Pakistan police detain at least 20 people amid protests over blasphemy case in Karachi

KARACHI: Pakistani police on Sunday detained at least 20 people from two opposing groups as they attempted to hold demonstrations in the southern city of Karachi over a blasphemy case amid a ban on public gatherings, police and rights activists said.
The Sindh Rawadari Committee, a human rights group based in the Sindh province that Karachi is the capital of, had planned a demonstration demanding the arrest of police officers implicated in the killing of Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbar, who was shot dead on Sept. 19 in an alleged encounter after being accused of spreading blasphemous content online.
Simultaneously, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) religious party announced its own rally from the Teen Talwar roundabout in the city to the Karachi Press Club. In response to the announcements by both sides, the district authorities on Saturday imposed Section 144 and prohibited gatherings of more than five people in the southern port city for five days.
On Sunday, police sealed off streets leading to the Karachi Press Club with shipping containers and deployed hundreds of personnel across the city, particularly in the Red Zone, which houses important government buildings.
“We have found about 20 to 25 person who were flouting the law, trying to stage agitation in a sensitive area,” said Asad Raza, deputy inspector general of police in Karachi’s South district, adding that protesters from both sides had been taken into protective custody.
“We have deployed a considerable force in the area around the Karachi Press Club and have restricted entry to the adjoining streets.”
But hundreds of rights activists defied the ban to reach the Karachi Press Club, where they were baton-charged by the police.
“The police resorted to worst torture and arrested dozens of activists,” said Qazi Khizar, vice president of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) Sindh chapter.
Following the announcement of protests, Raza said, the district administration had advised all parties to avoid and prevent any breakdown of law, considering the sensitivity of the situation.
A notification issued from the Karachi commissioner’s office said on Saturday that public gatherings had been banned for five days due to potential security risks stemming from protest calls by different factions for the same day, Sunday.
Asad Iqbal Butt, chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), voiced his support for the Sindh Rawadari Committee’s protest march, criticizing authorities for “succumbing to pressure from religious groups” by restricting it.
“We simply demand that those who have taken the law into their own hands be arrested and brought to justice,” he said.
Dr. Kumbar was killed in a controversial shootout in the Mirpurkhas district of Sindh after his arrest in Karachi. An official inquiry later found the encounter was staged, resulting in the suspension of several police officials, including DIG Javed Jiskani and SSPs Asad Choudhary and Asif Raza Baloch.