Faizabad crackdown: Violent protests paralyse life in city

Karachi’s thoroughfares, streets and alleyways on Saturday harked back to the times of political unrest when the metropolis shut down within minutes, leaving roads vacant except for a few stragglers and bringing all routine life and business activities to a standstill.

The city’s situation was a spill-over effect of the crackdown in Islamabad where the authorities started clearing the Faizabad Bridge of protesters responsible for disrupting daily life for 18 consecutive days.

The demonstrators affiliated with religious parties had occupied the interchange connecting Rawalpindi and Islamabad because they smell a conspiracy in the passage of the Elections Act 2017 in which the Khatm-e-Nabuwat oath was “deliberately modified”. The government termed it a “clerical error” and has already rectified it, but the protesters seek Law Minister Zahid Hamid’s resignation.

The Islamabad crackdown’s repercussions were felt throughout the country, as men supporting different religious parties caused unrest in various cities through protests. Clashes also broke out in different parts of Karachi, where police tried clearing the roads of the agitators.

Panic gripped the country’s financial hub following the appearance of masked men, who forcibly closed shops, markets and business centres in response to the crackdown in the capital.

People left their workplaces early to reach home without running into any untoward incident, but the sudden surge of vehicles on roads caused a traffic mess at various traffic intersections.

Public transport eventually disappeared from the city’s roads following incidents of arson, as many people were seen waiting at bus stops. The situation worsened when enraged groups poured out onto the roads to block various intersections, stopping vehicular traffic movement in many localities.

A large number of protesters had also appeared at Numaish Chowrangi, Hassan Square, Shaheed-e-Millat Expressway, Sohrab Goth, Tower, Teen Hatti, Hub River Road, Northern Bypass, Old Sabzi Mandi Teen Talwar, Korangi Crossing and Korangi No 2½. Over a dozen people, including Memon Goth SHO Gulzar Tunio, suffered bullet wounds when law enforcers and protesters came to blows at Star Gate, Sharea Faisal. The agitators also set fire to two vehicles and hurled stones at passing vehicles to force them to stop.

Malir SSP Rao Anwaar said police were negotiating with the protesters to open the road for vehicular traffic when unidentified men fired gunshots at random people, adding that the attack caused a stampede in which over a dozen people, including Tunio and a Malir policeman suffered bullet wounds.

Anwaar said police fired teargas to disperse the agitators who had regrouped to block Sharea Faisal, but law enforcers removed them from Star Gate and restored traffic. Clashes were also reported at the Nursery and FTC Flyover areas of Sharea Faisal. Police fired teargas at the protesters, as the agitators pelted law enforcers with stones.

In Saddar a dozen people were injured when agitators clashed with pushcart vendors. Saddar SP Tauqeer Muhammad Naeem said the vendors at the Empress Market had retaliated to the protesters’ attempt to shut down their business activities.

At the time this report was filed, clashes were under way in Malir’s Kala Board neighbourhood, where agitators set fire to a truck. Police resorted to aerial gunshots and fired teargas to disperse them, but they continued their sit-in by blocking the National Highway.

Before our going to press, demonstrations were still under way at Numaish Chowrangi, Hub River Road, Al-Asif Square, Orangi Town No 5, Teen Talwar, Liaquatabad Daak Khana, Teen Hatti, Mosamiat Chowrangi, Dawood Chowrangi, Landhi and Korangi No 2½.

Train service to the upcountry was also suspended due to violent protests in the city. Railway officials said that no train departed from the Karachi Cantonment railway station since 1pm.

At the last count, 44 people had been wounded in clashes across the metropolis. The injured were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), the Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) and the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH).

JPMC acting additional police surgeon (APS) Dr Sheeraz Ahmed said 28 injured were brought to the hospital, adding that 25 men had suffered bullet wounds, two were injured by stones and one by a sharp object.

CHK APS Dr Qarar Abbasi said a dozen injured were brought to the hospital’s trauma centre, adding that the men had been wounded after being hit with sticks and stones. Moreover, three injured protesters were taken to the LNH, while the wounded Memon Goth SHO was admitted in the AKUH.