Turkman Gate residents struggle amidst heavy security

Heavy security and movement restrictions in Turkman Gate, where violence erupted during a demolition drive has made routine tasks difficult for residents, with many unable to step out to buy groceries or go to work.

Shops shut for the second day on Thursday in the usually bustling lanes of the area, which remains under heavy security following clashes in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday that led to stone pelting at police personnel.

“I understand that security is important, but every time I step out to buy groceries or even pulses, I feel a dozen suspicious eyes on me,” said a woman who has lived in the area for fifteen years. “I am questioned about where I am going and why I passed through the same barricade twice.”

She said that with most shops in the affected lanes shut, she had tried to reach a shop slightly farther away but was stopped repeatedly by security personnel. “I had gone halfway and had to turn back for something. When I crossed the barricade again, they kept asking why I passed through the area twice,” she added.

Residents said the uncertainty over how long the restrictions would remain in place had increased their anxiety. “Our children are missing school, we are not able to open our shops, and we are stuck inside our homes. We do not even know if these restrictions will be lifted tomorrow,” another resident said.

Behind the barricades, children stood peering through rows of security personnel, saying they were unable to step out to meet friends or attend school.

“My mother is too scared to send me and my siblings outside now,” said a ten-year-old boy standing beside his friends. “She says we have to wait until the restrictions are lifted. We sneaked out just to meet our friends here.”

Shuttered shops, overturned scooters, broken tiles and stones littered the narrow lanes around Turkman Gate, which remained tense and under heavy security following the violence. From rooftops and behind locked iron gates, residents were seen shouting at security personnel stationed across the locality, while children could be heard screaming from balconies and behind gates even on Thursday.

The violence broke out during a court-ordered anti-encroachment drive carried out on land adjoining the Faiz-e-Elahi mosque and a nearby graveyard on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Police said some people pelted stones and glass bottles at security personnel, injuring at least five policemen, including the station house officer of the area.

A day after the clashes, police said six more people had been arrested in connection with the violence, taking the total number of arrests in the case to eleven, including one juvenile. Four people, Mohd Arib (25), Mohd Kaif (23), Mohd Kashif (25) and Mohd Hamid (30), were arrested yesterday, while a seventeen-year-old boy was apprehended. Police said ten to fifteen others were also detained for questioning. Those arrested on Thursday were identified as Afaan, Adil, Shahnawaz, Hamza, Atharr and Ubed, all residents of the Turkman Gate area.