Sit-in on Karachi's main artery, MA Jinnah Road, by the Ittehad-e-Ahle Sunnat. PHOTO: EXPRESS
From Friday, a sit-in was held by the Ittehad-e-Ahle Sunnat, an alliance of several parties representing the Barelvi school of thought including Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (Noorani), Pakistan Sunni Tehreek, Jamaat-e-Ahle Sunnat, Sunni Alliance, Sunni Ittehad Council and others at main Numaish Chowrangi, MA Jinnah Road, which also caused a severe traffic jam on the road and the routes leading to it.
Though no major untoward incident occurred during the sit-in, the protesters ended their demonstration on Wednesday evening following successful negotiations with the federal government in Islamabad.
In the last four days, no one was arrested by the police nor was any case registered against the protesters.
"We held a peaceful protest in Karachi. We did not take the law into our hands. Now after the successful negotiations, we ended our protest in Karachi as our leaders asked us to end the sit-in," said Fahim Shaikh, a leader of the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek, leading the sit-in in Karachi.
Traffic diversions
Due to the protest citizens have been dealing with traffic jams for four days, especially during office hours.
According to Karachi's traffic control room, the traffic going towards Tower has been diverted towards Soldier Bazaar and Garden, whereas traffic coming from Tower has been diverted toward Municipal Street, as the roads in Saddar are open. Another diversion is through PPP Chowrangi, Shahrae Quaideen towards Corridor 3.
Islahuddin, a resident of North Nazimabad who works at shop in Saddar told The Express Tribune that he uses New MA Jinnah Road to reach his shop in the morning and traffic on the road has been heavier than usual due to the diversions.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st, 2016.
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