No end to highway chaos as lawyers’ sit-in against Hyderabad SSP continues for second day

Lawyers raised slogans against the Sindh Police, including the SSP of Hyderabad, throughout the day on Friday, as they continued their sit-in on the Hyderabad Bypass in protest against the registration of an FIR against a lawyer over a fancy number plate a few days ago.

On Thursday, Hyderabad lawyers took to the streets after DIG Tariq Dharejo did not come to the High Court Bar on time. Faisal Mughal, the candidate for president in the Hyderabad district bar election on February 15, told The News that Tariq Dharejo had ended the lawyers’ sit-in at the office of the SSP Hyderabad on February 4 by talking about the transfer of the SSP.

He said DIG Dharejo had said that he would honour the lawyers at the High Court Bar at 12 o’clock and announce the acceptance of their demands, but this was not done, after which a strict plan of action was announced.

Faisal Mughal said lawyer Ali Raza was arrested and humiliated by the Hyderabad police and this matter escalated into tension. Initially, the SSP of Hyderabad was told to withdraw the FIR against Ali Raza and return the vehicle to him. When the dharna was held at the SSP office, Farrukh Lanjar, who is a nephew of the home minister, he did not come to talk to the lawyers despite being in his office.

On the other hand, on the second day of the sit-in, Sindh Tehreek-e-Insaf President Haleem Adil Sheikh, SUP chief Zain Shah, Ayaz Latif Palijo, and leaders of other political, religious and business organizations participated in the sit-in at Hyderabad Bypass and stood in solidarity with the lawyers

Lawyers of Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Jamshoro and Nowshehro Feroze joined in solidarity by holding sit-ins in their respective districts

Hyderabad High Court Bar Association President Ayaz Tanyo told The News that the Sindh police offered to resolve the matter by forming a judicial commission on Thursday, but they would accept it only if the notification for the transfer or leave of SSP Hyderabad Farrukh Lanjar was issued first.

Ayaz Tanyo said that till SSP Farrukh is transferred, the lawyers will sit even if the sit-in is prolonged for 24 days.

Inayat Iqbal Jatoi, the focal person of the Sindh Bar Council, said that the home minister and the IGP are in negotiations over the phone but are not ready to find a solution to the issue. The lawyers do not want to prolong the matter, but all political and religious parties have assured us of their support, and we do not want this one-point demand to turn into many more demands.

On the other hand, when the home minister arrived to attend a wedding ceremony on Thursday, there were rumours that he would come and negotiate with the lawyers, but these rumors died down when he left for Karachi after meeting the senior officers.

For the Hyderabad sit-in, the lawyers have also made arrangements to avoid the cold by putting up tents on the National Highway at Wadho Wah.

When the DIG Hyderabad went to the SSP office late on Tuesday, February 4, to negotiate with the lawyers, the FIR against the lawyer Ali Raza was withdrawn and the vehicle was also returned to him.

Due to the sit-in, long queues of trailers and trucks can be seen on the highway and citizens are facing difficulties. Passengers and trucks travelling to Karachi from Sukkur and Punjab are being guided by the Motorway Police to travel to Karachi via the Indus Highway from Qazi Ahmed. Meanwhile, vehicles travelling to Upper Sindh and Punjab from Hyderabad are using the Indus Highway from Jamshoro as an alternative. The Hyderabad police have also issued a travel advisory requesting the traffic coming from Nawabshah, Sanghar and Matiari districts to use Halanaka Road instead of the Bypass Road.