Mustafa Kamal released after brief detention in Karachi

The PSP chief was also reportedly injured after being hit by a teargas shell

KARACHI: Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Mustafa Kamal and other party leaders was released from detention in the wee hours of Monday.

The Sindh government in a crackdown against Pak Sarzameen Party on Sunday arrested its chief Mustafa Kamal and scores of party activists.

Other prominent leaders including Raza Haroon, Anees Kaimkhani and Dr Sagheer Ahmed were also reportedly taken into custody.

Clashes between the police and PSP workers broke out after the latter tried to march towards the Chief Minister House, breaching the red zone security.

In an effort to stop the rally from advancing further from the Aisha Bawany School, the police used water cannons, teargas shells and also opened aerial firing to disperse the participants.

Ending his sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club, the PSP chief had called for a ‘Million March’ to press the Sindh government to resolve the issues of the metropolis.



Speaking to the media on April 7, Mustafa Kamal had put forward 16 demands for the uplift of the city, vowing to continue his protest till they were met.

The PSP leaders held a meeting with a Pakistan Peoples Party delegation ahead of the rally, which ended without any consensus.

A PPP delegation including Murtaza Wahab, Rashid Rabbani and Waqar Mehdi met with PSP leaders— Raza Haroon, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Aftab Iftikhar Alam, Muhammad Dilawar and Asif Memon.

Following the deadlock in negotiations, the Sindh government had imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in Karachi's Red Zone hours before the rally was to commence.

In a press conference following the crackdown, PSP leaders Ashfaq Mangi and Asif Hasnain warned the Sindh government that the party activists would not go home till their leaders were released.



Speaking at the party headquarters, Pakistan House, Hasnain said that PSP’s peaceful rally was unduly attacked.

“Many of the children in the rally have gone missing,” the PSP leader told the media.

He asked the federal government to intervene and take appropriate steps to defuse the situation.

“Today was democracy’s funeral,” Ashfaq Mangi stated.

He went on to say that the party did not aim to breach the red zone security and was only trying to hold negotiations with the Sindh government.

Reactions

PPP leader Murtaza Wahab took to Twitter to clarify the Sindh government’s stance.

Attaching a copy of the no-objection certificate, the PPP leader stated that the PSP activists attempted to go beyond the permitted area which was unlawful.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned the shelling on PSP rally.



In a statement issued to media he said that such a severe reaction on purely a peaceful political gathering was beyond imagination.

Interior minister also condemned Mustafa Kamal and other senior leaders’ arrest.

He said Pakistani law allows holding of peaceful demonstrations for resolving issues.

Criticising the Sindh government he said the provincial government has started violence against the persons who demand the rights for Karachi.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi also strongly condemned the brutal use of force on “peaceful PSP rally for basic civil rights of the people of Karachi”.