Everything was normal in the violence-hit city the whole day on Thursday as commercial and routine activities continued as usual and people remained busy in their daily affairs of life. Shops and bazaars were open late in the night while the majority of citizens had reached their homes peacefully.
Suddenly, around midnight all hell broke loose as television channels started running tickers about sporadic incidents of firing in different areas of Karachi and Hyderabad.
The number of areas affected by firing incidents gradually increased and soon the situation took a deadly turn as people were shot dead and vehicles set ablaze. Within hours, over a dozen citizens were reportedly killed, several others injured and around two dozen vehicles torched.
As morning dawned, most of the city areas, especially its commercial centres, remained shut. Transporters did not bring their vehicles on roads while educational institutions postponed the scheduled examination papers. Most of the people could not reach their intended destinations and the country suffered losses of billions of rupees due to the suspension of commercial activities.
All of this was connected to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior Sindh minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza’s controversial remarks on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leadership telecasted by the electronic media and recorded at the residence of Awami National Party (ANP)-Sindh President Shahi Syed.
The ANP leader had arranged a reception dinner in honour of leaders from PPP among other political parties on restoration of the commissionerate system in the province. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Acting Governor Nisar Ahmed Khuhro were among the guests. Mirza was also invited at the reception but was not scheduled to be among the speakers at the celebration ceremony as the programme went as per its schedule.
Eyewitnesses informed Pakistan Today that the host and the guests spoke on the occasion, congratulating each other on the restoration of commissionerate system, while after the speech from the chief guest, the chief minister, all guests were asked to go for dinner.
But, perhaps, the journalists present there were not satisfied as they had not been able to get any big news and called on Mirza, who was standing besides other guests and busy on his mobile phone, to say something also.
The host requested media persons not to ask questions from Mirza as speeches have ended and dinner was ready to be served but the journalists insisted on asking ‘one or two questions’ from Mirza. Television footage also show Syed trying to restrain Mirza from talking in a bid to finish his programme without any controversies.
Eyewitnesses said that journalists asked several questions from Mirza and tried to provoke him by asking some controversial questions. The former Home minister, famous for being vocal and outspoken, answered all their questions in his own style, giving the media persons what they had wanted.
It was not the first time that Mirza’s statement have created a controversy but it was the first time that media’s thrust of catching big news and continuously running it on television channels caused the loss of over a dozen precious lives, billions of rupees and the closure for its 18 million population of the commercial hub of the country.
Media behind Mirza’s outburst, consequences?
