Four die as PPP, PML-F clash during Sanghar rallies

Two PPP local leaders, two cops among those slain, six others injured

HYDERABAD:

Four people, including two policemen, were shot dead and six others injured during clashes between the workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional on Tuesday during their rallies in Sanghar district of Sindh where local government (LG) polls are scheduled for December 17.

PPP workers were campaigning for Thursday’s election while PML-F activists came on the street in support of the paramilitary Rangers.





Last month, the Election Commission of Pakistan had postponed the November 19 LG polls in Sanghar after the killing of over a dozen PML-F supporters in Khairpur district on October 31.

According to the police, three people, including two policemen – Nabi Bux Dero and Aashiq Hussain Mari – died on the spot while the fourth person succumbed to his injuries at the Peoples Medical College Hospital in Nawabshah district.

The local PPP leaders, Gul Muhammad Mari and Gul Muhammad Shah, were the two other deceased. The six wounded also belonged to PPP whose leaders claim “though they were attacked, they did not retaliate”.



“If we had fired back, the casualties would have been much higher,” Naveed Dero, brother of PPP MPA Faraz Dero, told The Express Tribune.

At least five vehicles were damaged while dozens of others were pelted with stones.

Four of the six injured were transported to the Civil Hospital Hyderabad from where Sher Muhammad Dero, an injured brother of MPA Faraz Dero, was shifted to Karachi.

According to Dr Anwar Arain one more injured, Salahuddin Dero who was shot in the back, is also being sent to Karachi.

MPA Faraz and his uncle Fida Hussain Dero were leading the PPP rally which reportedly comprised around 150 vehicles and hundreds of people. They both were in the same vehicle which, according to Dero, was the first to come under fire.

“They (PML-F supporters) fired several rounds on us but we remained unhurt because the vehicle was bulletproof,” the provincial minister said. “But two police guards and two local party leaders riding in another vehicle behind ours were hit by bullets.”

He said they had already changed one route of M A Jinnah Road to avoid any confrontation with the PML-F supporters.





The PPP rally took a detour from Bakhora Road to reach its destination. While passing through the Nizamani Mohalla the two rallies came face to face. “They (PML-F workers) first began shouting abuse and then they started hurling stones and firing gunshots,” Abdul Saleem Mari who was in the PPP rally said. Pir Pagara’s khalifa (caliph) Fakir Ali Ghulam Nizamani and MPA Saeed Nizmani were leading their party’s rally.

“The PPP rally changed its route of Sanghar bypass and entered the city. We were moving in a peaceful manner without knowing that we will come head-on,” said PML-F district president Ghulam Dastgir Rajar while talking to the local media.

The police and Rangers cordoned off Nizamani Mohalla later in the afternoon and conducted a search operation, arresting over half a dozen suspects and seizing a number of weapons.

On December 9, the poll body notified the polls for 67 union councils, three municipal committees and 10 town committees of Sanghar for December 17. The polls on the remaining three UCs, one municipal committee and one town committee will be held on December 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th,  2015.