• Authorities fear traffic chaos today
• Karachi commissioner, police chief urge leaders to end protest
• Shazia Marri says politics in Sindh over Parachinar crisis ‘injustice to citizens’
• Allama Naqvi says ‘apolitical’ protest to continue

KARACHI: The sit-ins, organised by the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), at over a dozen key thoroughfares in the metropolis continued for the sixth consecutive day on Sunday as the party made it clear to authorities that it will not end its protests until the opening of roads in Parachinar and provision of essential foods and medicines to the citizens there.

The continued blockade of roads like Sharea Faisal, University Road, Shahrah-i-Pakistan etc. triggered traffic jams, causing inconveniences to the commuters who used alternative roads/routes mostly plying vehicles on one track.

According to a traffic police statement, protest sit-ins continued on main M.A. Jinnah Road near Numaish, Sharea Faisal near Star Gate, Jauhar Mor, Kamran Chworangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, University Road towards Samama Shopping and Nipa roundabout, both tracks of Abul Hasan Ispahani Road towards Superhighway, Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad, Shahrah-i-Pakistan towards Sohrab Goth near Ancholi, Ayesha Manzil Chowrangi in Federal B Area, Nawab Siddiq Ali Khan Road Chowrangi in Nazimabad-1, Power House Chowrangi at Nagan towards Fazal Illahi Road, Shamsuddin Azeemi Road towards KDA Flats in Surjani Town and Korangi 2 ½ near Imambargah towards Landhi.

And it seems that the troubles to citizens caused by roadblocks are testing the patience of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government in the province.

A day after Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab criticised the closure of roads in the metropolis in the name of protests, senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader Shazia Marri said on Sunday that “doing politics on the issue of Parachinar in Sindh is an injustice”.

Speaking at a press conference here, Ms Marri said that the PPP was with the people of Parachinar, but protest sit-ins in Karachi were affecting ordinary people.

She opined that sit-ins should be staged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, instead of Sindh.

“Doing politics on the issue of Parachinar in Sindh and causing inconveniences to the people is an act of injustice,” she said, adding that if the people wanted to hold a protest, they should do the same in KP, outside the Chief Minister House in Peshawar.

Only on Saturday, Mayor Wahab had said that the KP government was responsible for the Parachinar crisis, but the people of Karachi and the Sindh government were suffering the consequences.

Against this backdrop, Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi and city police chief Javed Alam Odho arrived at Numaish, met MWM leadership there and urged them to open city roads. However, talks between the two sides remained inconclusive till late in the night.

Traffic mayhem feared today

DIG-Traffic Ahmed Nawaz Cheema told Dawn that the protest sit-ins over one dozen places in the metropolis continued on Sunday.

He said one track of Sharea Faisal, from Jinnah Terminal towards downtown areas, was opened for vehicular traffic. He said that the people going towards the Karachi airport and Malir areas were using Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Shah Faisal Colony as alternatives routes.

He apprehended a significant traffic mess on city roads on Monday (today) if the sit-ins continued. He said that normally, on the first day of the week, traffic flow remains high, and besides, people from other parts of the province would return to the city, increasing traffic volume on roads.

‘Our protest is not political’

On Sunday night, MWM leader Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi told reporters that peaceful protest against injustices was their democratic right.

“Our protest is not political in nature...it is against the injustices,” he said

Responding to the criticism regarding citizen’s problems, he said: “We are also the citizen of this country and city and aware of all the problems being faced by the people.”

He said that not a single vehicle was stopped by at any sit-in and their peaceful protest was not threat to any residential, commercial establishment, shopping centre, food street or anyone’s employment.

He reiterated that the sit-ins in Karachi would not end until the demands of the Parachinar people are accepted.

Earlier on Sunday, MWM spokesperson Syed Ali Ahmer Zaidi told Dawn that they ended a sit-in on one track of Sharea Faisal near Star Gate for conveniences of air travellers.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2024