SUKKUR: The killing of former senator and Sindh chapter general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-i- Islam-Fazl Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro early Saturday morning sparked street protests across the province, suspending commercial acti­vities in many towns and traffic on major roads and the National Highway.

No incident of violence was reported from any part of the province, while heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies were deployed in several districts to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

Amid the shutdown in Sukkur, Kandhkot, Khair­pur, Ghotki, Shikarpur, Jac­obabad, Panu Aqil, Mirpur Mathelo, Daharki, Ubauro, Rohri, Mirpurkhas, Naush­ahro Feroz, Dadu and parts of Hyderabad and Badin, activists and leaders of the JUI-F staged sit-ins and rallies against the killing and demanded immediate arrest of the killers.

Several parties back Sunday strike call

Dr Soomro was performing Fajr prayers in a mosque in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Sukkur, when he was gunned down by armed assailants. He had stayed overnight at the Mad­ressah-i-Haqania adjacent to the mosque after his arrival from Larkana to address the Peace and Stability Confer­ence in Sukkur.

In Sukkur, public transport remained off the road with closure of petrol pumps and CNG stations across the district. Also bazaars, malls and trading centres, including Shahi Bazaar, Sarafa Bazaar, Pan Mandi, Grain Mandi, Wholesale Cloth Market, Clock Tower, Hussa­ini Road, Gharibabad, Stat­ion Road, Nishter Road, Frere Road, Bunder Road and Shaheed Ganj remained shut.

Similar shutdowns were witnessed in Ghotki, Panu Aqil, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroz, Dadu, Jamshoro, Mirpur­khas, Umerkot, Hyderabad and Badin.

In Mirpur Mathelo, JUI workers took out a protest rally under the leadership of JUI-F’s Moulvi Ishaq Laghari and Hamadullah Chachar from Bhitai Chowk to the National Highway where they staged a sit-in on the bypass.

In Panu Aqil, party activists led by Moulana Abdul Rahim Hanfi, Fazalullah Soomro, Mufti Jamil Ahmed Korai and other leaders of the JUI-F staged a sit-in on the National Highway where tyres were torched causing a traffic jam for some time. They later ended the blockade to allow people coming from upcountry to attend the funeral of Dr Soomro in Larkana.

Protest demonstrations were also staged on roads and the National Highway in Jacobabad where Qaumi Awami Tehrik president Ayaz Latif Palejo, Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party leaders Nizam Mastoi and Unar Solangi, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz leader Manan Mahar and others joined the protesters. Similarly in Ghotki, JSQM leaders took part in the protest demonstration staged by JUI-F workers.

In Hyderabad, JUI-F activists staged protests, led by party leaders Khalid Dhamra, Abdul Aziz and Sirajul Haq, at several places including Gharib Nawaz Bridge, Sabzi Mandi Chowk and outside the press club. Traffic on roads remained thin and mobile phone market and other shops in Saddar area remained closed during the first half of the day.

Sindh JUI-F spokesman Maulana Taj Mohammad Nahiyoon condemned the killing and demanded arrests of culprits. He said that that the JUI-F’s movement would continue as it had a history of sacrificing its leaders for the cause of Islam.

Sindh Tarraqi-pasand Party chairman Dr Qadir Magsi also condemned the killing, terming it the result of sectarian politics. He said religious leaders and scholars were unsafe at present because the country was being run as a religious state. He said Dr Soomro also fought for the rights of Sindh and it was his struggle that Ulema issued an edict against the Kalabagh dam.

He demanded arrests of the killers and announced to support JUI-F’s strike call.

Sindh Hari Committee leader Azhar Jatoi also condemned the murder and announced three-day mour­ning also besides supporting the JUI-F countrywide strike call for Sunday. Awami Jamhoori Party leaders Karam Hussain Wassan, Abrar Kazi, Mukhtiar Abbasi and others also condemned the killing.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2014