KARACHI: Police on Sunday evening fired teargas shells at a rally organised by the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) and took into custody its chairman Mustafa Kamal and other leaders after they marched towards the city’s so-called ‘red zone’ to stage a protest outside the Chief Minister House against water shortage and other civic problems.

The PSP had announced a ‘million march’ for the rights of the people of Karachi and the local administration granted them permission to hold a rally on Sharea Faisal from Karsaz to FTC building. At the Aisha Bawani School on Sharea Faisal, police blocked the road by parking armoured personnel carriers so that the rally could not enter the ‘red zone’ — where a ban under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code on demonstrations, rallies and assembly of more than five persons is already in place.

Containers were also placed on roads leading to the CM House, because the PSP made it clear that it would march towards the official residence of the provincial chief executive as the people did not recognise any “red zone”.

Since Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah is in China, the PPP sent a four-member delegation comprising provincial minister Dr Sikander Mandhro, Rashid Rabbani, Waqar Mehdi and Murtaza Wahab to the Aisha Bawani School, where a PSP delegation led by its secretary general Raza Haroon also arrived to hold talks.

The talks, however, failed as the PSP leadership insisted that its rally would enter the “red zone” to go towards the CM House.

As the PSP workers, led by Mr Kamal, started marching towards the “red zone” after 9pm, police used water cannon and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the crowd.

The shelling was so intense that most participants of the rally took refuge in nearby lanes. However, Mr Kamal and dozens of his workers continued their march, but police stopped the PSP chairman and took him, along with other workers, into custody.

Senior PSP leaders Raza Haroon, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Advocate Anis Ahmed and Iftikhar Alam were among those taken into custody. However, PSP president Anis Kaimkhani was not taken into custody.

DIG-South Azad Khan told Dawn that 16 persons, including Mr Kamal, had been taken into custody and a case was being registered against them for violating Section 144 of the CrPC.

A spokesman for the PSP termed the police action “barbaric” and claimed that “hundreds of women and children fell unconscious” due to teargas shelling.

Earlier, a large number of PSP workers and supporters carrying the national flag reached Sharea Faisal in cars, buses and motorcycles to join the ‘million march’. A good number of women were also present.

The party set up its main camp in front of the FTC building, where its central leaders were present and party songs were also played to charge the crowd. The rally was held on one of the two tracks of arterial Sharea Faisal.

A delegation of the Sunni Tehreek also joined the rally to express solidarity with the PSP.

In his brief speech before marching towards the red zone, Mr Kamal said the people of Karachi came out of their houses for their rights and no one could stop them. He said his struggle would continue till the government accepted his 16 demands.

The demands pertain to ending water shortage, taking action against violations of building laws and commercialisation, revival of the Karachi Building Control Authority, more powers for the Karachi mayor, including giving him administrative control of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Karachi Development Authority, city parks, roads and hospitals, a special development package for Hyderabad, etc.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2017