ASWJ stages sit-in outside CM House to protest leader’s murder

Karachi
Activists of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) staged a sit-in outside the Chief Minister’s House on Thursday to protest against the murder of a senior leader of their party.
They placed the coffins of Dr Mohammad Fayyaz, the 40-year-old general secretary of the ASWJ’s Karachi chapter, and his driver, Mohammad Arif, 32, who had been shot dead in the Shershah area a day earlier, on Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road during their protest.
Dr Fayyaz’s car was at a traffic signal near Paracha Chowk when two men riding a motorcycle pulled up next to his vehicle, opened fire at him and escaped.
The protesters ended their sit-in after the administration assured ASWJ leader Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi that a meeting would be held with the Sindh chief minister soon to discuss their concerns.
Farooqi said he would ask the chief minister at the meeting to provide security to his party’s leaders.
Later, Maulana Ahmed Ludhyanvi led the funeral prayers for the slain men in Orangi Town. A large number of supporters and workers of the party attended.
Of late, the city has seen a surge in sectarian killings though a targeted operation spearheaded by the paramilitary Rangers has been going on for the past 18 months.
Government statistics show the number of target killings, kidnappings for ransom and car thefts has gone down, but the increases in sectarian killings across the city and demands for extortion money especially in Lyari have led to concerns that the operation might be running out of its steam.