Karachi calm but division remains

Press, 8 November 1986, Page 10

Karachi calm but division remains

NZPA-Reuter Karachi Leaders of two Pakistani ethnic groups appealed today for peace yesterday after sectarian riots in which at least 55 people have died, but blamed each other for the six days of violence. Doctors said yesterday that the death toll in the clashes between Pathans and Mohajirs, and firing by security forces enforcing curfews in the cities of Karachi and Hyderabad, rose to 55 after an injured man died in a Government hospital.

But authorities said no violence was reported yesterday. They lifted the curfew in Hyderabad and announced a relaxation in the round-the-clock curfew in Karachi.

Mohammad Ishaq Khan, speaking for Pathan settlers from the North-West Frontier Province, called for peace in Karachi and said: “We hate bloodshed of Muslims by Muslims.”

But Mr Khan blamed the riots on the Mohajirs, who are migrants to Pakistan when British India was partitioned in 1947. The street battles erupted a week ago when a Mohajir procession was fired on as it passed through a predominantly Pathan area of Karachi.

The Mohajir leader, Azim Ahmad Tariq, in turn held the Pathans responsible for the violence. “We want peace but we also want justice,” he said.