KARACHI: As multiple sit-ins organised on the call of the Majlis Wahdat-iMuslimeen (MWM) in protest over the killings in Parachinar continued in the metropolis for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, the blockade of several important thoroughfares led to a citywide traffic mess in all seven districts and caused hardship to people.The MWM had expanded its protests to almost all of Karachi by Thursday, and by 10pm on Friday, its sit-ins were continuing on the main M.A. Jinnah Road near Numaish and Abul Hasan Ispahani Road near Abbas Town, Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad, University Road near Samama Shopping Centre, main Sharea Faisal near Star Gate, Korangi, main National Highway near Malir 15, Shamsuddin Azimi Road in Surjani Town, Shahrah-i-Pakistan near Ancholi, Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road near Nazimabad No 1 and main National Highway near Steel Town.

Similar sit-ins were also staged in different cities of the province, including Hyderabad and Sukkur, where a large number of MWM workers and supporters, including women and children, were present despite cold weather.

In Karachi, the traffic police diverted vehicular traffic to alternative routes, but long queues of cars, trucks, trailers, etc, could be seen on almost every city road till late in the night.DIG-Traffic Ahmed Nawaz Cheema told Dawn they have not only provided alternative arrangements/routes to the citizens to avoid being stuck up in traffic jams but also deputed traffic cops for both day and night shifts to ensure smooth flow of the traffic. He said that several international passengers missed their flights as both tracks of Sharea Faisal near Karachi Airport were blocked by the protesters.

However, a central leader of the MWM claimed that their `peaceful protests are not causing any problem to citizens and if there`s any problem then the government is responsible`.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday evening, Allama Hasan Zafar Naqvi, while referring to the last month Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf`s march on Islamabad, said the federal capital was sealed for one week and it was the government of Pakistan that `jammed` the country to prevent a sit-in there.

`Our protest is peaceful as traffic is moving at Numaish Chowrangi and shops are also open,` he said, referring to the MWM`s central sit-in.He said that for the past 90 days, roads in Parachinar were closed, causing shortage of essential goods and medicines.

He said that the people in Parachinar had been staging a sit-in and the protests in Karachi and other parts of the country were aimed at expressing solidarity with them. `The protests will continue until the culmination of the Parachinar sitin,` he vowed.

`No Shia-Sunni conflict` Declaring that there was no `ShiaSunni conflict` in Parachinar, Allama Naqvi warned against giving the humanitarian issue `a colour of sectarianism`.

`If there is a land dispute, who is involved in it...we do not consider the situation in Parachinar as a sectarian issue,` he said, adding that Parachinar was surrounded by `terrorists from three sides` and the government was well aware of those involved in the killings ofinnocentpersonsthere.

`The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and local administration are incompetent,` he alleged, although the MWM is a key ally to the Imran Khan-led PTI.

The MWM leader said that the party leadership already conveyed their concerns about KP administration to Imran Khan.

He said that the federal government could not absolve itself of the responsibility by blaming the KP government. `The federal government has established its writ in Islamabad but it could not get roads opened in Parachinar,` he said.

He asked when airstrikes can be carried out against terrorism in other parts of the country, why such operations were not being carried out in Parachinar to eliminate terrorists.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah also earned the ire of Allama Naqvi for describing the Parachina issue as a `local one`. `The Sindh CM is creating division among the nation by terming a national issue a local one, he said.

Protests held across Sindh interior Activists of MWM and SUC took out processions and staged demonstrations in several towns across the province in protest against Parachinar killings.

In Hyderabad, SUC members staged a demonstration after Friday prayers outside Qadam Gah Maula Ali and demanded an end to incidents of terrorism in Parachinar, which hadbeen continuing for a long time.

Local SUC leaders Shamim Naqvi, Mustafa Hyderi and others said that terrorists were massacring innocent people at will and government had failed to rein in the killers.

They said the government was responsible for providing protection to life and property of citizens but it had failed in its duties. Those playing with lives of innocent people should be brought to justice, they said.

Activists of MWM took out a separate procession in Latifabad from Sadaat Colony to Bagh-i-Mustafa.

Local MWM leaders, Syed Majid Shah Naqvi, Waqar Zaidi, Maulana Gul Hassan and others saidthat terrorism was taking place under a conspiracy to fan sectarianism in the country.

In Badin, workers of MWM, SUC and other Shia organisations staged processions in all big and small towns of the district to express solidarity with oppressed people of Parachinar. A big procession was taken out in Badin from Imamia Mosque.

Religious scholars Maulana Ghulam Shabbir Najafi and others, who led the protest, said that terrorists had no religion and those, who had slain innocent Muslims in Parachinar were enemies of entire humanity.

They condemned the blockade imposed on Parachinar in violation oflaw for many days, depriving people of food, medicine and basic necessities.

The provincial government remained a silent spectator and an accomplice to perpetrators of terrorism, they said.

They demanded Chief Justice of Pakistan take a suo motu notice of the Parachinar incident, and conduct judicial inquiry to ensure the culprits were brought to justice.

Similar protests were held in Kadhan, Nindo Shahr, Tando Bago and other towns of the district.

In Nawabshah, members of SUC took out a procession and held a demonstration. The procession started from Murtazavi Imambargah and ended outside local press club,where the protesters` leaders Maulana Kifayat Hussain Karimi, Zawar Mohammad Hussain Chandio and others raised questions over `silence` of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and human rights organisations.

In Dadu district, SUC activists staged a procession in Johi town, which culminated outside local press club.

Maulvi Ali Nawaz Leghari, Maulvi Abrar Ali, Abid Ali Laghari and others said that food scarcity caused by government`s blockade might lead to death of innocent children in Parachinar.

They accused the state of turning a blind eye to the suffering of citizens, while terrorists armedwith modern weaponry ruled the streets without fear of law.

They regretted that the country had been handed over to terrorists. `The government`s silence in the face of crisis is both alarming and unacceptable,` they said.

The demonstrators called for immediate action against terrorists, urged the government to lift siege, provide humanitarian aid and ensure safety and well-being of people in Parachinar.

They raised concerns over inaction of federal and provincial authorities, including army leadership, and demanded urgent attention to this humanitarian catastrophe.