Protests against Parachinar killings ease in Karachi as several routes reopen

Several roads in Karachi were reopened for traffic on Tuesday as sit-ins across the city against the recent killings in Parachinar, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram District, eased after police warnings.

The religiopolitical Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) had given a country-wide call of protests to express solidarity with the people of Parachinar, who have also been staging a sit-in since December 20 against the law and order situation as well as road closures.

The demonstrators are protesting the ongoing violence in Kurram as well as an incident where two people were killed and later decapitated after being waylaid on their way towards Parachinar in the district’s Bagan area.

As the sit-ins continued for the eighth consecutive day in Karachi, the roads at six different locations — out of 13 where they were being held yesterday — had been reopened for vehicles after the protests ended, according to a traffic update shared by the Karachi Traffic Police.

The six locations now clear for traffic were Jauhar Mor heading to Jauhar Chowrangi; Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad; Shamsuddin Azeemi Road towards KDA Flats in Surjani Town; Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road in Nazimabad-1 going towards Nazimabad-2; and Ancholi and Ayesha Manzil on Shahrah-i-Pakistan.

However, the traffic police said that the protesters were continuing at four different points across the city.

In District East, the M.A. Jinnah Road near Numaish Chowrangi remained closed where alternative diversions from Capri Cinema to Soldier Bazaar and Saddar Dawa Khana have been provided.

Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar was also closed, with vehicles from Mosmiyat directed towards University Road and towards the inner streets from Munawar Chowrangi.

At Abbas Town in District Malir, both tracks of Abul Hasan Ispahani Road towards Superhighway remained closed, where diversions have been provided for traffic from Paradise Bakery to Fariya Chowk and inside streets and from Rangers’ Cut to a service lane heading to Punjab Adda (bus stand).

University Road going towards Samama Shopping Centre and Nipa roundabout was closed at the Metro Safari Store, where diversions were provided from streets inside residential areas.

Addressing a press conference in Thatta, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said protests at a total of eight locations had ended so far.

“Administrative action is being taken too, which may upset them,” he said.

He recalled that negotiations with the MWM went on till late night yesterday.

Earlier, the city police chief had claimed that the blocked roads in the metropolis would be cleared of protests by yesterday evening, clarifying later that he meant they would be organised in a way that does not disrupt the traffic flow.

Subsequently, MWM leader Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi asked protesters to keep one track open of the roads where sit-ins were being held for the smooth flow of traffic. He, however, made it clear that these sit-ins would continue until the reopening of the blocked roads in Kurram.

A spokesperson for the MWM had stated that the sit-in on the main Sharea Faisal near Natha Khan Bridge had been ended to facilitate people’s movement.

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