KARACHI: Protests broke out in parts of the city on Monday against the pre-dawn execution of Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, paralysing traffic in different districts of the province and badly affecting daily life and commercial activities across the metropolis.

The protests, not called by any particular party but mostly held by organisations representing the Barelvi school of thought, were started much before sunrise when the news of Qadri’s execution broke. Scores of protesters first converged on Shahrea Faisal, blocking the main road leading to the airport.

Gradually, the protests turned stronger and stretched to other parts of the city. Traffic on Sharea Faisal came to a halt when a large number of people turned out on the key road to attend Qadri’s funeral prayers in absentia. The Tanzeemat-i-Ahl-i-Sunnat — an alliance of several parties representing the Barelvi school of thought — organised the event near the Nursery bus stop on Shahraea Faisal.

Traffic remained suspended for several hours on Sharea Faisal that branches off to some key places including the airport and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Sit-ins were also staged at the Teen Talwar and Numaish intersections by Barelvi organisations.

The Jamaat-i-Islami also staged a protest demonstration and held funeral prayers in absentia on University Road near Bait-ul-Mukarram Masjid in the evening.

“What would be the sentence for those who commit blasphemy except the death penalty as guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan?” said JI leader Muhammad Hussain Mehnati while speaking to the protesters. “Salman Taseer had put his weight behind the group of those who were against hanging of blasphemers. Mumtaz Qadri had truly represented the Muslim Ummah and he demonstrated the aspirations of every lover of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). President Mamnoon Hussain has signed the worst decision in the history of Pakistan.”

Hundreds of vehicles were seen moving at a snail’s pace on I. I. Chundrigarh Road, M.R. Kyani Road, Sarwar Shaheed Road, Abdullah Haroon Road, South Napier Road, Old Outram Road, Hasrat Mohani Road, Wood Street, Shahra-i-Kamal Ataturk, Burnes Road, Belassis Street and Shahra-i-Liaquat, Nicol Road when the authorities blocked Aiwan-i-Saddar Road leading to Governor House and part of Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road leading to CM House for “security reasons”.

A link on Shahrea Faisal near Hotel Metrople to the PIDC intersection faced the same situation and traffic in a couple of phases of the Defence Housing Authority also remained disturbed for hours. The mess stretched to parts of the National Highway, better known as Korangi Road, and Saddar.

Several wholesale markets in Karachi’s south district also remained closed during the day.

The protesting parties announced countrywide demonstrations against Qadri’s execution.

“It’s a judicial murder,” said Shah Owais Noorani of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (JUP-N). “The rulers decided to execute Mumtaz Qadri only to appease the West. But they should know that the people of Pakistan see him as a hero who reflected their sentiments. The massive protests across the country show their respect for Mumtaz Qadri and anger against the government.”

Criticising the authorities for Qadri’s execution, the Tanzeem-i-Islami in Karachi also described it as a government move to appease the West. Chief of the party Hafiz Akif Saeed in a statement also said: “Murderers of Pakistanis such as Raymond Davis are protected and flown safely out of the country, and the punishment of convicted Aasia Bibi, who has openly confessed to the blasphemy charge against her, has not been implemented yet.”

Protests were held in other Sindh cities also. In Hyderabad all major markets, shopping malls and fuel stations remained closed and a private TV channel van was also attacked by protesters.

A large number of activists of the JUP, JUP-N, Sunni Tehreek and JI; workers of the Wholesale Pharma Owner Association and a trade body took out protest rallies and shouted slogans against the federal government and rulers of the country outside the local press club and other places of the city.

In Khairpur activists of the Qadri Tehreek staged a protest demonstration near the Railway Phatak, Luqman, against the execution. The protesters also burnt tyres to block the road and chanted slogans. Protest demonstrations were also held in Tando Bago and Talhar in Badin district and in Mithi city of Tharparkar district.

The JI in Shikarpur took out a rally from the Lakhi Gate to Clock Tower Chowk to register its protest while a large number of JI activists took out a rally and staged a demonstration near New Town Masjid Chowk.

In Larkana, a protest demonstration was held near the Jinnahbagh Gate, where the protesters burnt tyres and blocked vehicular traffic for more than an hour. Strike-like scenes were witnessed in Mirpurkhas, where several protest demonstrations were held by different religious organisations.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2016