for traffic from Paradise Bakery to Fariya Chowk and inside streets and from Rangers’ Cut to a service lane heading to Punjab Adda (bus stand).

In District East, the M.A. Jinnah Road near Numaish Chowrangi remained closed where alternative diversions from Capri Cinema to Soldier Bazaar and Saddar Dawa Khana have been provided.

Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar was also closed, with vehicles from Mosmiyat directed towards University Road and the inner streets from Munawar Chowrangi.

University Road going towards Samama Shopping Centre and Nipa roundabout was closed at the Metro Safari Store, where diversions were provided from streets inside residential areas.

Outlawed ASWJ begins counter-protests

Separately, the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) began its counter-protests at at least two locations in Karachi today.

This came a day after the group’s announcement yesterday that it would stage sit-ins at 60 locations across the city starting today.

According to ASWJ spokesperson Umar Muavia, the group had begun a protest sit-in on Sharea Faisal, while another was reported at Qayyumabad.

According to video footage available with Dawn.com, speaking at a protest near a railway track, an ASWJ leader asserted: “As soon as the leadership announces, God-willing, from Karachi to Khyber, no train would operate on this railway track.”

The leader raised slogans of “Pakistan Zindabad” and “Pakistan Army Zindabad”, demanding that a military operation be conducted in Kurram and that the KP apex committee’s decisions be implemented.

Protests ended at 8 points out of 12: Sindh CM

Meanwhile, CM Shah said MWM-organised protests at a total of eight locations had ended so far, noting that they were being held at 12 points till Monday night.

Addressing a press conference in Thatta, CM Shah said: “The sit-ins are still continuing at four points. We are talking to them, and also taking some administrative action where needed, which may also upset people.”

He further said, “Now at the four places that are left [to be cleared], we will clear the protests by talking to them and administrative action.”

The chief minister recalled that negotiations with the MWM went on till late night yesterday, highlighting that they were even offered to hold a single protest without disrupting traffic flow.

He stressed that “distressing other people” was not the solution to the crisis ongoing in Kurram for over a month.