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Wednesday April 23, 2025

Callous Vawda’s solo flight paralyses Karachi

September 08, 2016

Karachi 

Karachi suffered massive traffic jams on Wednesday when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Faisal Vawda blocked Sharea Faisal using a bus near Star Gate while his followers staged a sit-in on the road, making commuters suffer for over six hours. However, the PTI dissociated itself from Vawda’s protest move saying that he staged the protest in personal capacity.

Thousands were stuck in the traffic gridlock and many vehicles ran out of fuel, further aggravating the chaos on the roads. The entire Sharea Faisal - from Nursery to Star Gate and from Quaidabad to the airport remained blocked for hours.

According to unconfirmed reports, a woman died of suffocation while stuck in the jam, but police and health officials refuted them. However, dozens including children did faint and had to be taken away from the hazardous fumes emitting from vehicles trapped in the gridlock.

TV news channels showed scenes of children in schools vans crying, patients lying in the ambulances stranded on both tracks of the road as it does not provide any alternate route to its users.

The traffic jam on Sharea Faisal also caused gridlocks on other roads of the city including COD Road, Rashid Minhas Road, Dalmia Road, Sharea Quaideen, Stadium Road, and University Road and in the Old City areas.

Baton charge, shelling

The Malir police led-by SSP Rao Anwaar baton charged the protesters and used teargas to disperse the protesters after Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah intervened and directed police to use “all means” to restore traffic movement in the city.

The chief minister in a statement said people who wanted to vent their political frustration at the people of Karachi by blocking roads must be removed.

The SSP Malir along with police in anti-riot gear baton-charged the few dozen protesters, used teargas and arrested Vawda and some of his companions, who were shifted to the airport police station.

The airport police registered FIR No 174/2016 against Vawda and his companions under Section 341 and other related sections of Pakistan Penal Code.

PTI distances itself

PTI central spokesperson Naeem-ul-Haq condemned the blockage of Sharea Faisal, saying it was condemnable that a party leader, without the consent and permission of the party leadership, had created problems for the people of Karachi.

Another PTI leader of Karachi, Imran Ismail, reached the airport police station to meet Vawda after his arrest. But he claimed that Vawda had blocked the main artery of the city in his personal capacity and PTI leadership and the party had nothing to do with it.

“I have reached here on the directives of the chairman [Imran Khan] and Jahangir Tareen to compile a report on this issue and tonight, I will present it to the party leadership”, he added.

Ismail made it clear that Vawda had not sought permission for his protest and claimed that he and other PTI leaders had tried to prevent Vawda from doing so.

‘City needs Hyde Parks’

DIG Traffic Karachi Dr Amir Shaikh said Karachi needed at least six “Hyde Parks’”, one each in each district of Karachi where political and religious parties and other groups could gather and lodge their protests instead of blocking roads

“Nobody should be allowed to block roads in Karachi as this paralyzes the entire city. I have recommended the chief minister that terrorism cases be lodged against people involved in this as their act terrorises people, cause immense physical and mental hardships for millions of citizens and cause a loss of billions of rupees,” he added.