3 weeks on, nightly protests over Mir Raza’s murder continue in Karachi

• Family, friends and citizens gather on Sharea Faisal every night to demand justice
• Vow to continue their demonstrations until those responsible for his death are arrested

KARACHI: Family, friends, acquaintances and civil society members have been gathering on Sharea Faisal near Nursery every night for the past three weeks, blocking the key artery and vowing that they would not give up until justice is provided to slain Mir Raza Ali, whose body with a gunshot wound was found on July 29 at a desolate spot in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

More than 26 days after the murder, the identity of his killer(s) is yet to be known, compelling civil society to take to the streets on a daily basis. The Nursery bus stop has been turned into a focal point, where a large banner inscribed with ‘Justice for Mir Raza’ is displayed at the centre.

The protesters include Raza’s family and friends, and dozens of men, women, their children and people of different age groups who have been demanding the arrest of Raza’s killers and exemplary punishment for them.

On Saturday night, people turned out in large numbers and blocked both tracks of Sharea Faisal, staging a sit-in there until the wee hours of Sunday.

During a visit to the protest site in the small hours of Sunday, protesters were seen using clapping as a collective expression of defiance and solidarity, blending it with their chants to create a wall of sound that carries far beyond the protest site.

At times, the chanting, applause and calls for justice merge with the sound of drizzle and the movement of the night air, lending the gathering an atmosphere of persistence and resolve.

A large number of participants raise their hands while chanting slogans and voicing their demands; some hold placards and banners bearing the words ‘Justice for Mir Raza’, making their presence felt, while others explain the protest’s background and history to those arriving for the first time.

During the protest, one person can be seen addressing the gathering from the stage in memory of Raza, while another wipes away tears as emotions run high.

Some protesters alternately climb onto water tankers placed by the police to block the roads and address the crowd from above, raising slogans against the police and the government.

From time to time, slogans rise from the stage: ‘Mir, hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hain’ (Mir, we are ashamed, your killers are still free) and ‘Allah ka qanoon hai, khoon ka badla khoon hai’ (It is Allah’s law; blood must be avenged with blood).

In other moments, speakers seek to keep Raza’s memory alive while impressing upon the crowd that his killing was not merely the loss of an individual but, in their view, an assault on the hopes and aspirations of Karachi’s young people.

The stage reverberates with chants: ‘Zinda hai Mir, zinda hai; bhaiyon ki shakal mein zinda hai, beton ki shakal mein zinda hai; zinda hai Mir, zinda hai’ (Mir lives on, he lives on; he lives on in the face of brothers, he lives on in the face of sons; Mir lives on).

At other times, the crowd raises the slogan: ‘Mir, tere khoon se inqilab aayega, raigan na jayega, inqilab aayega’ (Mir, your blood will bring revolution; it will not go in vain; revolution will come).

‘We will not let Raza’s blood be in vain’

Dawn spoke to some of the participants who said that they would come daily to record their protest and would not give up hope until the killers were arrested.

Alleging that the authorities were showing disregard for the grieving family, the protesters said, “The powerful think people would get tired of protesting in a few more days, but we [protesters] assure them that we will stand and protest for Raza, despite it taking months or even a year. We will not let his blood be in vain. We will bring his family justice.”

On one side, dozens of men and women sit on rugs spread across the road, responding to slogans raised from the stage with enthusiasm and unwavering intensity.

On the other, groups of youngsters spread across both tracks of Sharea Faisal, chanting at the top of their voices for the authorities’ resignation over what they describe as their failure to deliver justice.

The presence of women, men and children gives the gathering the character of a broad-based public protest. Many had come with their families while others said they were taking time out of their daily routines to join the demonstration.

Among the regular protesters is a woman known as “Apa”.

She told Dawn that she did not know Raza or his family personally and had only met him once when she visited his eatery. “But when I came to know that he had been murdered in such a way, I could not tolerate it,” she said.

She said she had children of her own and could understand what the family was going through. “This is not a jungle where we are living. It is a city. Even in a jungle there are laws,” she added.

Apa said she would continue attending the protest and would be the last person to leave unless justice was provided. She said she remained hopeful that the truth would emerge and those responsible for Raza’s death would be arrested.

For Raza’s friend Hassan Surya, the protest began before the family’s demonstration.

When Raza went missing, he said, friends and family initially thought that he might have left home after becoming upset over “something personal”. They continued searching for him and when “we found out that he had been murdered in such a way, I started the protest”, he said.

He said the family was busy with the investigation and other matters at the time.

Hassan and some friends initially staged the protest at Charminar Chowrangi, Baha­durabad and later shifted it to Sharea Faisal, where it grew in size.

Some of his close friends have since stopped coming regularly, he lamented, but he has continued to attend.

Hassan said protesters had repeatedly become hopeful when the government appeared to take action, but their hopes were followed by frustration.

“They keep creating diversions and excuses,” he said. “But we will not back down.”

Two other protesters said that they had been attending the demonstration for around 15 days. They said they had joined because anyone murdered in such circumstances deserved justice.

One of them said the protest had initially attracted fewer people but was gradually turning into a public movement as more citizens joined. He added that the government had yet to take any meaningful action on their demands.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2026