3rd 'day of mourning': Normalcy returns to Karachi
The day of mourning had been called by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, who had also urged the business community to support his call by keeping their businesses shut. Traffic was low and businesses remained shut for most of the day.
Earlier in the day, the chief justice of Sindh High Court had taken notice of the situation in the city and had asked DG Rangers and IG Police to file detailed reports.
Petrol pumps and businesses started to reopen and transport also started to run again after 5pm.
Hussain had also later thanked the citizens of Karachi for observing a “peaceful day of mourning.”
The recent wave of violence began after the killing of a man believed to be affiliated with the Awami National Party (ANP) on Friday evening. The man identified as Ashiq was shot at and injured in Qasba Colony, and later passed away in the evening. Three MQM supporters were also killed late Friday night.
Workers of both the MQM and ANP have been targeted this week, sparking a new wave of violence that has seen the city experience no activity and sporadic incidents of violence.
Rehman Malik visits Karachi
Meanwhile, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, on arrival in Karachi on Saturday, said that the city was being targeted in order to destabilise Pakistan.
Talking to the media at Jinnah International airport, Malik said that anti state elements were creating a law and order situation in the financial hub of the country, adding that MQM workers were being killed under a conspiracy.
"Innocent people also fell victim under the same conspiracy", the minister added.
Malik further said that money extortion (bhatta), drug and land mafias were active in the city and contributed towards the violence.
Talking about the steps being taken by the Federal government, he said that Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani had taken notice of the situation and ordered immediate measures to improve the law and order in the metropolis. Malik hoped that the city’s situation would be improved very soon as strict actions were being taken against elements involved in the violence.
The minister also paid a surprise visit to violence prone areas, including Katti Pahari, Qasba Colony and Banaras. He appreciated the performance of Rangers and police, adding that he had directed Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to take strict action against culprits.
Apprising the media on the number of arrests, Malik said the police had arrested 17 suspects while Rangers had arrested 38 suspects.
Orangi operation
Police, on the orders of Interior Minister, carried out an operation in Orangi and detained over half a dozen suspects during raids in Bukhari Colony early Sunday morning.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Akram Abro said the arrested were suspected of being involved in the Banaras bridge target killing incident.
End of live updates
4:15pm
Altaf Hussain has thanked the citizens of Karachi for observing a "peaceful day of mourning".
He has also called on traders to resume their business.
3:50pm
Traders have announced that they will reopen businesses starting 4pm today.
The All Karachi Businessmen Association has announced that business centres will remain open tomorrow.
According to the chairman, Atiq Mir, out of nine working days they have only been able to work for three which has resulted in a loss of Rs20 billion, therefore markets will remain open tomorrow.
3:30pm
Petrol pumps and CNG stations will reopen by 5pm today.
2:00pm
Police arrested two suspects from the Site B area and are not sure if they were involved in the current wave of violence in the city. A 7mm rifle and a TT pistol were recovered from the two suspects, who were identified as Abdul Hanif and Mohammad Imran.
DIG West Imran Yaqoob’s office said that a case of negligence had been lodged against four policemen who were supposed to be performing their duty at Banaras bridge on Friday night, but had not followed instructions.
A high level meeting is scheduled to be held at the Governor House at 3pm, where the police chief Additional IG Karachi Akhtar Gorchani is expected to give a briefing.
1:15pm
Three workers of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) were shot at and wounded in the area of Landhi, where party leader Afaq Ahmed resides.
Gunmen opened fire at the party activists at 8:15 am as they were standing next to shops that the armed men were forcibly shutting down. According to the MQM-H, their workers, and not the store, were targeted.
MQM-H worker Atlfua from Korangi was shot in the head and is in a critical state. He was first admitted to the Korangi hospital and has now been shifted to Jinnah hospital. Two other workers, Liaqat Ali and Abdul Ghaffar alias Soni, were also shot at and are being treated at the Jinnah hospital.
Ahmed split from the MQM (then called the Mohajir Qaumi Movement) in the 1990s and formed his own faction of the party. He was released from jail on December 17, 2011 after serving seven years.
The funeral prayers of MQM supporter Kamaluddin, who was killed in the attack at the Benaras Pul, will be offered on April 1 at Mohajir Chowk, Orangi Town and not on Saturday, as earlier stated by the party.
1:10pm
Express News correspondents reporting from different parts of the city said that traffic was low and businesses remained shut.
Parts of Sindh including Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas have also seen businesses shut in some areas and traffic has also been reported to be low.
The Hyderabad to Karachi traffic route is reported to be closed, while traffic going from Hyderabad to other parts of Sindh is low.
Tyres were burnt by miscreants in parts of Hyderabad in the morning today. There were also reports of members of a nationalist party forcing businesses to reopen, which resulted in a clash between two groups.
1:00pm
The Awami National Party’s Senator Shahi Syed, who heads the party in Sindh, is expected to arrive in Karachi today.
According to ANP Sindh Information Secretary Pir Riaz Gul, Shahi Syed has welcomed the raid by the Rangers on Friday on the ANP headquarters, the Bacha Khan Markaz, as nothing was recovered in the raid.
12:30pm
Four police officers who were present at Banaras bridge during the firing incident last night have been arrested. A case will also be registered against them.
11:30am
Petrol pumps are closed all over the city, while the security situation is reported to be volatile in the areas of Pak Colony, Nazimabad, Paposh, Korangi, Orangi, SITE, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Shah Faisal Colony and Manghopir.
A total of 14 people have been killed in Karachi since Friday.
10:55am
Chief Justice of Sindh High Court, Musheer Alam on Saturday morning took notice of the chaos and worsening law and order situation in Karachi.
According to unofficial figures 430 citizens have been killed in incidents of firing during the first three months of 2012.
The chief justice of SHC has taken notice of the breakdown of law and order and resultant loss of lives in the city, said Registrar SHC Abdul Rasool Memon. The Director General Pakistan Rangers and Provincial Police Officer (PPO), commonly called Inspector General Police Sindh, were asked to file detailed reports by evening today, the registrar said.
CJ Musheer Alam is also the head of the monitoring committee formed on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the suo motu proceedings held in August 2011.
10:50am
The MQM Coordination Committee has accused the Awami National Party of systematically killing Mohajirs, and has called on the Mohajir community to unite for the sake of its survival.
10:45am
The funerals of MQM supporters killed at the Banaras bridge in Karachi last night will be held at Zuhr today. The funerals of Waseem and Hasan will take place in Liaquatabad, Sami Kamal's will be held in Orangi Town and Kamaluddin's funeral prayers will be offered in Qasba Colony.
COMMENTS (72)
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@Kanwal: One way ticket to India for all the Muhajirs. They will find better life in India and people of karachi will breathe better i realy likt to see UN repot claiming most educated people lives in karachi please....
@Bilal: If provincial government of KP province can request army to come in and clean up Swat,why cannot the government of Sindh make similar request.to army. Whether one likes it or not Rangers and police have failed to bring peace to Karachi
and if you look in to the history of pathans they wont leave their home town once they settel down so dont hold ur breaths for this idea of urs.
Asalam-o-Aalikum...
Dear All Friends, Pray for the innocent killing in Karachi, Violence in Sindh, MQM, ANP, and Karachi Peoples in diprations. But My Question with All friend is that ogra/ Govt announce Rs. 8/- Increase in Fuel and Diesel. Any Strick? = NO Any Protest?= NO Any Statement? = NO Any Violence?= NO Any Reaction?=NO
I respect All Parties workers, Innocent Peoples But When the 18 Carors Peoples Killed By Increasing Petrol Price No Body come on roads.
MAY ALLAH BLESS PAKISTAN.
@Jibran
@bilal, why cant you leave to where you belong. Shahi syed is the son of the soil.
we belong to Karachi as we are born here, and this is the only place we have to live our life
Army doesnt need to come, shoot on sight orders to Rangers should suffice. No mercy for terrorists and target killers
Day of mourning or killing. Stop using wrong words, its killing, killing and killing nothing else
No one can match the resilience of Karachiites. May god bless my city.
@Jibran Shahi Syed ,son of the soil , lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz rather the spoiled brat of the Drug Mafia . Ask him how come a rickshaw driver 25 yrs back became a billionaire .
@Adeel 759 ...and who is going to force the Muhajirs to evaucate ................lolzzzzzzzzz again .Just try it once .We will ensure that the people who used to carry the sacks of Muhajirs ,earned a living on that and educated thier offsprings to write nasty comment , are accompanied .Rest assured .
@Afghan Karachiite . nope we have been expecting that from you .As ususal back stabbing to those who provided you shelter .Try going back to Afghanistan .The Hazaras and Tajiks would love "embrace" you.
@ Un ami de paris : Monsieur , First try to adopt the culture of France where you belong and stop worrying much bout Karachi Mon Amour . Merci .
@Farooq from Saudia , Karachi belongs to those who made it "Karachi " .Others especially expats who donot belong to Karachi should be musch worried about the cjild abuse in the pinds they left behind .
@Afghan Karachiite:
More political parties in Karachi than any other part of Pakistan. More people migrated to Karachi in 2002-07 than any other period in Karachi's history. Please come out of your racism and see with these facts
Enough of the hypocrisies and all; people who don't reside in Karachi are better off not commenting because they don't know the ground situation. Despite the fact that innocent Urdu-Speakings were murdered, nobody even condemned it. The ANP thugs are all around the city terrorizing masses; the least that could be done would be to at least condemn their actions-a verbal condemnation would suffice. But this is the part where prejudice comes and the 'locals of Karachi' are not respected for their mandate. I think its high time people realise that 'Muhajirs' are not going back to India, and because they have contributed the most to this so-called 'Land of Pure', they deserve the most. Had it not been for Abdul Qadeer Khan(an Urdu-Speaking), the country would not have its atomic project completed. How about everyone is reminded about the likes of Agha Hasan Abedi, Edhi, the scientists of repute( Siddique's), the artistes and all who belong to Muhajir diaspora. So people, lay down your hatred and look with an impartial eye. Period.
I ‘ve a cure for the ills of karachi, though politically incorrect but certainly durable solution. One way ticket to India for all the Muhajirs. They will find better life in India and people of karachi will breathe better.
Another racist post! Where are the moderators??
why cant you leave to where you belong. Shahi syed is the son of the soil.
How about if we give you a whole lot bigger and better: India. You pack it and go there. And let Sindhis take control of their motherland, and i am totally comfortable with what is happening to Karachiites baecaues its these very Karachiites who have strengthened MQM by giving them Khhaals(Skin), Bhhatta and Donations. They totally deserve it. Good job MQM.
Why such racist posts are allowed? And why none of the other racists will condemn it?
@Kanwal: Educated middle class :). Is this true?
If Army could be called in Swat where things were worse and were successfully controlled, why not Karachi? Rangers and police are obviously not good enough.
I have an alternate view of war between MQM and ANP , when Arab and Israeli fought war Israelis retailiated with full force, if Arab killed one Israeli, Israels would retailiated with 10 Arabs, that their policy if you kill 1 Israeli we will kill 10 yours, reason if Israelis dont retailiate with full force they will be extinct, because they cant do mass migrations to neighbouring hostile Arab countries when war starts. Now Apply the same rule to Karachi you will understand the psyche behind the war other economical and political interests.
@Leon Aleem: Corrent your fact, A list for your info: 12 May incident, 12 Rabiul Awal incident on Sunni Tahreek, Complete wash out of MQM-H, Killing of PPP Leaders such as Suharwardi etc, Killing of Police officers who conducted operations in previous period. Many workers of ANP, JI, PAC were killed. If you want a complete list, search news papers.Otherwise I 'll furnish it for your knowledge.
Mahajirs and pakhtunes must be thankful to the people of Sindh.So, that they gave them the shelter and if we have lost the true spirit of Pakistan then they must get lost where they came from and let the soil live in peace.
Leave Karachi that's the only solution for the peaceful muhajirs,pathans,sindhis etc living in Karachi.
Why Pakistan is obsessed with army. Police also can take care of it, if they given an opportunity by leaders.
@fahd Siddiqui: If terrorist wont stop violence and killing, should we not ask operation against them? What a joke? Innocent people are being killed for the sake of vested interests of some parties. A full fledged Military operation should be done to unearth the roots of terrorists, their supporters and sponsors. People are sick of violent politics and divisive hate based policies of parties in Karachi. ENough!
@Bilal: Killing of any innocent people is unacceptable and shameful act. We all must condemn it.
Most critical and important issue related to Foreign Policy is under discussion in Assembly, new rules of business are being prepared. At the very same, some elements are destabilizing Karachi. If Bomby went under attack, Karachi was burnt, If one MQM MPA was killed, 90 innocent people were killed, now when foreign policy is being shaped, again there is rampant violence. Is peace in Karachi being used by foreign powers as bargain chip and they do it by using home grown stooges to dictate our Govt and state. A letter to Tony Blair is still on record. Pls think over it, which party is behind it.
@adeel759: No one is originally from karachi my friend unless you are related to the original fisherfolk settlers. Karachis beauty is that all who came here worked hard to make it here and make it the city that it is, in their own capacity. Now its gotten out of control like all big cities do (new yorks gangs were irish, italian and then hispanic, they learnt to co exist).
Why should anyone (whether from sindh, KPK or originally India) go back as long as they are contributing to the city. Most people off all ethnicities are peaceloving and law abiding. Gangsters are also multi ethnic. You cant blame any one ethnicity for the good or bad. In these troubled times avoid spreading more hate please , its not helpful.
@bilal, why cant you leave to where you belong. Shahi syed is the son of the soil.
Just think why Karachi was peacefull 1999-2007 ?No one was killed during this period?BUt before in 1990 thousands killed and after 2007 thousands are been continously killed.Who was good adminstrator?Please judge honestly whole Karachi and Pakistan was opened to all Pakistani(1999-2007).Just put off racial sactacle answer is clear and transparent.
get rid of mqm anp and pac from karachi
It is the war between ANP and MQM and they are deliberately trying to make it a war of Mahajirs and Pathans.
But, InshaAllah they will never get succeed in their mission. We non-political Mahajirs and Pathans will continue to live together and interact with each other on daily basis as we do now.
@ Nadeem:
Just like asking the cat to be the caretaker for a butcher shop. :-) Now when they only have a major vote bank in Karachi, they perceive it to be "our city" and do not tolerate the existence of any other political entity. If you give them the chance to have their own province with the full power of control over it, the non-indigenous Karachiites would simply have to pack up and leave.
@Bilal:
Either call Karachi your city or call yourselves Mohajirs. Not both at the same time please.
@Bilal:
This is what disseminates hatred and starts a turf war. Your city...my city...your area...my area! What is this nonsense?!
How about this: Killing of Pakistanis in their own country is unacceptable...?
How many more have to DIE before Pakistan will wake up. Please bring in the army and save lives.
@Muhammad Ali:
Coalitions ZINADBAD
@Nadeem. How about if we give you a whole lot bigger and better: India. You pack it and go there. And let Sindhis take control of their motherland, and i am totally comfortable with what is happening to Karachiites baecaues its these very Karachiites who have strengthened MQM by giving them Khhaals(Skin), Bhhatta and Donations. They totally deserve it. Good job MQM.
@Adeel759: Please refrain from racist comments and you can go back to where you came from a 2 inch plot !!!!
Army crackdown is the only realistic solution here. MQM should have nothing to fear, as it served the army most loyally during the past regime.
come and go
many people firing, killing people, burning buses and cars,etc, Police and Rangers always keep Guns in their hands, for What? just a toy, why they dont fire upon people, who are burning the Cars, buses, public property.Why not target them.
link text
READ THISS
Dear moderators. I have been sending comments in french language and you did not publish and therefore I am not translating them into English and posting it. It appears your moderation is lopsided.
Karachi is a cursed city. There are vampires who are sucking its blood and pushing the city to slow death. Look at the faces of the members of the Rabita Committee whose faces have suddenly lit up as soon as the bodies of innocent lives are falling and they are quenching their thurst from the blood of the dead people.
Make Karachi a separate province and give the power to MQM. This is the only solution if you want complete peace and harmony.
An ANP worker killed in a fight with a barber and ANP kills 12 innocent Urdu speaking in return and none of the racists here will condemn it
the killing of an Awami National (ANP) worker on Friday evening. ANP worker Hidayatullah Mehsud, this mehsud was kill during a personal clash with other arm mehsud at barber shop and so as the men were kill two days ago also a muder in a personal clah with any other anp activist not a "target killed" as anP claims...
It's very depressing & sad situation. Why can't both communities start living together like human beings instead of monsters.
MQM and ANP should be banned in the karachi, seize their assets, funds, and activities immediately
killing of Urdu speaking in their own city is unacceptable..
@Ahmed MQM is afraid of the army because the army represents oppression, not operation. Army represents feudal and industrialists of this country who cant bear an educated middle class thriving in an as diverse city as karachi. It just means trouble for them because the people coming to karachi from all over pakistan, for work, are going to take back tales of development and good governance back to their areas and will start asking questions. You want to see what MQM has done for the city. If millions of people could be kept hostages through bullets, Panjab would ve been Afghanistan by now. Pls acknowledge the good work they have done for this city. They are elected from the areas of karachi which have the highest literacy rate in Pakistan, according to United Nations. Pls dont be so biased.
Last year, these bhatta parties killed more people than taliban terrorists
@MQM HATERS go and watch Banaras where ANP is still firing every where, 8 people[Karachities] killed already
A shutter down strike in Karachi for one day causes Rs10 billion or $120 million loss for the Pakistani economy.
I 've a cure for the ills of karachi, though politically incorrect but certainly durable solution. One way ticket to India for all the Muhajirs. They will find better life in India and people of karachi will breathe better.
It is very unfortunate that the violence which started last week is still continuing and every day innocent people are killed by unknown miscreants.
It seems that the government of Sindh has failed in maintaining law and order in Karachi as officials of all law enforcement agencies take their salaries in time but they failed to reach in time at the site where crimes occurred.
There is no reason that Governor, Chief Minister of Sindh, DG Rangers and IG Police Sindh should remain in their respective jobs when they cannot control the day to day law and order situation and have become silent spectators.
Had any one of their family members would have been killed in the ongoing riots in Karachi, these people would have taken sky on their heads to arrest and prosecute the culprits, but these high ranking officials are provided bullet proof cars, dozens of Police Rangers Mobile Vans and uncounted security personnel in civil and uniforms.
People of Karachi have not become sick and tired of the situation and I don’t think that there is a way out to control the law and order situation, except to call Army in the entire Karachi, impose curfew and door to door search should be conducted to recover the illegal weapons and all miscreants should be arrested so that Karachi should return to peace.
As far as the Interior Minister Manzoor Wassan is concerned, he as usual should have gone to sleep in his personal bunker to see another dream in the broad day light.
What a class of situation the high officials are enjoying and an ordinary man who vote for them to serve the masses is being killed ruthlessly.
Only solution is to just ask Shahi Syed, "Please leave Karachi"
Army is not a solution, it has always been a problem. It pacifies the disease for the time being as a pain killer but the disease continues to grow underneath. It requires paradigm shift from the political parties there, to ditch the politics of ghettos and sectionism and abandon divisions on the basis of language and tribalism. The current power crisis adds to the fuel too, when people become jobless and businesses go broke, there is nothing but to vent their angers somehow somewhere. Such a situation gives opportunities for the anarchist terrorists to roam around and kill people and thus expand the chaos. The current government has taken Pakistan to abysmal depths of economic outlook. They should call an early elections, a provision of contitution, and let the manadate giving people decide who should rule them. Enough is enough.
Well the army is not good at doing anything else so might as well call them to clean uo Karachi and once they are through they can go back to selling plots.
While Karachi burns, the Federal and provincial governments sit back and relax. They don't seem to feel any urgency to bring sanity back to the city, The thing to note is that the very parties that are sitting in the government and are supposed to be help estbalish law and order in the city are fighting it out in the streets. If the government is sincere, and wishes to bring peace to the city, they must get serious and deweaponise the city. But as an immediate measure, they should put a ban on statements of leaders of all parties to the ongoing turf war in Karachi. such statements act to inflame the people's feeings and intensify the conflicts.
The one and only solution for karachi is to call Army.
@ ahmed ..... because you dnt know what army did when they were in the city. if that happened again... then you will see the same thing wht you are seeing in balochistan. and things will go beyound MQM then ...
These killings and strikes are destroying the economy and not helping the country.
If provincial government of KP province can request army to come in and clean up Swat,why cannot the government of Sindh make similar request.to army. Whether one likes it or not Rangers and police have failed to bring peace to Karachi
Isn't MQM the party of so called Middle Class which has taken city hostage. the Feudal Mr Madhyana who allegedly broke the legs of school teacher rotts in lock up vs the goons of middle class kill at will and never get even charged for their atrocities let alone get arrested or rott in jail. Welcome to Middle Class Rule.
The land of the pure seems to be getting a lot more pure each day.
World has reached the moon and we are still fighting and killing each other. Shame on us.
Why is MQM afraid of Army intervention in Karachi? If they are innocent then they should call Army to clean Karachi.