KARACHI, 12 June — Two Sindh-based parties — Mutahidda Qaumi Movement and the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz — have called for a strike tomorrow to protest alleged police excesses on their workers Sunday.
Nasreen Jaleel of the MQM and Shafiq Kalbani of JSQM speaking at a press conference in Karachi last night said that police opened fire on peaceful activists of the two parties when they tried to stage a sit-in on the National Highway in Sukkur. The police action resulted in the loss of two lives, they regretted. They said that voicing protest on a national issue was a fundamental right of the people. Police, they said, used force against peaceful protesters.
They appealed to the people throughout Sindh to close their businesses and observe strike to protest the police action.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) yesterday condemned the killings of the two people and demanded the lifting of a ban on public gatherings. “HRCP condemns the recent, needless loss of life caused during a peaceful protest when no threat was presented to law and order,” the independent commission said in a statement.
Two people were killed and several others suffered injuries when police opened fire on hundreds of protesters in Dadu district of southern Sindh province.
Police also fired tear gas shells on supporters of the MQM and JSQM when they tried to block the highway, police said.
The protesters were blaming the authorities for acute water shortages which have afflicted much of Pakistan amid a severe drought.
Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf has banned public rallies and demonstrations. Police have detained hundreds of protesters belonging to opposition political parties who have been calling for the return of democracy.
“The closed mind shown by the administration in denying people their right to assembly and protest is taking a progressively more serious toll on society,” the HRCP said. “If this pattern of action remains in place, further damage will be inflicted on society.” Pakistan has been hit by a severe drought which has left the country’s major dams virtually empty. Plans to build more dams have been bogged down in inter-provincial bickering.
