Disputed LG Bill : MQM-P worker dies as police baton-charge activists outside CM House

KARACHI: A sit-in staged by the activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) against the disputed Local Government Law passed by the Sindh Assembly turned violent on Wednesday when protesters and police came face-to-face outside the Chief Minister’s House after the rally diverted from its original route to the Karachi Press Club from the Fawara Chowk.

Tensions further rose after Aslam, the joint organiser of the MQM-P Union Council-5, who was injured during police action outside the Sindh Chief Minister's House, succumbed to his injuries while being treated at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center. The MQM-P said that Aslam was injured due to intense baton charge and tear gas shelling by the police to disperse the protesters.

This was followed by unknown men riding on motorcycles forcing shopkeepers to shut their businesses in various parts of the city, including Jacob Lines, University Road, Khawaja Ajmer Nagri, Korangi, Burns Road, Guru Mandir, Tariq Road, Muhammad Ali Society, PECHS, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Liaquatabad. Besides forcing shopkeepers, tyres were also set on fire in various areas of the city by these men.

However, in some parts of the city, the shopkeepers themselves reopened their businesses. As the news about ‘namaloom afrad’ forcing shopkeepers to close their businesses spread, the law enforcement agencies, particularly Rangers, also took action and restored the commercial activities in the city. The business at the Burnes Road food street was also restored.

Talking to the media late night, MQM Convener Khaliq Maqbool announced Thursday’s protest has been changed to ‘Day of Mourning’ from the earlier announced ‘Black Day’. He said several federal ministers were also looking into the issue. We will get anti terrorism case registered against Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah, he said and added the IGP, despite a representative of the federal government, was behaving like a Sindh nationalist worker.

Earlier, after the death of Aslam, Dr Farooq Sattar, a veteran politician, who heads his own faction of the MQM-P, reached the party’s headquarters in Bahadurabad to show solidarity with the party workers.

Addressing a press conference, the MQM-P’s senior deputy convener Amir Khan said that the party will decide its next course of action after the funeral prayers of its deceased worker. Khan said except for the PPP, all the major political parties had rejected and were protesting against the controversial local government bill. “It was our democratic right to protest outside the Chief Minister's House," he said.

Meanwhile, Sattar said the Sindh government’s use of force against the peaceful protesters, particularly women, was incomprehensible and unforgettable. He said the elected representatives of the city had been tortured. “If you can break the law, then we will protest too,” he said, adding Jamaat-e-Islami was also sitting outside the Sindh Assembly. "Is it not the red zone?”

The MQM-P leaders appealed to the Karachi traders’ bodies to support the party’s day of mourning on Thursday. Earlier, a large number of activists of the MQM-P, including a federal minister, lawmakers, women and children, took part in the rally that started from the FTC Roundabout on Sharae Faisal and eventually reached the CM House, instead of going to the Fawara Chowk and the Karachi Press Club. A large contingent of police deputed at the PIDC Chowk did not stop the protesters from going to the CM House.

The MQM-P's top leadership, including its Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Amir Khan and Federal Minister for Information Technology Syed Aminul Haque, also attended the rally.

Police resorted to tear gas shelling and baton-charge in an effort to disperse the protesters, who staged a peaceful sit-in outside the Sindh Chief Minister's House, leaving several protesters injured, including six men and as many women, who were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment. MQM-P MPA Sadaqat Hussain was among the two-dozen protesters who were reportedly taken into custody and shifted to different police stations.

Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon held successful negotiations with MQM-P leader Federal Minister Aminul Haq, upon which, the protesters dispersed and reached the Karachi Press Club. The MQM-P leaders were asked to continue their protest outside the KPC instead of Red Zone of the city. Police officials said six activists, including MPA Sadaqat Hussain and two female activists, were taken into custody. The detained women were released after which normalcy returned and roads were opened for vehicular traffic. Announcing to observe a black day today (Thursday), MQM-P’s Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Thursday evening demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit Karachi and remove the Inspector General of Sindh Police from the post. Addressing the press conference, Siddiqui asked PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to 'control' the Sindh chief minister. “Otherwise, Bilawal House is also located in the city,“ he warned. He claimed the police had used the worst form of force at the PPP’s behest against the peaceful protesters and several workers and leaders were injured because of the baton charge.

He also claimed that the Haniz Soorti, former town nazim of New Karachi, had lost vision in one of his eyes due to police violence while the health condition of MPA Sadaqat Hussain had worsened. “Despite taking taxes from the city, the PPP rained sticks on its residents and elected representatives,” he said. He warned the ‘biased’ chief minister of 'horrible consequences' once citizens take to the streets. Siddiqui asked Karachi’s traders to support the MQM-P’s peaceful ‘black day’ today (Thursday). “The way the police treated our women party workers is question of our honour,” he said while asking "Who is responsible for the injuries sustained by MPA Sadaqat Hussain?"

The MQM-P leader demanded an inquiry against Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, saying that he should resign or the party will take strict action against the provincial government. “We don’t want to fight but we do know how to fight,” he reiterated.

Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Wednesday strongly condemned the hooliganism of the Sindh Police against the peaceful Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers holding a protest against the recently-passed local government bill by the provincial government.

At a time when an event like the Pakistan Super League was about to take place, there was no justification to such a violent incident, the minister said in a tweet. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership of Sindh Chapter was closely monitoring the situation, he said and assured of his full support to the MQM-P.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the use of tear gas and batons against the protesters outside the CM House in Karachi during which several MQM-P workers were injured. “The law enforcement personnel must not resort to senseless use of force against people exercising their constitutional right to protest,” the HRCP said in a statement.