KARACHI: City remains shut on second day of mourning
By Arman Sabir
KARACHI, April 13: Life in this city remained paralysed for the second consecutive day, Thursday, in mourning for the 47 people who died in a bomb blast at Nishtar Park on Tuesday evening.
Many prominent religious personalities died in the massive bomb blast which took place at the stage of an Eid Miladun Nabi congregation. The bomb went off as Maghrib prayers were in progress and a large number of people were present on and around the stage, in addition to thousands others within and outside the park.
The bomb attack triggered violence immediately after the blast as angry mobs took to the streets and set fire to two petrol stations, a fire tender and several other vehicles. The news of the blast spread like a wildfire and the city plunged into fear and tension.
On Thursday, a shutdown was observed in the city and there were reports of sporadic incidents of violence at several places where four more vehicles were set on fire, bringing the total number of vehicles burnt since Tuesday evening to 11. Almost all major commercial centres and markets remained closed and very thin attendance at government and private establishments was reported.
According to fire brigade sources, a private Suzuki-FX car was set ablaze in Bohrapir locality on Thursday morning. A minibus of route N-1 was set on fire near KMC workshop in Ranchhor Line, a bus of route 4-L was torched near KMC head office and a minibus of route W-21 was set afire near Teen Hatti bridge.
There were also reports that angry youths in groups took to the streets and pelted vehicles and public and private property with stones in different localities, including Baldia Town, Shah Faisal Colony, Bohrapir, New Karachi, Hussainabad, Liaquatabad, etc.
Having failed to control the law and order situation in the city, troops were called in to patrol certain areas and restore peace. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the army was at place in specific areas on the request of the provincial government.
A thin number of public transport vehicles was seen plying on roads. Most people did not come out of their homes in the morning to go to their workplaces and the attendance in government and private institutions was much lesser than the routine.
Many people remained glued to their television sets to get updated about the investigations into the bomb explosion and the city situation.
The Sindh governor and chief minister, in their separate statements, have already announced a three-day mourning and closure of education institutions till Friday.
The funeral prayers of ST leaders, including the party’s chief, Maulana Abbas Qadri, and his closest associates Maulana Iftekhar Bhatti and Maulana Akram Qadri, were held after Maghrib prayer on Thursday. The coffin of Maulana Abbas Qadri was first brought to his home in the PECHS from Edhi Foundation’s cold storage. The coffin of Maulana Akram Qadri was sent first to his home in New Karachi. A large number of people visited the homes of their leaders to have a final glimpse. Later, the coffins were taken to Eidgah for funeral prayers.
According to Edhi Foundation, 30 bodies of Nishtar Park tragedy victims were kept in the cold storage before 27 of them were identified and taken away by their relatives. Rizwan Edhi said on Thursday night that the remaining three bodies were still lying in the cold storage.
