A man looks out at a protest from a window of a building, built in the British Raj era, during clash between residents and the security officials in the Lyari area of Karachi.—Reuters Photo

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the Jamaat-i-Islami, the Pakistan People’s Party (Shaheed Bhutto) and civil society activists have demanded immediate restoration of peace in Lyari and curb killings of innocent citizens.

Expressing concern over the situation in Lyari, MQM chief Altaf Hussain called upon the concerned authorities to rid the oldest neighbourhood of the metropolis of terrorists and to provide food and water to innocent residents.

In a statement, he urged philanthropists to help provide food and other essential items to the people of Lyari, who had become hostage to terrorists attacking policemen and people of the area.

He asked the president, the prime minister, the federal interior miniser and the Sindh chief minister to take practical steps to deal with the serious situation of Lyari and provide food, water and other essential items to the oppressed people of Lyari.

According to a press release issued on Sunday, JI city chief Muhammad Hussain Mehanti chaired a meeting to discuss the situation in Lyari. He also spoke to the Sindh police chief and offered his condolence over the killings of policemen in the Lyari operation.

He expressed concern over the shortage of water, food in the strife-torn Lyari and demanded that electricity and water supply in the area be restored forthwith and food and other essential items be provided to the Lyari residents.

The JI called upon all political and religious parties to play their role in maintaining a permanent peace across the city, particularly in Lyari.

PPP-SB chairperson Ghinva Bhutto said that due to the ongoing operation, the Lyari people were facing hardship as there was no water and electricity and they were unable to get food items.

In a statement issued on Sunday, she said there were complaints that the power and water supply was stopped during the ongoing police operation, which instead of restoring law and order in the area had put the life of innocent people under threat.

She said a number of innocent people, including policemen, had lost their lives and the local administration had failed to restore peace.

Civil Society activists expressed their concern over the ongoing operation in Lyari and demanded that area residents be provided water, food, medical aid forthwith.

In a statement issued here, they said they were concerned over the non-availability of water, food, medicines, electricity and gas to thousands of innocent residents of Lyari.

The activists called upon the government to ensure all basic necessities of life, including water, food, emergency medical support, gas supply, etc, as well as security to the residents of the troubled areas.

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