HYDERABAD: Karachi’s political violence trickled into Tando Allahyar where two lives were lost in a gunfight between activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party (STPP).
Eleven people were injured and markets and shops closed down in other districts as well.
The fight erupted over a commercial plot at Nasarpur Road. Around 1 pm the plot was sprayed with bullets and hand grenades were lobbed at it. STPP House was torched and in the firing 35-year-old Ali Mohammad Bhatti, claimed by the STPP as their worker, and a young girl, Alishba Meyo, died while she was on her way back from school.
According to the MQM spokesman, Akram Adil, Meyo was the daughter of a party worker.
Around two dozen students were stuck in school and were later rescued by the Rangers.
Unidentified men forced shops to shut down in Tando Muhammad Khan, Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Thatta and other districts as well.
Adil alleged that the house of their worker, Liaquat Khilji, was attacked by the STPP that tried to occupy the plot. “We have complained about Altaf Jiskani to the police earlier as well. He is nominated in land grabbing cases and is threatening our workers.” He alleged that the police did not do anything during the hour-long attack by the STPP.
Tando Allahyar SSP Ghulam Nabi Keerio said he was on leave and Matiari SSP Abdul Hadi Bulo was in charge in his absence. Bulo said that he was going back to Matiari after leaving the charge to someone else who will resume duty in the evening.
“The CIA in-charge can tell if anyone was arrested,” Bulo joked. The only thing he knew about the incident was that the police had been deployed at the disputed plot, STPP House and the MQM’s zonal office. “We are in control of the situation.”
Later in the day, Rangers were called in but no arrests were declared. STPP leader, Nand Lal Malhi, said that the party had called a strike for Thursday. “The MQM attacked our office and set it on fire. It also burnt our flags and banners.” he said. “The plot is not the issue.” Malhi accused the MQM of spreading the violence it perpetrated in Karachi to other parts of Sindh.
The STPP claims that 10 of their workers were injured, including the brother of their deceased party worker. The chairman of the party, Dr Qadir Magsi, said that MQM wanted to ignite ethnic violence to press for its demand of a Muhajir province. “But we will not fall in their trap. Hence, we called for a peaceful protest. If we had been violent then not a single office of the MQM would have been able to open in Sindh.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2012.
COMMENTS (4)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
This party will take weapon where they will go.
what sindh is reaping now is harvested by your forefathers, the ILK of bhuttos for sindh. ZAB- berkley graduate, BB- columbia/harvard grad, BBZ is now in cambridge. But all your leaders failed to open 1 single english medium school in Larkana till today. The whole sindh is just dune of sand. The budget is always allocated for whole sindh, not just for karachi. and they ruin it by ghost schools, empty hospitals, corruption.
for the realm of your existence, i am a sindhi too, but from Khairpur. Which was a seperate state. A very prosperous and welfare state. but captured and included in SINDH.
where were you or your forefathers, when sindh was thrown under bombay presidency? where were you/your sindhi brothers, when chunk of east sindh handed into gujrat, india? where were you when parts of jacoobabad was lost in Bela, baluchistan.
FOR GOD SAKE. he is saying, and praying to authorities to STOP this ugly language used by sindhi nationalist against urdu speaking SINDHIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSS........
read the article again, and then comment!
ET: Please don't sanitize this thuggery as "political violence."
Killing an eight years old child? We have lost our humanity no doubt and fully deserve the wretchedness we are in. Are we so blinded that we only see an ethnic group; not a human being? My thoughts and prayers are with the grieved families who lost their loved ones.