Within minutes of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain’s appeal to the protesters to return to their homes, Karachi started crawling back to normalcy on Thursday evening.
The City of Lights was paralysed when citizens of the metropolis resorted to riots and intense gunfire, protesting Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader/Senior Sindh Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza’s statement against the MQM issued the previous night.
The Urdu-speaking population of the city took to the streets under the banner of the Mohajir Rabita Council (MRC) to protest Mirza’s anti-MQM statement.
However, the demonstrators returned to their homes after the MRC decided to end their protest on Hussain’s appeal, and then the metropolitan started inching towards normalcy.
Riots erupted in the wee hours of Thursday, and heavy aerial and straight firing was report from all across the city.
Vehicular traffic was suspended and most citizens were confined to their homes as enraged protesters set tyres ablaze at every thoroughfare of the metropolis to express their resentment for Mirza. The demonstrators chanted slogans against Mirza for issuing the offensive statement and sought an apology from him.
They wrote Mirza’s name on dogs and donkeys and marched with them through the streets and roads of the city.
Demonstrations were reported in Malir, Gulberg, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Golimar, Gulbahar, Liaquatabad, New Karachi, North Karachi, Baldia and Shah Faisal Colony, where furious protesters torched Mirza’s effigies to express their anger over the minister’s statement.
The protesters also chanted anti-PPP slogans and demanded Mirza to apologise to the MQM chief over his inciting statement.
Mirza later apologised to the Urdu-speaking citizens in writing, but the protesters refused to accept his apology and demanded him to approach the MQM chief for this purpose if he wanted the protest to end.
Furthermore, a large number of MQM activists, led by MQM Member National Assembly Khushbakht Shujaat, tried to reach Mirza’s residence in Clifton. However, personnel of the law enforcement agencies blocked the roads leading to Mirza’s residence and stopped the angry protesters from moving forward.
The demonstrators returned to their homes after an hour-long negotiation between the protesters and the law enforcers, but in the meantime, this caused suspension of vehicular traffic on the roads, especially the area surrounding the Gizri flyover.
On the other hand, the People’s Amn Committee organised a march from Lyari to the MA Jinnah Road in Mirza’s favour.
After announcements were made through loudspeakers, a large number of Lyari’s residents and PPP activists gathered at the Cheel Chowk and the Aath Chowk.
However, the rally was suspended as the citizens demonstrating against Mirza ended their protest on the MQM chief’s appeal.
In an 18-hour show of power, 16 people lost their lives, whereas over two dozen suffered serious bullet wounds and are being treated at different public and private hospitals across the city.
Moreover, around 36 two-wheelers, four-wheelers and 10-wheelers were set on fire by unidentified miscreants, whereas shops, markets, hotels and fuelling stations were closed when riots broke out during the previous night.
Emergency was declared at all public hospitals, and the administrations of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the Civil Hospital Karachi, the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and the Sindh Government Qatar Hospital were ordered to take extra measures for coping with any untoward situation. Extra manpower was summoned at the hospitals, and leave applications of all staff members were cancelled until normalcy returned to the metropolitan.
Pakistan’s financial hub wore a deserted look on Thursday as the roads and streets of the city were barren of all types of vehicles, and people were confined to their homes.
While routine activities were suspended completely in areas dominated by the Urdu-speaking citizens, multiethnic areas like Steel Town, Bin Qasim Town, Keamari Town, Sachal Goth, Ayub Goth, Model Colony and Railways Colony were observed functioning, whereas Lyari, Baldia, Orangi, Landhi, Korangi, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Al-Asif Square, Defence Housing Authority and Clifton were seen functioning partially.
All Karachi Tajir Ittehad President Atiq Mir said that trading activities would resume on Friday (today) after receiving assurances from leaders of political parties, adding that the closure of trading activities had incurred losses of Rs 2.75 billion.
The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, and the University of Karachi announced that the examinations would be conducted as per schedule from Friday. The registrars of both the public varsities said that the papers would now be held as per schedule and the new date of the postponed papers of Thursday would be announced later. Similarly, the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi announced rescheduling the postponed papers of Thursday and announcing the new date soon.
Karachi Transport Ittehad President Irshad Bukhari said that the transporters lost 20 vehicles during the protest against Mirza, adding that the transporters would not bring their vehicles on the roads until peace was restored in the metropolis; however, the transporters would decide this matter in the wee hours of Friday.
