Karachi: On Tuesday (local time), a demonstration by the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) party in Karachi descended into violence when police utilized shells to scatter demonstrators near Numaish Chowrangi.

The demonstrators threw stones at the police in violent reaction to the police shelling, according to ARY News. Members of the Special Security Unit (SSU) Commandos and SSP Keamari Faizan Ali were among the many officials hurt in the assault.

A number of demonstrators have also been arrested by the police for assaulting the authorities.

According to ARY News, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah denounced the violence and emphasized that no damage will be permitted to either public or private property.

The Chief Minister of Sindh said, “While everyone has the right to demonstrate, damaging public property is an act of mischief.” He said that individuals who were responsible for burning cars will face legal repercussions.

Additionally, the Chief Minister said that specific protest platforms had been made available. “We have allowed specific platforms for protests, and we expect them to be used properly,” he said.

According to Dawn, MWM has called for countrywide demonstrations in support of the people of Parachinar, who have been holding sit-ins to demand justice and peace in the face of continued massacres and violence.

Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi, the head of MWM, had earlier said that the sit-ins were non-violent and did not represent any political parties. He urged the Sindh government to refrain from using them for its own political ends. According to Naqvi, if the residents of Parachinar did, MWM would put a stop to the sit-in. According to the Express Tribune.

Speaking at an impromptu news conference at the Numaish Chowrangi sit-in, Naqvi said that MWM is aware of the difficulties the people are facing and used this as justification for delaying the sit-in’s complete call.

He said that if a call for sit-ins was made across Sindh, the government would be unable to put an end to them. According to the article, he cautioned the authorities against exerting excessive pressure on the Jafariya community, saying that the community would not put up with any kind of tyranny and that the protest sit-ins would go on.