PTI, MQM-P clash over rigging accusations

Five injured, two with gunshots; tensions high in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD:

Amidst the inordinate delay in election results and growing apprehension of potential rigging, clashes erupted between activists of two political parties outside an election centre, resulting in a fierce confrontation.

Workers engaged in physical altercations, exchanging blows and hurling stones. The situation escalated further with intense aerial firing by unidentified individuals, leaving five people injured, including two shot, purportedly belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and one from MQM Pakistan.

Responding to the chaos, police and Rangers intervened, dispersing the agitated workers through baton charges and tear gas shelling. Two individuals were subsequently detained.

The incident unfolded at Public School Latifabad, designated as an election centre for the distribution of electoral materials and result compilation related to three national assembly seats and six provincial assembly seats in Hyderabad district. Initially tasked with returning election items, the center was later repurposed for recounting votes.

Despite the timely cessation of polling, only two unofficial and unconfirmed results for the provincial assembly, PS 60 and PS 61, were disclosed late on Thursday night. This led to a continuous influx of officials and party workers throughout the night, causing unrest.

In the presence of a significant police and Rangers presence, candidates, and activists representing various political parties, including DRO and Deputy Commissioner Tariq Qureshi, District Election Commissioner Pervez Kalwar, and relevant ROs, anxiously awaited the delayed results.

On Friday, as candidates and activists sought explanations for the prolonged delay, tensions rose, leading to bitter verbal exchanges and slogans between MQM and PTI supporters inside the school. Subsequently, PTI and MQM activists gathered outside the school, resulting in verbal clashes and minor physical altercations.

Senior members of both parties intervened multiple times, urging restraint among their workers. Police and Rangers also intervened, guiding them away from the election centre gate, attempting to quell the rising tensions and maintain order in the aftermath of the clash.

Read Results announced amidst rigging allegations

Late on Friday night, the tension surrounding the preparation of election results for NA 219 and PS 64 escalated as a large gathering of workers from both political parties converged outside the gate Public School. A verbal clash quickly escalated into physical altercations, with activists engaging in fistfights, wielding sticks, and hurling stones at each other, transforming the area into a battlefield. The situation took a more ominous turn with heavy aerial firing initiated by unknown individuals, heightening tensions.

Rangers and police took swift action, charging the agitated political workers with tear gas shelling and baton charges. Two individuals were apprehended by the police in the aftermath. The volatile mix of aerial firing, fistfights, and baton charges resulted in injuries to six individuals, namely Noraiz Khan, Rashid Abdul Ghaffar, Nadeem Rajput, Babar Sheikh, Sufyan, and Tufail.

Mussarat Iqbal, PTI leader and UC Chairman, disclosed that Noraiz Khan and Rashid Abdul Ghaffar, both from PTI, sustained serious injuries. Noraiz's leg was hit by a bullet, causing continuous bleeding, necessitating his transfer to Karachi for treatment. Rashid Abdul Ghaffar, the UC Councillor from UC 107, suffered a bullet wound in his stomach and is undergoing treatment at Civil Hospital.

Babar Sheikh, nephew of senior journalist Shahid Sheikh, was shot in the neck and is in critical condition, being transported to Karachi due to uncontrolled bleeding.

MQM Pakistan's spokesperson stated that their UC joint in-charge, Nadeem Rajput, sustained injuries to his face. Edhi spokesperson confirmed the transfer of Babar and another unidentified person from the public school to Civil Hospital, both having gunshot wounds. Following the dispersal of activists, additional police reinforcements were called, and the arrested youths were taken by Rangers officials to an undisclosed location. Tension lingered outside the Public School until late at night

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th 2024.