KARACHI: A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against nine leaders of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Friday for several violations of law during a protest rally held earlier in Numaish Chowrangi, Karachi. The FIRs were penned down againstthe MQM leaders for violating the loudspeaker act under section 144 of the Pakistan Penal Code, for setting up road blocks and for harassing citizens.
According to Superintendent Police (SP) Jamshed Town Dr. Fahd Ahmed, cases have been registered against Haider Abbass Rizvi, Dr. Farooq Sattar, Waseem Akhtar, Nasreen Jaleel, Mohammad Hussain, Kamaal Pasha, Kanwar Naveed Jameel and Faisal Sabzwari.
He said that Soldier Bazaar police nominated nine MQM leaders in the FIR for harassing the citizens, blocking the roads, violating the loudspeaker act and Section 144 of the Pakistan Penal Code late on Thursday.
In a message tweeted on social media website Twitter, MQM leader Wasay Jaleel stated that an FIR had also been registered against him even though he is in London.
He criticized the Sindh government and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) calling the FIR as “cheap tactics” of the PPP government. The police closed all roads leading to the Rangers Headquarters by placing containers. The water cannons to disperse the crowd were also brought at the Chowrangi.
The cases were registered on the government’s complaint in Soldier Bazar police station.
MQM’s Rabita Committee had earlier called its workers to gather in front of the Rangers Headquarters to protest against Rangers’ raids in its offices in Korangi and Sultanabad and allegedly arresting over a 100 of its workers within a span of four days.
MQM protesters were however stopped from marching towards the Rangers Headquarters following which they staged a sit-in at the Numaish Chowrangi instead. The MQM leaders subsequently ended the rally.
The blockade of Numaish Chowrangi caused a severe traffic jam on adjacent roads.
The leaders including Haider Abbas Rizvi and Farooq Sattar while addressing the demonstrators said that it is not possible to defeat MQMin Karachi.
