Police, STP clash during strike

Party workers stage sit-ins at Liaquat Market and Regal Chowk areas

HYDRABAD:

A shutter down strike was observed in Benazirabad district on Tuesday on the call of Sindh Taraqi Pasand party (STP) as dozens of workers of the party were allegedly detained by the district police which also resorted to teargas shelling and baton charge.

The strike was called in response to the critical injury of Suleman Keerio, the brother of STP's leader Nisar Keerio, in an alleged staged encounter in Nawabshah on October 21. STP workers conducted sit-ins at Liaquat Market and Regal Chowk areas.

The police attempted to disperse the protesters, but they refused to leave the areas. As a result, around 30 workers were detained. It is alleged that the police also assaulted local media workers who were covering the protests. Keerio claimed that both large and small markets throughout the district participated in the shutter-down strike in response to STP's call. "The citizens and traders of Nawabshah, by observing the strike, have expressed their distrust of the police," he asserted.

He accused SSP Haider Raza of launching an offense against his party's peaceful protesters and demanded the immediate release of all detained workers. The police also surrounded the party's office in Sakrand town within the district.

However, the workers present at the office held a sit-in outside the premises, preventing the police from entering. Women and children also joined the protest.

Under the leadership of DSP City Asif Arain, the police initiated a baton charge against the protesters, which led to a reaction where the police were pelted with stones.

The police reportedly fired gunshots to disperse the workers. "Nawabshah has been turned into a police state," said STP Chairman, Dr Qadir Magsi in Hyderabad.

Magsi expressed gratitude to the people of Nawabshah and the local traders for supporting the strike call. He urged the government to take notice of the conduct of the police force in Benazirabad, warning that a province-wide strike call would be issued if no action is taken against the policemen involved in the alleged fake encounter of Suleman Keerio.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2023.