My protest, my place… or perhaps the press club

Karachi
Muhammad Tajjamul runs an apparel shop at a shopping mall near Teen Talwar in Clifton.
He is happy with the home department’s ban on sit-ins and public gatherings at the Teen Talwar intersection.
“In recent years, the Teen Talwar intersection has become a key protest venue like the Karachi Press Club,” he lamented.
“This badly affects the businesses of the traders in the area. Our customers turn back when they see gatherings of political activists.”
In a brief statement issued on May 7, the home department announced a ban on gatherings and sit-ins at the intersection under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. An official said the decision had been made following recurrent rallies at Teen Talwar, causing traffic problems. “Another key reason is that the rallies pose a security risk on an important road,” he added.
Besides the Teen Talwar intersection, there are many points – mainly roundabouts and intersections in the city - where residents have now become accustomed to frequent sit-ins and rallies.

KPC: A favourite venue
In recent years, the press club has become a favourite protest venue, where individuals, groups and political parties gather to attract the media’s attention.
Manzoor Chandio, a member of the KPC governing body, estimates that there are five or six protests daily on an average and on some days, there can be 10 or 12.
“The press club is pretty much like Hyde Park in London. Every day, people from various communities and localities gather in front of the club’s gates as it is easier to get press coverage there,” Chandio told The News.
He added that as the number of protests outside the KPC was increasing, many individuals or groups were unable to receive media coverage.
Outside the club, three protest camps are set up on permanent basis. A sole employee of a private bank has been sitting in a protest camp there for the last several years. Activists campaigning for the release of missing Baloch persons have been sitting at a camp for four or five hours every day for the many years.
Also, people with disabilities demanding their rights have a camp there for the last few months.
Rehan Ali, a civil society activist, said Regal Chowk in Saddar was also a key venue for political parties, trade unions and civil society groups for organising rallies. However, he added, in the last few years, almost all demonstrations were held outside the KPC.
“A protest at the KPC attracts the media more than the ones at Regal Chowk,” said Ali. “In some cases, protesters try to head towards the Governor’s House located nearby, but are restrained by police.”

‘Preferred’ spots
Besides the KPC, political and sect-based religious parties have their personally ‘designated’ venues in the city, where they stage protests or public gatherings.
Observers say that besides having such locations, sect-based religious parties also have their preferred time for rallies – after Friday prayers.
Shia groups mainly organise protests and sit-ins at the Numaish intersection, because there are key imambargahs nearby.
However, in recent months, Shia groups, especially the Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen have chosen around 10 locations in different parts of Karachi where their sit-ins paralyse the entire city.
Deobandi groups organise their rallies mainly at Guru Mandir, because the Jamia Binoria, their biggest seminary, is in close proximity.
However, the Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat prefers holding its rallies at Nagan Chowrangi outside its office or at the Lasbela Chowk.
For the Jamaat-e-Islami, the preferred location is the Baitul Mukarram mosque on University Road on Fridays. On other days of the week, it also opts for the Globe Roundabout on New MA Jinnah Road, where its Karachi secretariat is located.
Barelvi groups mainly organise their gatherings at Nishtar Park or in Arambagh. The Jamaat-ud-Dawa arranges its rallies near Safari Park on University Road, near its central office.
Political parties, especially the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, use the venue of Tibet Centre on MA Jinnah Road for their major public gatherings. Groups and individuals from Lyari generally organise their protests on Mauripur Road.
Civil society activists say that in recent months, the intersections of Teen Talwar and Do Talwar have become a central location for holding rallies.
Interviews with local residents, shopkeepers and traffic police at Teen Talwar suggest that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which has a significant number of supporters in the posh neighbourhoods of Clifton and Defence, had turned the intersection into hot spot for protests.
“We never saw political gatherings at this intersection before the emergence of the PTI in the city in the last few years,” said a traffic policeman.
After the killing of Sabeen Mahmud, a prominent rights activist and director of The Second Floor, civil society activists had decided to stage an hour-long protest after sunset on every day at Teen Talwar. However, after the ban, they have shifted their protest venue to the Do Talwar intersection.
Citizens’ concerns
Civic rights activists say that protests and public gatherings at the main intersections of the city add to the woes of the citizens in many ways.
Zahid Farooq, an official of the Urban Resource Centre, said to stage a protest or gathering was a fundamental right of any individual or a political party but they should be organised in a way in which residents faced less difficulties.
“Because of frequent protests in different parts of the city at peak rush hours in the afternoon, commuters suffer badly,” Farooq told The News.
He said former mayor Mustafa Kamal had designated some venues at a town-wise level for protests and gathering but the step was not implemented properly.
Recently, Karachi police chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo had suggested the provincial government to designate venues in all districts of the city for staging rallies, pointing out that there were security risks associated with large public gatherings.