Miscommunications: Karachi-bound mourners protest train delays

The trains due to take mourners to Karachi in time for the main Muharram 10 procession fail to show up in time.

SUKKUR: It was exactly as they feared. The trains due to take them to Karachi in time for the main Muharram 10 procession on Friday failed to show up in time. In reaction, hundreds of passengers at Rohri railway station turned violent on Thursday.

The passengers, who wanted to take the Awam Express and Super Express to attend the mourning procession in Karachi, staged a demonstration and pelted the offices of railway officials with stones. The Awam Express was scheduled to arrive at 9:40 am and the Super Express at 10:15 am. It takes about 9 hours notwithstanding delays and breakdowns to make it from Sukkur in upper Sindh to Karachi in the south.

The protesters shouted slogans against the railway authorities and broke the windows of the inquiry office. Some protesters ransacked the office of the assistant station master and broke furniture, besides damaging the ATM machine installed near the office.

Railway employees at the station took off as the crowd swelled in to a mob. Even though the police were present, they were too small in number to tackle the angry men and women.

It was not until 1:15 pm that the Awam Express finally arrived and the protesters boarded the train. Since a very large number of passengers were present, some of them were forced to climb on to the roof of the coaches. The Karachi-bound Super Express failed to arrive until the filing of this report even though the station master said it would arrive by 3:30 pm.

Rohri Railway station master Sagheer Ahmed told The Express Tribune that the railway department has been running a special schedule for the mourners. “Since Wednesday midnight and all through Thursday, all trains coming from Karachi were stopped at Gambat, Ranipur, Setharja, Khairpur and other stations to help the mourners get to Rohri,” he explained.

On Thursday morning, thousands of mourners gathered at Rohri after attending the morning processions, said Ahmed. They were waiting to catch the trains to Karachi but unfortunately they were delayed and that sparked the anger, he added.

Ahmed believed that it was a good decision by the police not to intervene in the protest because that would have worsened the situation. He clarified his position and said that he has no control over the schedule of trains as they start either in Karachi or Lahore.

Sukkur railway divisional superintendent Roshan Ali Mangi was unaware of the protest. He said that a locomotive had developed a fault but it was fixed and the train left for its destination.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2010.