SHIKARPUR: A long march from Shikarpur to Karachi by the families affected by the Jan 30 carnage at the Shikapur central Imambargah was started on Sunday.

Led by the Shuhada Committee, formed after the incident, the participants in the march assembled at the Imambargah and set off for Karachi on foot. A number of other people also joined in the march.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans for the arrest of the culprits behind the bombing, that left over 55 people dead and as many wounded, the participants raised slogans against the provincial government and law-enforcement agencies for their failure to protect the lives of citizens, particularly leaders and followers of the Shia sect.

Also read: Police stop protesters from marching on CM House

The Shuhada Committee, supported by all Shia organisations, intends to hold a sit-in outside the CM House in Karachi on Feb 17, its leader Allama Maqsood Ali Domki said.

Allama Ameen Shaheedi, Maulvi Fida Hussain, Maulvi Sikandar Ali, Syed Himmat Ali Shah, Qamaruddin Sheikh and others accompanied him when the march began.

Allama Domki said that more people would join in the march when they would pass through Sukkur, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze, Moro, Sakrand, Hala, Bhit Shah, Hyderabad and Jamshoro. He said that a set of demands, including arrest of those involved in the Imambargah bombing, action against other terrorists and their facilitators targeting the Shia community and its religious shrines and removal of Syed Qaim Ali Shah as the chief minister, had already been presented to the federal government and the Sindh governor.

He said that a meeting between the committee and an official team led by the Larkana commissioner failed to convince the committee to put off the long march.

SUKKUR: Leaders and activists of the Sukkur chapter of the Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen, as well as several other organisations, joined in the march when the participants arrived in the town on Sunday evening.

Later, the marchers left the city to continue their onward journey.

Jeay Sindh Mahaz leader Riaz Chandio also led a rally taken out in Sukkur to express solidarity with the Shia community and support for the march. Madressa Manzil Gah chief Mufti Saud Afzal Halejvi, Sadhu Bela Mandir caretaker Bhagwandas, Father Munir Bashir of Saint Xaviour Church and other leaders joined in the JSM rally.

KHAIRPUR: The Shia Rabita Council also organised a rally that set off from an Imambargah in Banaras Colony and passed through various roads before reaching Chhatti Chowk on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2015

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