KARACHI: While the city police chief claimed that the blocked roads in the metropolis would be cleared by Monday evening, the protest sit-ins organised by the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) at over a dozen locations continued for the seventh consecutive day, with no sign of ending by late night.

However, a spokesperson for the MWM said that his party decided that the protests would continue only on one track of the roads, where sit-ins are underway, while the second track would remain open for vehicular traffic.

He said that the sit-in on main Sharea Faisal near Natha Khan Bridge had been ended to facilitate people’s movement.

According to a traffic police spokesperson, the protest sit-ins continued at 13 locations in the city and the portions of M.A. Jinnah Road near Numaish Chowrangi; Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Kamran Chowrangi, Jauhar Mor and Block-19-20; Safoora Chowrangi, Abul Hasan Ispahani Road and University Road near Metro in Gulshan-i-Iqbal; Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad; Shamsuddin Azeemi Road in Surjani Town; Ancholi and Ayesha Manzil on Shahrah-i-Pakistan; Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road in Nazimabad-1 and Power House Chowrangi at Nagan have been closed for traffic.

City police chief clarifies

Earlier in the day, Karachi police chief Additional Inspector General Javed Alam Odho said that the city roads would be cleared of protest sit-ins after sunset as the citizens had suffered ‘enough’.

Speaking at a press conference held to share police’s successes during the outgoing year, the police chief also spoke about the burning issue of roadblocks and the MWM sit-ins.

He claimed that the government had asked the police to clear the blocked roads. “We will try to clear all thoroughfares by Maghrib,” he said, claiming that the MWM leadership had also agreed to end their protests.

Later in the evening, a police spokesperson clarified that Addl. IG Odho meant to say that sit-ins should be organised in a way that does not disrupt the flow of vehicular traffic.

MWM welcomes clarification

MWM leader Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi has appealed to the participants of the sit-ins to remain peaceful.

Speaking at a press conference at the Numaish sit-in on Monday night, he welcomed the clarification from the Karachi police chief and said that unscrupulous elements were spreading fake propaganda on social media to incite people.

He said that the protests were aimed at reopening the blocked Parachinar road and not for creating problems for citizens.

Allama Naqvi said that the people were relying on the armed forces to restore peace in district Kurram.

He also asked protesters to keep open one track of the roads, where sit-ins were going on, for smooth flow of traffic.

He made it clear that these sit-ins would continue until the reopening of the blocked roads in Kurram.

Meanwhile, the outlawed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat on Monday announced counter protests at 60 locations in the city from Tuesday (today).

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2024