KARACHI – The Director General of Rangers (Sindh) has said a due action will be taken against them in line with the federal government directives if protests in Karachi get out of hand.
Major General Muhammad Saeed was addressing an event in Karachi on Thursday.
Soon after the Supreme Court acquitted Asia Bibi on Wednesday, some two dozen locations across Karachi became the scene of protest demonstrations and sit-ins, disrupting routine life in the metropolis.
Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi had called for countrywide protests on Tuesday night, asking the party’s supporters to stage sit-ins within their respective areas against the expected acquittal of Asia, a Christian woman accused of blasphemy eight years ago.
The call for protest was later joined in by other religio-political parties as well as religious groups, including the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). In Karachi the demonstrations began in the morning, after TLP supporters gathered at Numaish Chowrangi, one of the city’s busiest traffic roundabouts. But panic and fear started spreading across the metropolis in the afternoon after reports began circulating on social media about the law and order situation turning violent.
In Karachi, the areas affected by protests included Teen Talwar, Boat Basin, Love Lane Signal, Lyari’s Mira Naka, Merewether Tower, Shahabuddin Market, Essa Nagri towards Gharibabad, 4K Chowrangi, Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad, Al-Karam Square in Karimabad, University Road, Star Gate, Hassan Square, Askari Park towards Hassan Square, Jauhar Chowrangi, Korangi No. 2½, Korangi No. 5, Godown Chowrangi, Murtaza Chowrangi, Chamra Chowrangi, Vita Chowrangi, Baloch Colony Expressway, Orangi Town, Bara Board, Mauripur Road, Paracha Chowk, 8-D Chowk, Dabba Morr on Northern Bypass, Bab-e-Khyber Metroville, Al-Asif Zero Point, Dawood Chowrangi and Maskan Chowrangi.
The DG Rangers said the port city was previously ranked sixth among the most dangerous in the world, but today it ranks 67th owing to efforts of law enforcement agencies.
The general went on to say that in 2017 and 2018 no loss of life was caused by terrorism in Karachi. He added there was not even a single case of electoral violence in the city on polling day back on July 25.
