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number <strong>of</strong> lawyers and political activists and lawyers were present. At about 6:30pm, the<br />
police arrived and escorted the stranded lawyers to Malir Court. The police vehicles also came<br />
under fire and MQM activists continued to roam around outside the Courts and fire in the air<br />
for some time. Some <strong>of</strong> the injured were taken to hospital under the protection <strong>of</strong> media<br />
representatives. 51<br />
According to Syeda Ulfat Shah, when the vehicle in which she was riding came under<br />
fire from T&T Colony, near the Bhitai Rangers base, she and her colleagues abandoned their<br />
vehicle and raised their arms. Some people called out to them from behind the boundary wall<br />
<strong>of</strong> T&T Colony to come over to them, saying they would not be harmed. When Syeda Shah<br />
and her colleagues went over to them, they were made to sit down and one man armed with a<br />
pistol was posted to guard them. According to her, the men there had a great amount <strong>of</strong><br />
firearms and ammunition, including petrol canisters and petrol bombs. The same group had<br />
snipers on the upper floors in buildings around T&T Colony, who were receiving instructions<br />
on cell phones to fire upon supporters <strong>of</strong> particular political organizations. 52<br />
The first reported case <strong>of</strong> use <strong>of</strong> hand grenades in an attack on ANP and PML(N)<br />
rallies came from Malir Halt. Over 18 people were injured, including PML-N leader Tariq<br />
Khan. Because <strong>of</strong> the firing upon the rally at Malir Halt, many advocates and political workers<br />
were not able to proceed further along their route.<br />
2.4 Sharae-Faisal: Aisha Bawany/FTC Flyover<br />
The area between Aisha Bawany School and the FTC flyover on Shahrah-e-Faisal was<br />
the site <strong>of</strong> violence from midday till around 3:00pm. One <strong>of</strong> the rallies heading towards the<br />
airport from the direction <strong>of</strong> the city centre to welcome the CJ found its way to this point on<br />
the Shara-e-Faisal. The rally consisted <strong>of</strong> an estimated 300-400 vehicles and over five<br />
thousand supporters, including women and children, <strong>of</strong> various political parties. The main<br />
constituents <strong>of</strong> the rally were activists <strong>of</strong> the PPP and the ANP. There were also other<br />
participants who were not directly affiliated with political parties, and these included members<br />
<strong>of</strong> trade unions and community organizations.<br />
According to some accounts there were two main rallies that merged into one as they<br />
travelled along Sharah-e-Faisal. One group consisted <strong>of</strong> PPP leaders and activists most <strong>of</strong><br />
whom had started their journey from Lyari in south Karachi. They had been prevented from a<br />
more direct route along M.A. Jinnah Road due to barricades put up by MQM activists<br />
guarding approaches to their own rally to be held at Tibet Centre. Prominent PPP leaders who<br />
were leading this rally included Naheed Khan, Safdar Abbassi, Fauzia Wahab, and Jameel. The<br />
PPP contingent was joined at the Jinnah Bridge (near Tower) by an ANP-led rally that had<br />
commenced its journey in Orangi. The ANP rally too was unable to take a more direct route<br />
to the airport due to barricades and alleged lathi-charge and tear-gas shelling by the police at<br />
the Habib Bank Chowrangi in the SITE area <strong>of</strong> west Karachi.<br />
The rally led by PPP leaders proceeded across Jinnah Bridge and moved vehicles and<br />
containers parked across the bridge quite easily as these were unmanned. It went along<br />
Maulvi Tamizuddin Road, past Club Road, and onto Sharah-e-Faisal at Metropole. At the<br />
Sheraton-PC junction before Club Road and again at the Metropole Hotel junction, policemen<br />
on duty waved the rally forward. The rally arrived at the FTC flyover at around 11.30am and<br />
found its progress blocked due to the setting up <strong>of</strong> road-blocks under the flyover. The road-<br />
51<br />
FF15.<br />
52<br />
FF17.<br />
HRCP<br />
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