Who is behind pro-Rao Anwar rallies?

Karachi
SSP Rao Anwar caused a political storm when, addressing a press conference on April 30, he accused the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) of working against Pakistan at the behest of India, and demanded a ban on the political party.
The apparently surprised Pakistan People’s Party, the ruling party in Sindh, removed Anwar from his post for misusing his authority, and told him to report to the Central Police Office.
However, his removal has not gone down well with certain quarters, which have organised rallies in different parts of Malir recently to press the authorities to reinstate him.
On Tuesday, a rally was staged in favour of Anwar and the Pakistan Army in the Memon Goth neighborhood of Malir. Participants of the rally blocked the main road and chanted slogans for the restoration of the controversial police officer to his post.
On Monday, similar rallies were organised in Quaidabad, Manghopir and Soomar Goth. Banners and billboards inscribed with demands from the army chief and the DG Rangers to reinstate Anwar have been put up in various parts of the Malir district.
Aitbaar Gujjar, a PPP leader who planned the rally in Quaidabad, said that since action was taken against Anwar, the security situation in the area had become worsened. “In the last few years, Anwar has become popular among the residents of Malir for eliminating wrongdoings from the region,” he told The News.
Latif Rind, the main organiser of the rally in Manghopir, said Anwar had been punished for exposing the network of terrorists in the city. He said huge protests in favour of the police officer showed that residents of the district were not happy with the government’s decision.
However, local political observers say that station house officers (SHOs) in Malir were organising the rallies.
A political leader, requesting anonymity, said the SHOs had been asking criminals and land grabbers to organise demonstrations for the reinstatement of Anwar as SSP Malir.
“The SHOs are afraid that the appointment of a new and honest officer would end their wrongdoings in the region,” he said.
Sami Memon, a Malir-based veteran journalist, said protests being held on a daily basis in the district, especially on the National Highway and the Super Highway, had been causing traffic disruptions and commuters were suffering as a result.
He described the protests as part of larger efforts to put pressure on the government to reinstate Anwar. However, he said, genuine political parties and notables had not been part of the protests.
A section of political observers agree that Anwar had played a key role in eliminating networks of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and criminal syndicates from the district.
Sindh police chief Ghulam Hyder Jamali said on May 1 that Anwar curbed crime in his jurisdiction with “exemplary and successful actions”. However, human rights activists accuse Anwar of extrajudicial killings in fake encounters.