On opposite sides: In aftermath of clashes in Bhakkar, rival groups protest against each other

ASWJ and MWM activists claim that their men have been targeted, blame govt.

KARACHI:

Activists of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM) staged protests in Karachi on Sunday against the clashes in Bhakkar district on Friday which claimed lives of at least 11 people.

The flow of traffic in some parts of Karachi was disturbed as leaders, workers and supporters of both parties came out onto the roads with demands of state action against each other.

The ASWJ activists held a protest at Lasbela Chowk where several hundred supporters waved their party flags as they chanted slogans against what they called “sectarian groups with Iranian backing.” The ASWJ spokesperson, Maulana Akbar Saeed Farooqui, said that more than 400 activists and supporters of the party were victims of targeted killings in the last one year. “The government has completely failed to stop these systematic killings at the hands of rival sectarian group, what is backed by a neighbouring country to disrupt peace of the city.”

He said that out of the 11 people killed in Bhakkar, eight were activists and supporters of the ASWJ.

Meanwhile, the MWM held a protest demonstration at Karachi Press Club against, what they claimed, was patronage of Punjab police to banned outfits - Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Sipah-e-Sahaba - in attacking Shia majority areas of Kotla Jam and Darya Khan of Bhakkar district.

Led by MWM’s provincial deputy secretary-general, Maulana Sadiq Raza Taqvi, participants of the rally marched from Numaish Chowrangi till the venue of the protest, chanting slogans against Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, the police, and militants involved in unrest in the country.

Maulana Taqvi said that it was imperative that the government carry out a country-wide operation against banned terrorist outfits, Taliban and Sipah-e-Sahaba, to stop the ongoing terrorism.

“We demand inclusion of Rana Sanaullah’s name in investigations of the Bhakkar incident as he is supporting the terrorists across the province for his electoral interests,” he said.

He also demanded arrest of Bhakkar DPO Chaudhry Sarfaraz over his negligence and support to the banned outfits and immediate release of all the detained Shia men and withdrawal of the FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2013.