KARACHI, April 13: Thousands of mourners turned out on Thursday evening to attend the funeral of four leaders of the Sunni Tehrik killed in Tuesday’s Nishtar Park blast and army was called out to help the civil administration in maintaining law and order in the city.
An army spokesman described the deployment of troops as a ‘preventive’ step. Besides, police and Rangers maintained their heightened alert and were seen in unusually large numbers in sensitive areas.
People had started converging on M.A. Jinnah Road much before the Maghrib prayers in front of the Eidgah Mosque adjacent to the mausoleum of Alam Shah Bukhari to attend the namza-i-janaza of the ST leaders.
The Maghrib prayers were offered on the M.A. Jinnah Road and shortly afterwards the bodies of Maulana Abbas Qadri, Maulana Iftikhar Bhatti, Maulana Akram Qadri and Dr Abdul Qadeer were brought in by activists of Sunni Tehrik.
Mufti Muneebur Rehman, chairman Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, led the funeral prayers.
Before the funeral prayers, enraged activists chanted slogans against the provincial government. Heavy contingents of the police were present close to the venue, but they gradually moved back when emotions began to run high.
Policemen were also deployed at rooftops overseeing the venue while Rangers and a few army vehicles were seen at the outer security cordon.
A senior police official of the Saddar Town said: “We have sought services of 50 volunteers of the Sunni Tehrik who are searching people coming for the funeral prayers.”
However, the physical search of people pouring in for funeral prayer was abandoned after awhile.
Just before the commencement of the funeral prayers, ST activists escorted young sons of Maulana Qadri to the prayer venue.
After the funeral prayers, Maulana Qadri, Maulana Bhatti and Dr Qadeer were laid to rest in the premise of Eidgah Mosque.
The body of Maulana Akram, to be buried in a New Karachi graveyard later, was taken to the Edhi morgue.
The soyem of the Nishtar Park carnage victims would be held on Friday after Juma prayers at Markaz Ahle Sunnat, according to an announcement made at the conclusion of the funeral prayers.
ARMY ON PATROL: Army convoys paraded through sensitive areas amid sporadic incidents of violence in different localities ahead of the funeral.
“The army has been deployed at sensitive places in the city to assist the civil administration in case of any eventuality,” a military spokesman said.
The police and Rangers also patrolled troubled areas.
During the day, main commercial and business activities remained suspended and most of the streets wore a deserted look.
The attendance in government and private institutions was thin and public transport largely remained off road. The Sindh governor and the chief minister had already announced three-day mourning and closure of educational institutions.
In sporadic incidents of violence, four vehicles were set on fire in different areas bringing the number of burned vehicles to 11 over the past three days.
The closure of petrol stations in the city since late Tuesday created a crisis-like situation as most motorists and motorcyclists ran out of fuel.
Petrol pump owners said they had closed down on the orders of the police.
A strike call has been given for Friday by religious and political parties to condemn the bombing.
LAHORE: Major business centres and markets remained closed in Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala on Thursday.
Traffic was thin on roads, especially in the morning when commuters faced problems in reaching their workplaces.
Activists of Jamat Ahle Sunnat and Sunni Tehrik took out processions in Gujranwala.
In Faisalabad, ST activists marched through city shopping areas and forced shopkeepers to observe the strike. However, they were intercepted by police and three of them were rounded up.
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