Pakistan: Karachi faces severe traffic disruptions as MWM protests over parachinar killings continues

Karachi [Pakistan], December 28 : As protests organized by the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) over the killings in Parachinar stretched into their fourth day on Friday, the blockade of key roads resulted in severe traffic disruptions across all seven districts of the city, causing significant inconvenience to the public.
By Thursday, the MWM had extended its protests across much of Karachi, and by 10 pm on Friday, sit-ins were still taking place at several key locations.
These included MA Jinnah Road near Numaish, Abul Hasan Ispahani Road near Abbas Town, Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad, University Road near Samama Shopping Centre, Sharea Faisal near Star Gate, Korangi, the main National Highway near Malir 15, Shamsuddin Azimi Road in Surjani Town, Shahrah-i-Pakistan near Ancholi, Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road near Nazimabad No. 1, and the main National Highway near Steel Town, according to Dawn report.
In Karachi, the traffic police redirected vehicles to alternate routes, but long lines of cars, trucks, trailers, and other vehicles were visible on nearly every road throughout the night. Speaking to Dawn, DIG-Traffic Ahmed Nawaz Cheema said that they had not only set up alternative routes to help citizens avoid traffic jams but had also deployed traffic officers for both day and night shifts to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.
He mentioned that several international passengers missed their flights as both lanes of Sharea Faisal near Karachi Airport were blocked by the protesters. However, a senior MWM leader asserted that their "peaceful protests" were not causing any issues for the public, and if any problems arose, the government should be held responsible.
According to the report speaking at a press conference on Friday evening, Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi mentioned Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) march in Islamabad in November, noting that the federal capital was sealed for a week and it was the Pakistani government's actions that effectively "jammed" the country to prevent the sit-in.
"Our protest is peaceful, as traffic is flowing at Numaish Chowrangi and shops are open," he said, referring to the MWM's main sit-in. He highlighted that the roads in Parachinar had been blocked for the past 90 days, leading to shortages of essential goods and medicines. He explained that the people in Parachinar had been holding a sit-in, and the protests in Karachi and other areas were meant to show solidarity with them.
He vowed, "The protests will persist until the Parachinar sit-in comes to an end." Allama Naqvi rejected the idea of a 'Shia-Sunni conflict' in Parachinar, warning against framing the humanitarian issue as sectarian.
"If it's a land dispute, we should focus on who is involved... "We do not view the situation in Parachinar as a sectarian matter," he stated, adding that the region was surrounded by "terrorists on three sides," and the government knew who was behind the killings of innocent people there.
He criticized the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and local administration as "incompetent," despite the MWM being a key ally of Imran Khan's PTI.
The MWM leader pointed out that party leadership had already raised concerns about the KP administration with Imran Khan. He further argued that the federal government could not absolve itself of responsibility by blaming the KP government. "The federal government has asserted its authority in Islamabad, but it couldn't open roads in Parachinar," he said. He questioned why airstrikes could be carried out against terrorism elsewhere in the country, but not in Parachinar to eliminate the terrorists.
Allama Naqvi also criticized Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for referring to the Parachinar issue as a "local matter." "The Sindh CM is sowing division by calling a national issue a local one," he said.