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Protest erupts on Karachi’s Shahrah-e-Faisal as CJP orders demolition of Nasla Tower in a week
KARACHI: Protests by builders erupted on Wednesday on Shahrah-e-Faisal following orders by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed to demolish Nasla Tower within a week.
The builders, gathered in large numbers, attempted to stop the demolition work. As a result, the flow of traffic was severely affected on the road considered to be the city’s main artery.
Contingents of police and Rangers were deployed to the site of the protest to disperse the demonstrators. They baton-charged the crowd and used tear gas shells in an attempt to dissuade it from resorting to violence.
According to traffic police, the track from Shahrah-e-Faisal to Shahrah-e-Qaideen became completely choked. Later on in the evening, the track was cleared of protesters and the flow of traffic resumed.
District administration, anti-encroachment staff, Rangers and police personnel are currently present on the spot to continue monitoring the situation and to maintain law and order.
Earlier in the day the chief justice directed Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon to ensure the Nasla Tower building is razed to the ground within a week.
The chief justice ordered the Karachi commissioner to ensure the process is completed within the said time frame and a report is submitted as well.
“How soon till the process to destroy the building will be completed?” asked the chief justice.
“I can provide no time frame for this,” responded the Karachi commissioner. “Two hundred people are working on it.”
In response, the chief justice told him to double the staff to “bring down the building.” He wondered why authorities were demolishing the building from the ground first.
Supreme Court gets angered at JI leader’s presence
When Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Ameer Hafiz Naeem appeared in court for the Nasla Tower demolition hearing, the chief justice told him bluntly: “We will not allow politics here.”
Naeem asked the court to order the Sindh government to compensate the Nasla Tower affectees.
“Did you not listen to what milord said?” Justice Qazi Amin told the JI leader.
“What interest do you have in this building?” the chief justice asked Naeem
Angered, the chief justice told the JI leader he would issue him a contempt of court notice. “No one is allowed to do politics in court,” said Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan. “Please leave the courtroom,” he ordered Hafiz Naeem.