On short notice: Karachi shuts down

KARACHI:

The port city went into panic mode on Tuesday soon after news broke that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain had been arrested in London.

Nearly all major roads in the city saw the worst traffic gridlocks as people rushed out of their offices and tried to reach home, before the much-feared unrest in the city began. Fortunately, no major cases of violence were reported as the MQM leaders repeatedly issued statements to their workers to stay calm and refrain from violence.

The law enforcement agencies were deployed in most parts of the city but unidentified men managed to torch 16 vehicles, including public buses and some cars. These cases were reported from Gulzar-e-Hijri, Abul Hassan Ispahani Road, Federal B Area, Korangi, Samanabad and Landhi. “Our jawans have already been on high alert,” said a senior Rangers official. “It is the right of every party to stage a protest but in a rightful way.”

Traffic DIG Arif Hanif denied that the police had ‘disappeared’. “Both tracks of Sharae Faisal were closed for traffic and whenever that happens, the entire city is affected,” he explained. Public transport also disappeared from the roads and hundreds of people were forced to walk to their destinations. The trains leaving the city were also delayed by three hours, said the divisional commercial officer of Pakistan Railways Karachi division, Nasir Nazir. A mob at Drigh Road railway station tried to torch a locomotive but the railway police intervened, he said.

Meanwhile, the security of the British High Commission has been increased as the entire Sharae Iran area, where the mission is located, was cordoned off, even for residents.

Other parts of Sindh

Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah and Tando Allahyar districts in lower Sindh, and parts of Sukkur, Larkana and Khairpur in upper Sindh also descended into chaos. Aerial firing was reported in several areas and all markets and transport was shut down. In Hyderabad, four people identified as Noor Daraz, 20, Faizan Masood, 24, Bilawal Chohan, 20, and Huzoor Bux, 30 were shot and injured.

Security plan

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the provincial home secretary Dr Niaz Ali Abbasi explained that their contingency plan divides the city into separate zones.  “The government maintains a blue book which lists the security detail of important landmarks, high-profile personalities, politicians, cabinet members, dignitaries, diplomatic missions and vital installations.” He added that the police and Rangers are the first line of defence in such situations, while the army is on standby in case the situation worsens.

“More than 19,000 cops can be deployed in case of emergency at various places and rooftops,” Dr Abbasi revealed.

Sit-in at Numaish

By around 8pm on Tuesday, several hundred emotionally-charged workers of the MQM had converged upon Numaish Chowrangi to show solidarity with their party chief.

“We will keep sitting at Numaish Chowerangi until our leader, Altaf Hussain, speaks to us himself,” Haider Abbas Rizvi had told workers at the party’s headquarters, Nine Zero, earlier.

As party leaders and activists refrained from commenting on the issue, deeming it sensitive, Dr Farooq Sattar told The Express Tribune that the arrest was unfair and unusual. “If the London police wanted to question him, they would have come to us. Arresting him without any charges is unjust and unusual in the UK.”

The party leader said that Altaf was to be hospitalised on the day for a series of tests, and his health and safety were their main concern.


Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2014.