The clashes between the Shia protesters and the police continued throughout the day in Malir and Model Colony areas over the arrest of religious and political leaders in the city. The police also used tear gas after the protesters pelted stones.
At least four policemen were injured by protestors who blocked traffic at the National Highway and stopped trains on the tracks.
The police also arrested dozens of people in a crackdown on more than 90 seminaries in Karachi, following a series of sectarian shootings.
Sindh IG Allah Dino Khawaja said the crackdown was aimed at both Sunni and Shia seminaries, after at least 10 people were killed in recent attacks.
Speakers at the protest said that the government had been targeting them for their links with the Shia community and warned the government that if the arrested leaders were not released, they would continue protesting.
Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad in light of the city’s tense situation said that law and order should be maintained at all costs, adding that a big network was unearthed after arrests of people.
“We all are Muslims, religion will be respected,” said Ebad.
A high-level cabinet meeting in Karachi was briefed on the law and order situation in the metropolis, as police on Monday claimed important arrests were made during a targeted operation last night against “criminals involved in sectarianism and other heinous crimes”.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Shah during the meeting called for strict action to be taken against those who took the law into their own hands.
Inspector General of Police AD Khwaja briefed the cabinet meeting on law and order and said that important arrests had been made.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Shah said a zero tolerance policy would be adopted against those who disrupt law and order. “Action will be taken against anyone who takes the law into their own hands,” he said.
A spokesperson of the paramilitary force termed photos of the alleged ‘desecration’ being shared on social media by ‘miscreants’ as contrary to facts. The motive for spreading such photos was “to create hindrances in the operation”, he said.
“The Rangers tended to pay due respect to the sanctity of the mosque, the imambargah and the seminaries during search operations in relation to the presence of miscreants there,” said a Rangers statement.
ASWJ president Allama Aurangzeb Farooqui criticised the detention of Allama Taj Mohammed Hanafi and said that the detained leader was a candidate of the party for the by-election on NA-258 in Malir, scheduled to be held on Nov 24.
“Unjustified detention of Hanafi shows that the PPP-led government feared defeat of its candidate in the by-poll,” he said.
