KARACHI, July 8: The organizers of the ill-fated Nishtar Park public meeting of April 11 installed their own sound system after taking charge of the stage from the ARY-QTV channel, Pakistan Sunni Movement chief Shah Sirajul Haq Qadri informed the blast inquiry tribunal on Saturday.

Cross-examined by Additional Advocate-General Sarwar Khan, the eye-witness deposed that loudspeakers were installed by Jamaat Ahle Sunnat volunteer Faisal Qadri, who died in the blast. The TV channel had earlier, before delivering the stage to the organizers, removed the sound system used by it for its Naatia Mushaira and Naat competition on the night between April 10 and April 11. Asked why he did not disclose the fact in his statement to the investigation officer under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Shah Siraj said the IO never inquired about the sound system. Except for the installation of amplifiers, he added, no change in the stage erected by the TV channel was made by the organizers, who took over the stage on the morning of April 11.

In response to another question, he admitted that a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the provincial home minister was held on April 4 and not April 9 as stated by him earlier in his testimony. A memorandum submitted by Shah Turabul Haq Qadri, Jamat Ahle Sunnat chief and permit holder for the main Eid-i-Milad procession, called for the same security arrangements as were made for the occasion last year. No new measure was demanded, Shah Siraj, who is the son of Shah Turab, said.

The PSM chief agreed that all arrangements inside Nishtar Park were in the hands of the organizers and entry and exit points were exclusively manned by their volunteers. The organizing committee included, among others, Mohammad Altaf Qadri, Mohammad Hussain Lakhani, Javed Qadri and Maulana Khalilur Rehman Chishti.

About 22 small processions, he said, joined the main Eid-i-Milad procession on its way from the Memon Masjid to Nishtar Park. All entry points except six lanes were blocked for traffic on M A Jinnah Road on April 11. The points kept open to enable small rallies to joint the main procession were located at Boulton Market, Denso Hall, DMC Chowk, Jamila Street, Kandawala Building and Capri Cinema. The arrangements along the procession route, he said, were adequate but denied the AAG’s suggestion that the procession entered the Nishtar Park area amid ‘heavy’ security.

Police personnel and Rangers were present in sizable numbers along with the fire-fighting staff but it would be wrong to say that security around the park at the time of the procession’s arrival was ‘heavy’, the PSM chief said. He agreed that no untoward incident occurred anywhere in Karachi from the first of Rabiul Awwal till the Nishtar Park carnage. He denied that a large fleet of ambulances was present in or around Nishtar Park.

The PSM chief again asked for restoration of police guard for his security. He said the police guards assigned to him have yet to resume their duty. The tribunal, which consists of Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi of the Sindh High Court, asked the AAG to ensure that the witness continues to enjoy police protection. He said he was told by a police officer that police guards could not be provided to a person making false allegations against the force. Further proceedings were adjourned to Monday.