KARACHI: One dead, many hurt as strike turns violent: 100 ‘miscreants’ picked up
By Arman Sabir
KARACHI, Dec 15: A man was killed and many people, including four policemen and two Rangers personnel, were injured in violence at Sohrab Goth on Friday during the strike called by the Pakhtoon Action Committee (Loya Jirga) to protest against what they said injustices against Pakhtoons in Karachi.
The Karachi Transport Ittehad, a major group of transporters, also supported the strike call by keeping their buses, minibuses and coaches off road. All of the Pakhtoon dominated areas remained closed across the metropolis.
Law and order was disturbed in parts of city and a police kiosk, five motorbikes and three vehicles were set ablaze by the protesters. The most troubled area was Sohrab Goth where violence broke out in the morning blocking the Super Highway for rest of the day.
At a news conference on Thursday, Pakhtoon Action Committee Chairman Shahi Syed had claimed that the strike would be peaceful as it was only related to the problems and rights of the Pakhtoon community. However, law and order situation was witnessed at Sohrab Goth on Friday morning.
The protesters lit bonfire on the main Super Highway and blocked traffic flow up to Sabzimandi. The Rangers personnel and policemen reached the spot to bring the situation under control but the protesters opened fire. “They (protesters) fired straight shots and the police opened firing in the air to disperse the violent protesters. As a result of firing, four policemen were wounded and taken to a hospital,” DIG Operations Mushtaq Shah told Dawn.
He said the hide-and-seek between the protesters and law enforcers continued for hours. Police and Rangers continued to make efforts to bring the law and order under control. Police also lobbed dozens of teargas shells to disperse the violent youths.
The protesters, however, pelted many vehicles with stones shattering their windscreens, and set ablaze a police kiosk, five motorbikes, and three vehicles. Many people suffered injuries including four policemen and two Rangers officials. Keeping in view the deteriorating law and order, some policemen in civvies started setting on fire the roadside wooden shops of the area people that forced them to stop pelting the police with stones and backed out, witnesses said.
DIG Mushtaq Shah said: “We have picked up almost 100 protesters for creating law and order situation. We will constitute cases against those who took law into their hands.”
KTI chief said: “Transporters have nothing to do with violence. We have observed a peaceful strike and kept our vehicles off road. We do not need to take to streets.”
The transport operators strike caused immense problems to commuters. Several people were seen standing at bus stops in different localities. In absence of the public transport, many people could not reach their offices and workplaces. Attendance in offices and factories remained thin due to the effective strike of the transport operators.
The adviser to chief minister on home affairs, Waseem Akhtar, told Dawn that a meeting was held two days back with the Pakhtoon representatives and their demands were listened. “We handed over Rs2 million cheque in compensation to their vehicles damaged during previous incidents of violence. We have done what we could do instantly. Their other issues pertained to federal, provincial or city governments and we asked them to nominate two people to form a committee so that all the issues could be solved amicably,” he added.
As far as injustices by the police are concerned, Mr Akhtar said: “I informed them that I would take action if any injustice would be done but the drivers should also follow traffic rules.” He said they had assured the government that they would observe a peaceful strike.
He said, “Their issues are not as serious as they are making hue and cry. They just tried to take political mileage by blocking roads and inflicted damages to public and private property. During the violence, one man lost his life and four policemen suffered injuries. We will take action against violators. We are trying to make the city peaceful and we have organised Defence exhibition successfully. On Saturday, foreign team will play a match but some people want to create law and order. We will foil their evil designs,” the adviser asserted.
KARACHI, Dec 15: A man was killed and many people, including four policemen and two Rangers personnel, were injured in violence at Sohrab Goth on Friday during the strike called by the Pakhtoon Action Committee (Loya Jirga) to protest against what they said injustices against Pakhtoons in Karachi.
