Activists and leaders of the mainstream religiopolitical party, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), have said they will continue sit-ins across Karachi after talks with police and city officials failed on Sunday.
The sit-ins, which have been ongoing for six days, blocked major roads to protest the Parachinar killings, demanding measures including reopening a road in Parachinar, closed for 90 days, to ensure access to essential food and medicines, according to traffic police and organisers.
Karachi’s ongoing traffic hurdles during closure of major roads due to protests against Parachinar killings. — Screengrab taken from Google Maps traffic updates
The demonstrators are protesting the ongoing violence in Parachinar as well as an incident where two people were killed and later decapitated after being waylaid on their way towards Parachinar in the Bagan area of Kurram.
On Sunday night, Karachi Additional Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho and Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi held talks with MWM leader Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi and others at Numaish Chowrangi.
When contacted, the commissioner told Dawn.com that negotiations are “in process”. MWM spokesperson Syed Ali Ahmer Zaidi also confirmed talks between party leaders and the authorities but did not share the outcome.
However, a short while later, the talks seemed to have failed as the MWM chief declared that the sit-ins would continue in a statement.
“If we give a call for sit-ins across Sindh, the government will not be able to stop it,” Naqvi was quoted as saying. However, the MWM chief maintained that sit-in participants had “opened a path” for traffic to pass through arteries.
“We have spoken to the administration regarding the sit-ins,” he added. “Demonstrators have occupied fixed points at different protests across the city and have left space open for traffic.
“The sit-ins will continue,” Naqvi said.
