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7 killed, many injured in Karachi violence

- PHOTO: AFP

OW OF ANGER: A street in Karachi on Wednesday when violence erupted a day after pro-Musharraf Minister Sher Afghan Niazi was beaten up by lawyers. Rival political groups clashed, leaving two persons dead and creating a trail of destruction.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s commercial nerve-centre Karachi was paralysed on Wednesday after violence erupted in several parts of the city apparently in reaction to Tuesday’s attack on a former Minister by a mob of lawyers in Lahore.

The violence in the capital city of Sindh, in which at least seven persons were killed, more than a dozen persons injured and several vehicles and at least one building torched, comes within days of a Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government taking charge of the country, and while the provincial government has not even been formed.

Karachi has been politically tense since Monday, when the former Chief Minister, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, was attacked by a mob outside the Sindh Provincial Assembly as he emerged after taking oath as a member.

PPP leaders alleged Wednesday’s violence was a “conspiracy” against the new government. All eyes were immediately on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the party that has a stranglehold on Karachi, and is still considered a strong ally of President Pervez Musharraf though it is now in power-sharing talks with the PPP.

PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari said there were “elements [ranged] against the aspirations of the people who want to see democracy and strong federation in the country.” In a statement, Mr. Zardari said the violence was “very much planned.” Nabeel Gabol, a PPP leader, asked the MQM, a party that won 16 of the 18 parliamentary seats in Karachi, to play its “due role” and help restore calm, and not assist elements who were conspiring against the government.

Aitzaz Ahsan, who resigned as the Supreme Court Bar Association chief after the attack on the former Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Sher Afgan Niazi, on Tuesday, urged the MQM to go out on the streets of Karachi and appeal for calm as he had tried to rescue Mr. Niazi the night before.

The London-based MQM leader Altaf Hussain issued an appeal for calm. At a press conference in Karachi, MQM deputy convener Farooq Sattar pointed a finger at the pro-sacked judiciary lawyers in the Karachi Bar Associaition for starting the violence by attacking lawyers affiliated to his party.

Information Minister Sherry Rehman said seven persons were killed in the violence. A woman was among the dead. Grappling with his first serious test even before he has had time to find his feet, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani condemned the incidents strongly at the weekly Cabinet meeting.

He asked all political forces to ensure peace and harmony in the metropolitan city to support political stability. The Interior Ministry has directed authorities to deal with trouble-makers with a firm hand.

The violence erupted when two groups of lawyers clashed outside the city courts where the Karachi Bar Association is located. One of the groups was holding a demonstration in protest against the treatment meted out to Mr. Niazi. Firearms were reportedly used.

A large mob later set fire to a building of a bar association in Malir, a suburb of Karachi. At least a dozen vehicles were set ablaze in different parts of the city. Pakistan’s most important city ground to a halt as businesses and offices shut down, people started rushing back to their homes, causing traffic jams everywhere.

By evening, the violence was under control but the city remained tense. All markets were shut, petrol pumps were closed and public transport was off the roads.

The attacks on two prominent politicians affiliated to the previous regime has created widespread distaste and concern at the level of political intolerance.

The defeated Pakistan Muslim League (Q) announced a boycott of the Punjab Assembly in protest against the attack on Dr. Niazi. The MQM has been boycotting the Sindh Assembly since the attack on Mr. Rahim.

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