Sep 16, 2011

Sindh: Arrest Of Chairman of JSQM Sparks Protests


JSQM chairman, Bashir Khan Qureshi has been arrested and detained which has sparked protests all around Sindh in Pakistan.

Below is an article published by Daily Times:

Protests held in Karachi and other cities and towns of Sindh on Thursday in reaction to the arrest of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) chairman Bashir Khan Qureshi along with four guards, three other persons and some weapons.

A team of Rangers personnel during snap checking arrested Qureshi, his friend Sarwat Shah Bahdai and others with weapons when they were coming to Karachi from Gharo.

Police sources said Rangers found four SMG rifles and two TT pistols from his possession near Gulshan-e-Hadeed where his guards and area residents offered resistance over his arrest.

They said the arrest of Qureshi took place near the house of DSP Ghulam Subhani whose two sons, Shiraz and Sajjad, and his nephew Badar tried to save Qureshi from the detention. Rangers’ spokesman Major Zaman Khan confirmed his arrest. Following the arrest, violence erupted in various Sindhi-dominated areas where protesters set tyres on fire, pelted stones on passing vehicles and demanded immediate release of their leader. Sindh nationalist leaders have strongly condemned the arrest of JSQM chairman and demanded his immediate release.

Meanwhile, JSQM workers staged protests in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Bilal Colony, Memon Goth, Mosamyat Chowrangi, Malir City, Gadap Town and various other localities, demanding Qureshi’s release.

Enraged protesters chanted slogans against the arrest of Qureshi and burnt tyres, blocked National Highway and Super Highway.

JSQM information secretary Elahi Bux Pikik said the party workers staged peaceful protests in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta and other cities and towns of the province against the arrest of their party chief. He said that they had given a deadline to the government for JSQM chief’s release, otherwise a three-day strike would be observed across the province. Pikik claimed police and Rangers personnel also beaten up peaceful protesting workers in Bilal Colony, Gulshan-e-Hadeed and other parts of the province.

JSQM leader Asif Baladi told media that the party would continue protests all over the province until the release of their party leader. Sources said that Rangers handed over Qureshi to police but no police official confirmed it. They also said that the detainees showed licences of arms, except a pistol.