Voicing concerns: Qayyumabad Chowrangi chokes as ASWJ protests missing workers

This was the fourth protest demonstration by the party in the last one month

KARACHI: Scores of workers and supporters of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) staged a demonstration at Qayyumabad Chowrangi on Sunday to protest the 'enforced disappearances' of their workers.

The protesters gathered at the busy roundabout at around 2pm and blocked the roads for traffic by burning tyres, which caused a massive traffic jam on Qayyumabad, Shaheed-e-Millat Road, Baloch Colony and Korangi Road. Several passing vehicles were also partially damaged as the charged protesters pelted them with stones. The demonstration lasted until 4:30pm, when the crowd finally dispersed.



The demonstration was part of the ongoing wave of protests by the ASWJ in Karachi over the last month. Earlier, the party had staged demonstrations in various areas of the city, including Lasbella, Daud Chowrangi in Quaidabad and Karachi Press Club (KPC). "This was our fourth protest in the past one month," the party's spokesperson told The Express Tribune. "We demand that our workers be released immediately."

Addressing the participants, the ASWJ leaders said that 26 of their workers were currently missing. They warned that their peaceful protests could also turn violent and the government will be responsible for the law and order situation in the city if the missing workers were not released. "We just wanted to record our protest. We have ended it for now, but this wave could spread across the country," warned the party's spokesperson.

A large contingent of law enforcers was deployed at the protest site. Baloch Colony SHO Sohail Akhtar said that no major untoward incident was reported. "We allowed them to carry out the demonstration as it is their right to protest," he said, adding that the police did not want to create a controversy by attempting to stop them.

In the last such demonstration on December 4, hundreds of ASWJ workers had gathered outside the KPC to protest the 'extrajudicial killings' of their party workers. The body of an ASWJ worker, Tariq Mauvia, son of Abdul Rasheed was found from Sakran, Balochistan on December 1. The party had accused Rangers personnel of abducting and killing their worker.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2014.