Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Monem Zafar has said the brutal police torture against peaceful protesters depicts the fascist mindset of the Pakistan People Party (PPP).
Presiding over a meeting of district leaders at the Karachi JI headquarters, Idara Noor-e-Haq, on Monday, he said party workers had come out on Saturday peacefully for Karachi’s rights, but police, acting on provincial government orders, turned the peaceful protest violent.
He claimed unarmed workers were subjected to severe baton-charging and tear-gas shelling, leaving dozens — including elderly participants — injured, while 30 workers were arrested, some of them already wounded.
He said that expired tear-gas shells from 2022–2023 were used, whose toxic fumes affected not only protesters but also residents of nearby buildings. He alleged that shelling also impacted mosques, causing a fire in one mosque, and even fire brigade personnel were subjected to shelling when they arrived to extinguish the blaze.
He said that electricity in the entire area was also cut during the operation that continued for several hours in darkness. Zafar said JI workers were determined and would not withdraw from their constitutional, legal and democratic right to peaceful protest for the rights of the people of Karachi.
The meeting condemned police violence, baton-charging and heavy shelling on a peaceful protest held outside the Sindh Assembly for the rights of Karachi’s citizens, resolution of civic issues, and establishment of an empowered local government.
The meeting described the action as fascism, anti-Karachi conduct, and an undemocratic move by the provincial government. The participants demanded immediate release of 30 arrested workers, withdrawal of terrorism charges, and transfer of injured detainees to hospitals for medical treatment.
It was also decided that the JI’s struggle for the legitimate and constitutional rights of Karachi’s approximately 35 million residents, resolution of public issues, and an empowered city government would continue, along with protests against alleged police violence and arrests carried out on the directives of the provincial government.
