KARACHI: Liberty Cinema, which is under construction on Bunder Road in Karachi opposite the site of the Memon Mosque, was set on fire by an excited mob after the Id-ul-Azha congregation on Tuesday [Oct 4]. The proprietor of the cinema estimates a loss of about Rs 1,00,000.

The mob … also … obstructed the Municipal Fire Brigade in extinguishing the fire. It was extinguished later with the help of the police. Earlier … a demand for the closing down of the cinema was made by the managing committee of the mosque.

After the Id prayers … certain members of the managing committee of the mosque … made speeches inciting the mob to bring pressure upon the authorities to issue order[s] for the immediate closing down of the cinema. … The mob, consisting of about 2,000 persons, encircled the cinema and set it on fire. The furniture and other articles lying in the cinema were collected and made a bonfire of. The stage was ransacked. A regenerator, fixed on the stage, was totally smashed. The compound and the boundary walls of the cinema were later set on fire.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2024