KARACHI: Sit-ins in solidarity with the heirs of the Mach tragedy victims in the city expanded to further locations on Thursday while civil society activists staged a protest outside the Karachi Press Club to condemn the barbaric incident, calling upon the state to bring the perpetrators of the outrage to justice.

Meanwhile Shia Ulema Council and Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen in coordination with other organisations held protest sit-ins in Hyderabad, Thatta, Jacobabad, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Badin, Naushahro Feroze and several other cities and towns for the second consecutive day on Thursday.

The sit-ins caused severe disruption in the flow of vehicular traffic on different sections of highways as well as roads within the cities and towns.

Thursday’s protests in Karachi were a little more organized than past days allowing smooth traffic movement at a few spots, however at most locations routine life and smooth flow of traffic was affected.

‘We feel ashamed that the loved ones of those who were slaughtered are not heard’

A Civil Aviation Authority official said that due to the absence and delayed arrival of the majority of passengers at the airport some 17 local and international flights were either cancelled or rescheduled.

The protesters at around 14 different spots in the city remained peaceful and determined to continue their support to the Mach victims and their families.

According to a Twitter post by the city’s traffic police, sit-ins were being held at Numaish (M.A. Jinnah Road), Sharea Faisal, Malir 15, Jauhar More, Surjani Town (Khuda Ki Basti), Steel Town Chowrangi, Five Star Chowrangi (North Nazimabad), Nipa bridge, IRC Imambargah, among other locations.

Leaders of the MWM, which has mainly organised the protests supported by other parties, wondered about the “arrogance” of the rulers who failed to understand the level of the tragedy.

“We as a nation feel ashamed that the loved ones of those who were slaughtered for no reason are not heard even in these testing times,” said Allama Baqir Abbas Zaidi. “It was the test of the rulers to prove their character, meet their promises and take the first step forward to make this country a welfare state. But they are failing miserably.”

The sit-in organisers said that the protests would continue and would only come to an end when the families of the victims decided to call them off in Quetta.

Civil society protest

Joint Action Committee (JAC) and members of civil society held a protest demonstration against the gruesome killing of 11 Hazara community mine workers in Mach outside the KPC.

Carrying placards with slogans calling for the protection of Hazara lives, the participants demanded arrest of the terrorists and provision of Rs1.5 million compensation for each killed worker.

JAC leaders Karamat Ali, Anis Haroon, Qazi Khizar and Saeed Baloch condemned the killings of Shia Hazara workers in Balochistan. They also condemned the “stubborn” attitude of the prime minister for not visiting the bereaved families, who staged a sit-in in Quetta and demanded Imran Khan visit them.

Karamat Ali said that this government is not paying attention to the miseries of the common people. “It is so ironic that people are sitting in such cold weather with the corpses of their loved ones and the PM has not yet gone there,” he said.

Khizar Hayat of HRCP said: “We only demand our rights which are enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.”

They condemned both the federal and Balochistan governments for their failure to protect human lives in the province. They said the FC has a number of checkposts in the province but despite that terrorists killed the workers and fled easily. So far the law enforcement agencies have not arrested the terrorists, they said adding that it is utter failure of the security agencies and provincial government.

The demonstration was also attended by Provincial Minister Nasir Hussain Shah.

Other civil society activists who were present at the demonstration included Habibuddin Junaidi, Mehnaz Rahman, Samar Abbas, Paryal Mari, Dr Haroon Ahmed, Dr Riaz Shaikh.

The speakers expressed solidarity with the families of the victims and some JAC leaders later visited the main protest sit-in at Numaish Chowrangi.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2021