Long march: Shikarpur families wait for govt to hear them

Protesters demand operation, ask CM to ban militant outfits

KARACHI:

The last time Arfa saw her uncle was when he was on his way to work. He had some documents in his hands and had just stopped at the Karbala Maula Imambargah to offer his prayers.

She never saw him again. Her uncle, Syed Ghulam Mustafa, was one of the 62 men who died in a powerful blast that ripped through the imambargah’s prayer hall on January 30.

Arfa and her family had joined other families of the victims of the blast in a protest at Numaish Chowrangi on Wednesday. A total of 2,000 men, women and children along with the Wurasa Shuhada Committee of Shikarpur had marched from Shikarpur to hold a sit-in in the city. They demanded that an army operation should be carried out in Shikarpur to weed out the militants. They added that if their demands were not met, they will march up to the house of the chief minister (CM) of Sindh.

The committee, which is headed by Allama Maqsood Dhomki met with a Pakistan Peoples Party delegation from CM House and presented them with a list of 25 demands.

Sindh Information and Local Bodies Minister Sharjeel Memon termed the negotiations successful till the filing of this report. The committee, however, has not made an announcement as yet about whether they plan to continue with the sit-in or not.

Sources claim that their top demand was for a military operation like Zarb-e-Azb in Shikarpur.

They demanded the arrest and execution of those responsible for the blast along with a search operation of madrassas in the area. The protesters also demanded government jobs for the victims’ families, a ban on religious outfits, medical facilities for the injured, proper security at imambargahs and Shia institutions along with installation of CCTV cameras.

“A search operation must be carried out in madarssas in Shikarpur,” said Shamshad, who lost two nephews, a cousin and a neighbour, in the blast. “The army needs to step in now.”

While talking to The Express Tribune, Arfa said that when the blast happened, their house shook and thick black smoke made it difficult to see anything. She remembers running outside with the rest of the women in her house to see if their men were alive.

“We have spent our childhood here,” she said. “Shikarpur used to be so lively. Now it’s just grim.”

The protesters were being led by the committee but are also being supported by the Majlis-e-Wahadat-e-Muslimeen (MWM).

According to MWM’s Amin Shaheedi, these protests were being organised to wake the government up from its sleep and do something for the people. “Why can’t CM Qaim Ali Shah ban all groups involved in sectarian violence?” he asked. “Why is the Punjab government supporting them? Why has no operation been carried out against them in Balochistan?”

Men and women sat with solemn faces, listening to the cleric’s speeches and shouting slogans with them.

The protesters arrived in Karachi on Tuesday night after leaving Shikarpur on Sunday afternoon. During their journey, they made stops in Sukkur, Bhit Shah and Hyderabad.

After visiting the Wadi-e-Hussain graveyard, they settled at Numaish Chowrangi, where camps for food, telephone and medicine were also set up. Protesters said that 95 vehicles had escorted them
to Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2015.