MWM holds funeral prayers for slain leader
Roads near funeral gathering are blocked and various schools, businesses in Karachi remain closed.
Party supporters at the gathering for funeral prayers. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI:
The namaz-e-janaza for late Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Deputy Secretary General Maulana Dedar Ali Jalbani was held in Karachi on Wednesday, Express News reported.
Supporters of the party gathered in the hundreds to attend his funeral prayers on MA Jinnah Road. They also shouted slogans against the killing and demanded the government arrest Jalbani's killers.
Jalbani's body will be taken to Khairpur for burial.
Speaking at the event, an MWM spokesperson said that had the Karachi operation been conducted properly, such incidents would not occur.
He added that MWM is “hopeful that the culprits will be arrested by tonight and if they are not, the party will announce its plans on what to do next.”
On the streets
Many schools and businesses throughout the city are closed for the day while many businesses that are operating have a low turnout.
Three main universities, Karachi university, Federal Urdu university and NED university postponed examinations scheduled for Wednesday.
MWM had announced a three-day mourning period after the maulana was killed on November 3.
Traffic going to and from the gathering has been closed off by containers and minibuses causing major traffic jams in many parts of the city.
Shahrah-e-Faisal, MA Jinnah Road, Preedy Street, Tower and Nursery are some of the areas where traffic is jammed.
"We closed the [arterial] road and stopped movement of traffic in the surrounding areas also to avoid any untoward incident," senior police official Pir Muhammad Shah told AFP.
Background
Maulana Dedar Ali and his security guard-cum-driver were two of 13 people who were killed in Karachi on November 3.
Based on their initial investigation, police believed that most of the killings were a result of sectarian violence.
The MWM leader was shot in Gulshan-e-Iqbal when he was on his way to the MWM office in Ancholi Society along with his driver Sarfaraz Ali, from his residence in Ayub Goth when armed motorcyclists intercepted his car and opened fire killing them both on the spot.
Following the incident, various parts of the city – particularly Shia-dominated neighbourhoods – such as Ancholi Society, Rizvia Society, Ayub Goth, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Jaffer Tayar Society in Malir, MA Jinnah Road and Abbas Town saw commercial activities come to a halt as unidentified armed men had resorted to indiscriminate firing in reaction to the killings.
MWM had appealed to the public to remain calm and had demanded that the government and law enforcement agencies arrest the culprits.
The namaz-e-janaza for late Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Deputy Secretary General Maulana Dedar Ali Jalbani was held in Karachi on Wednesday, Express News reported.
Supporters of the party gathered in the hundreds to attend his funeral prayers on MA Jinnah Road. They also shouted slogans against the killing and demanded the government arrest Jalbani's killers.
Jalbani's body will be taken to Khairpur for burial.
Speaking at the event, an MWM spokesperson said that had the Karachi operation been conducted properly, such incidents would not occur.
He added that MWM is “hopeful that the culprits will be arrested by tonight and if they are not, the party will announce its plans on what to do next.”
On the streets
Many schools and businesses throughout the city are closed for the day while many businesses that are operating have a low turnout.
Three main universities, Karachi university, Federal Urdu university and NED university postponed examinations scheduled for Wednesday.
MWM had announced a three-day mourning period after the maulana was killed on November 3.
Traffic going to and from the gathering has been closed off by containers and minibuses causing major traffic jams in many parts of the city.
Shahrah-e-Faisal, MA Jinnah Road, Preedy Street, Tower and Nursery are some of the areas where traffic is jammed.
"We closed the [arterial] road and stopped movement of traffic in the surrounding areas also to avoid any untoward incident," senior police official Pir Muhammad Shah told AFP.
Background
Maulana Dedar Ali and his security guard-cum-driver were two of 13 people who were killed in Karachi on November 3.
Based on their initial investigation, police believed that most of the killings were a result of sectarian violence.
The MWM leader was shot in Gulshan-e-Iqbal when he was on his way to the MWM office in Ancholi Society along with his driver Sarfaraz Ali, from his residence in Ayub Goth when armed motorcyclists intercepted his car and opened fire killing them both on the spot.
Following the incident, various parts of the city – particularly Shia-dominated neighbourhoods – such as Ancholi Society, Rizvia Society, Ayub Goth, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Jaffer Tayar Society in Malir, MA Jinnah Road and Abbas Town saw commercial activities come to a halt as unidentified armed men had resorted to indiscriminate firing in reaction to the killings.
MWM had appealed to the public to remain calm and had demanded that the government and law enforcement agencies arrest the culprits.