6 wounded as police, protesters clash near Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Hadeed over canals project

At least six people, including a lawyer, were injured in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Hadeed area on Sunday morning when police clashed with members of the legal fraternity during an attempt to end their five-day sit-in against the canals project, according to officials and witnesses.

Earlier this week, the government halted the controversial Cholistan canals project, which was inaugurated in February by Army Chief Gen Asim Munir and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. The decision came after months of protests, a unanimous Sindh Assembly resolution against the project, and concerns over India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty. The government said work on the canals would remain on hold until a consensus is reached in the Council of Common Interests.

Despite the announcement, protests against the issue continued across several towns in Sindh on Saturday, alongside a strike called by Jamaat-i-Islami. Lawyers staged a sit-in at Babarloi in Khairpur district, and the demonstration in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Hadeed entered its fifth day today.

Karachi East-Zone DIG Usman Ghani told Dawn.com, “The police were removing tents blocking the main road in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Hadeed for the past five days when they came under attack by a lawyer, injuring a policeman, who in retaliation also injured the attacker.”

He added that the police “dislodged the tents from the road and registered an FIR (first information report) against the violent members of the crowd”.

DIG Ghani continued that the police and Rangers deployed at the site later came under stone pelting and baton charges by a mob, allegedly incited by members of the legal community, calling it “very unfortunate” behaviour from those expected to uphold the law.

He further recalled that three days ago, a sub-inspector of the investigation police was also attacked by members of the lawyers’ community while he was attending court. “The police have shown utmost restraint to avoid any untoward situation,” said the senior officer.

The DIG, however, emphasised that “given the current domestic and international cross-border terrorism and war threats, this repeated lawlessness by a community well-versed and sworn to uphold the law is unacceptable.”

He vowed, “It will be dealt with legally according to the emerging situation to uphold law and order and public safety. Law will take its own course.”

In response to a question, DIG Ghani confirmed that six protesters had been detained but were injured, so “we sent them to a hospital.” He clarified that no one was in police custody, but an FIR was being registered against them.

Meanwhile, a political worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told Dawn.com that early in the morning, when only a few protesters had gathered on a road linking the National Highway with the Superhighway near Gulshan-i-Hadeed, the police took action, resulting in injuries to one lawyer and the detention of several other protesters.

“The police removed the tents set up for the sit-in and cleared the road for traffic. However, lawyers and political workers mobilised their supporters through social media, urging them to join the protest,” he said.

The activist added that a few hundred people arrived and attacked the police with stones, damaging their vehicles.

“Over two hundred protesters later resumed the sit-in, blocking the link road again,” he said.

Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) Secretary-General Dr Safdar Ali Abbasi, in a statement, condemned the police crackdown on “peaceful protest sit-ins against the construction of canals and illegal land allotments in various cities of Sindh, which resulted in injuries and arrests of dozens, including lawyers”.

“Police action on peaceful protests by the Sindh government has revived the memories of dictatorial rule,” the statement quoted him as saying. “The protest movement ongoing in Sindh for the past eight months had remained peaceful.”

He claimed that there had neither been any damage across Sindh, nor stone pelting. “Not even a single vehicle window had been broken during the protests,” he added.

“The PPP is trying unsuccessfully to crush the peaceful movement through police brutality,” he said, urging the rulers to come to their senses and warning that such tactics would not suppress the ongoing movement.

Dr Abbasi vowed that peaceful protests in Sindh would continue.

“We demand the immediate release of all detainees. The legal fraternity is not alone and the people of Sindh stand with them.”