Sit-ins against miners’ killings continue

The Shia Ulema Council, Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen and Imamia Students Organisation, staged sit-ins at multiple spots across Karachi on the second day on Wednesday, continuing to protest the killing of 11 miners of Hazara community in Mach, Balochistan.

Expressing solidarity with the miners' families, the protesters called for giving them justice.

"Their [the miners' families] only demand is that Prime Minister Imran Khan visit them, condole the deaths of their beloved family members and give assurance that the perpetrators of the attack would be caught and punished at the earliest," said one of the protesters.

The protesters claimed the involvement of international organisations in the attack and maintained that such incidents would continue to take place unless action was not taken against foreign elements perpetrating such brutality.

They warned of widening the scale of the protest if their demands remained unmet by Wednesday [yesterday] evening.

The demonstrations were held at Numaish Chowrangi, Nipa Chowrangi, University Road near Safari Park, Abul Hassan Isphani Road, Kamran Chowrangi, Natha Khan Bridge, Quaidabad, Shah Faisal Colony, Power House Chowrangi, Khuda ki Basti, Nazimabad no.1 and other locations.

Traffic jams

Meanwhile, traffic jams were witnesses in various areas, as roads remained blocked during the demonstrations.

Long queues of traffic choked University Road, MA Jinnah Road, Sharae Faisal and the National Highway. Both track of Abul Hassan Isphani Road also remained closed for traffic.

However, traffic was diverted from affected roads to alternative routes.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2021.