Police on Sunday clashed with protesters outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) for violating Section 144 when they demonstrated against the killing of blasphemy suspect Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar and “extremism in Sindh”.

Section 144 is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period.

Organised as the “Sindh Rawadari March”, the protesters had gathered outside the press club today to condemn the “extrajudicial” killing of Dr Shahnawaz, who had been accused of sharing blasphemous posts on social media and was shot dead under mysterious circumstances during a gun battle with the police in Mirpurkhas on September 19. Following an inquiry into the killing, Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar acknowledged that the police had “staged the encounter”.

The Sindh Rawadari March included progressive voices from across the Sindh province including human rights defenders, trade unions, and feminist movements.

TV and social media footage of the protest showed police performing baton charges on the demonstrators outside the KPC, including women.

At the same time, the religiopolitical party Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) called a counter-protest at the KPC, however, police stopped them at Teen Talwar and near Capri cinema. Later, TLP protesters, too, ended up clashing with the police and Rangers.

KPC president Saeed Sarbazi told Dawn.com that the “police closed all routes leading to the press club with containers and buses, and even reporters and camera persons were not allowed entry.”

South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told media persons outside the KPC that protesters “belonging to both groups have been arrested.”

On the other hand, Karachi South Deputy Commissioner (DC) Altaf Sario visited the KPC, where Sarbazi informed him that Section 144 did not apply to the KPC as it has been declared a “Hyde Park” venue, where there was no ban on protests.

The DC contended that Section 144 was imposed due to the risk of riots and violence not only in Karachi, but other parts of Sindh.

According to Sarbazi, the DC added that this was happening at a time when foreign dignitaries were arriving in Islamabad and “such situations might create a bad image for the country”. Foreign delegations are in the capital for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit hosted by Pakistan.

The DC told KPC office-bearers that he would also talk with the police.

After Sindh Inspector General (IG) of Police Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon talked with KPC officials, South DIG visited the venue and ordered the removal of all restrictions imposed there, said Sarbazi.

Meanwhile, witnesses and organisers of the march told Dawn.com that the police had been deployed on Sharea Faisal near the Finance & Trade Center (FTC), on main Korangi Road near Qayumabad, Toll Plaza on Superhighway, and other areas where people were being stopped and prevented from protesting.

There was also a large police detachment on the main MA Jinnah Road near Capri Cinema, where motorists are being stopped and checked by policemen, the protesters said.

A Dawn.com staffer saw a large contingent of police around the Teen Talwar roundabout, with personnel carrying riot shields and wearing armoured vests. A police water cannon truck was parked near the Hilal-i-Ahmar Medical Centre.

1 dead, several injured as TLP holds counter-protest en route to KPC

One person was allegedly shot dead while several others, including policemen, were injured as TLP supporters clashed with police and Rangers in the Red Zone near Metropole while making their way to the KPC, according to organisers and witnesses.

They added that a large number of TLP protestors reached Metropole hotel where contingents of policemen tried to prevent them from moving towards the KPC, as civil society organisations were already protesting there against “extremism” in Sindh.

Police resorted to tear gas shelling to disperse them, which led to a violent clash, resulting in the alleged death of a protester and injuries to several others including policemen. One police mobile was also allegedly torched by the protestors.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said that the body of a man with a bullet wound in his head was brought to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) from the site of the protest. The police, however, have not specified the affiliation of the protester.

TLP spokesperson Rehan Mohammed Khan told Dawn.com that one of the party’s supporters, identified as Majid, was shot dead while several others were injured.

He accused Sindh Rangers of “directly” firing on the protestors.

Asked why they were moving towards the KPC where another protest was ongoing, the TLP spokesperson said the civil society activists had already staged their protest there.

“Why were we being prevented from moving towards the press club to demonstrate against those who favour blasphemous persons?” Khan said.

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hasan Linjar issued a statement against the protests across the city, saying there were concerns about law and order, and Section 144 was being enforced.

“On the same day, a protest call was made which triggered fears of a clash,” Lanjar said. “The law was violated by demonstrators … people were detained, and policemen were tortured by the protesters, in which two policemen were injured while a police van was also set on fire.”

Lanjar maintained that Section 144 was in force in Karachi and he had appealed to both groups to call off the protest and lamented that “the losses from such incidents will have to be borne by the people of Sindh”, adding that the violence was “beyond comprehension”.

Issuing a statement on the police action against the Sindh Rawadari March, he said, “An inquiry will be made into violence against women, and action will be taken against the concerned police officers.”

He added that cases were registered by Dr Shahnawaz’s heirs and that some police officers were granted bail. “The absconding police officers will be arrested,” Lanjar said. “This kind of protest is not right for patriotic Pakistanis,” the home minister said.

Over 70 TLP ‘miscreants’ held: DIG South

South DIG Syed Asad Raza also told Dawn.com that the police have arrested over 70 TLP “miscreants” for allegedly torching a police mobile and injuring 10 policemen during a violent protest near the Metropole Hotel.

The official alleged that one TLP activist was shot dead “by the firing of their own people as they were armed” and accused the TLP workers of “resorting to firing on law enforcers as well”.

Regarding the police action against participants of the Sindh Rawadari March, DIG Raza said the police resorted to baton charges and shelling to disperse the protesters, as they violated Section 144.

He said the police will a first information report (FIR) against members of both TLP and civil society organisations. DIG Raza admitted that all detained participants of the Rawadari march have been released, denying the arrest of any journalist or woman.

Rights groups condemn police action

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed serious concerns over the arrests of several persons associated with the Sindh Rawadari March by Karachi police while attempting to hold a peaceful assembly.

“The police have also attempted to arrest HRCP chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt and warned him not to speak to the press,” said the Commission in a statement.

It demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the detained persons and the Sindh Rawadari March must be allowed to continue its assembly at the KPC unhindered.

Likewise, the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) expressed concern over the treatment of those participating in the Sindh Rawadari March.

“SHRC states that the right to freedom of movement, freedom of association and freedom of expression are fundamental rights to be exercised by the citizens subject to restrictions, qualification and law given the Constitution of Pakistan,” they said in a press release.

“It is the duty of a state to respect, protect and fulfil [the] realisations of such rights,” the SHRC added. “Even in such situations where it is competing for a state to balance the rights of other groups so that other people’s fundamental rights to public freedoms are not violated/infringed.”

The SHRC called for the immediate release of peaceful protesters.