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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\u2019s Kurram District.<\/p>\n
The religiopolitical Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) had given a country-wide call<\/a> of protests to express solidarity with the people of Parachinar, who have also been staging a sit-in since December 20<\/a> against the law and order situation as well as road closures.<\/p>\n The demonstrators are protesting the ongoing violence<\/a> in Kurram as well as an incident where two people were killed and later decapitated<\/a> after being waylaid on their way towards Parachinar in the district\u2019s Bagan area.<\/p>\n Speaking to Dawn.com<\/em>, MWM spokesperson Syed Ali Ahmer Zaidi alleged that the police resorted to tear gas shelling and baton-charge at \u201c10 places \u2014 including Abbas Town, Power House and Kamran Chowrangi\u201d \u2014 and got the roads cleared.<\/p>\n However, he added, the sit-ins at three locations were continuing, namely at Numaish Chowrangi, Ancholi and Rizvia Society. He criticised what he called \u201cstate tyranny against peaceful protesters\u201d.<\/p>\n Violence also erupted on main National Highway in Malir where police and protesters clashed, resulting in injuries to several policemen and protesters.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Dr Summaiya said one person with a gunshot injury on his left arm was brought from Numaish Chowrangi to Civil Hospital Karachi.<\/p>\n Malir Superintendent of Police (SP) Saeed Rind told Dawn.com<\/em> 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 \u201cstraight firing\u201d, resulting in bullet injuries to two policemen.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the MWM spokesperson in a statement said that the \u201cpolice resorted to straight firing on participants of the sit-in in Malir, resulting in bullet injuries to nine persons including two in critical condition.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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, \u201cwho failed to open the roads in Parachinar\u201d.<\/p>\n Safvi maintained that the protest \u201cwill continue in any case\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Sindh government has used force. We will fight state oppression,\u201d he said. He added that dozens of protesters were injured by police brutality at Numaish Chowrangi and condemned the arrest of Allama Naqvi.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government and some black sheep are conspiring to create communal riots in the city,\u201d he said. \u201cBanned sectarian groups are being given free rein on the streets as part of a conspiracy to suppress the demands of the public.\u201d<\/p>\n He called on the Sindh government to stop brutality against innocent civilians, adding that protesting is the right of every citizen.<\/p>\n He also called on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and President Asif Ali Zardari to take notice of the \u201cstate oppression\u201d by the Sindh government.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe FIR for the murderous attack on Naqvi will be registered against Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah,\u201d he said and reiterated that the protests in solidarity with the protesters in Parachinar would continue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe PPP government has revived the memory of the Zia era,\u201d the MWM leader said. \u201cThe Sindh government has proved that it is not with the oppressed but with the oppressors.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier today, CM Shah confirmed that \u201cadministrative action\u201d was taken against protesters at some locations to get the roads cleared and reopened for traffic.<\/p>\n The city police chief had claimed<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Subsequently, Allama Naqvi asked<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, several roads in Karachi were reopened for traffic as the sit-ins eased after police warnings<\/a>. The roads at six different locations \u2014 out of 13 where they were being held yesterday<\/a> \u2014 had been reopened for vehicles after the protests ended, according to a traffic update shared by the Karachi Traffic Police.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n However, the traffic police said the protests continued at four different points across the city.<\/p>\n 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\u2019 Cut to a service lane heading to Punjab Adda (bus stand).<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar was also closed, with vehicles from Mosmiyat directed towards University Road and the inner streets from Munawar Chowrangi.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n