KARACHI-The call for protests was issued by the Karachi Ulema Committee (KUC) on yesterday. The committee also called for a ‘wheel-jam’ strike across the city, assuring that the demonstrations would be peaceful.
Several shops in different areas remained closed on Friday morning and public transport was scarce, as KUC had urged traders and transporters to close their businesses. A heavy contingent of police and Rangers officials was deployed in different areas of the city.
Shops and markets were reopened after Friday prayers. All Karachi Tajir Ittehad Chairperson Atiq Mir said it was a “peaceful strike” as the body had not received any reports of forceful closure of businesses. He added that traders “could not afford such strikes” as they had already suffered immense losses due to Covid-19 related restrictions.
Leader of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi along with KUC’s acting head, Maulana Iqbalullah, Maulana Hazrat Wali, Qari Allah Dad, Mufti Hamadullah Madani, Maulana Rab Nawaz Hanafi, Maulana Mohammed Tayab among others expressed gratitude to traders and transporters who “closed their business to protest against lack of arrest of the killers of the cleric”.
The KUC members regretted the perceived lack of action from the government and demanded that law enforcement agencies pick up the pace of investigation of the case.