In a dramatic raid at Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s reorganization committee meeting in Karachi’s busy Maimar sector, the paramilitary Rangers arrested more than 40 workers of the party.
The arrested men were released a day later after the MQM staged sit-ins all over the city and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar intervened.
“This is discrimination against us. The people arrested should be produced in courts and proper reasons need to be given as to why only MQM workers are arrested,” said Faisal Sabzwari, a member of the Sindh Assembly. “Law enforcement agencies need to arrest criminals. These people were our workers.”
A Rangers official who asked not to be named said the paramilitary force wanted to arrest MQM’s Student Wing worker Umair Siddiqui, who is wanted in connection with high-level targeted killings including the killing of Karachi University dean Dr Shakeel Oaj. Apparently, Siddiqui never showed up at the meeting.
“We coordinate with the Rangers, who are involved in the Karachi Operation,” the chief of Karachi police said. “The raids against the MQM were not connected to Zahra Shahid’s murder. We have more than four men in custody in the Zahra Shahid case. They belong to a political party.”
According to statistics provided by Sindh Police and Rangers, there were over 40,848 reported incidents of crime in Karachi in 2013. At least 2,700 people were killed, of which 1,754 were victims of political and sectarian target killings. Since the start of the Karachi Operation, there have been over 9,736 targeted raids in which over 15,389 suspects have been arrested and more than 10,381 weapons seized. According to Police, 79 high-profile target killers were arrested by them and more than 417 by Rangers. They were linked with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (173), the MQM (68), Sunni Tehrik (18), the PPP (27), the Amn Committee (11), Lyari Gangs (62), the ANP (31), and the ASWJ (87) among others.
But prosecutions are rare. From January 2013 to January 2015, the prosecution rate was only 0.04%. The Karachi Operation did bring results though, decreasing targeted killing by 31%, and extortion and murder by 76%.
The Sindh province has suffered because of an urban-rural divide, with the PPP representing most of rural Sindh and the MQM being strong in the urban areas. The two parties have had uneasy coalitions.
[quote]"The MQM thinks it has been cornered, and the PPP wants a share in MQM's stake"[/quote]
“The MQM thinks it has been cornered, and the PPP wants a share in MQM’s stake because controlling Karachi is worth billions in revenue,” according to Dr Hasan Munir, a political analyst. “The People’s Party does use pressure tactics but so does the MQM, which carries out strikes and political agitation to achieve its goal,” he says. The federal government of the PML-N is neutral and wants to stay clean.
In 2009, some PPP stalwarts helped launch the Lyari Amn Committee to face the MQM, with the goal of taking over four or five constituencies for the PPP. “I had been tasked by Zulfiqar Mirza and company to take on the MQM and Zafar Baloch (now dead) was specifically tasked to work on a militant wing to grab vulnerable seats from the MQM,” said Uzair Baloch.
But the idea backfired. “The party had to come clean and dissociate itself from the criminals many of who turned against us,” said one PPP official.
A spokesman for Sindh Rangers rejected MQM’s protest. “Our vehicle came under fire from one of the buildings, after which we raided the compound. We will not tolerate attacks on our personnel,” he told reporters.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar met the director general of Rangers separately after the incident.
“The prime minister has taken special interest in bringing order in Karachi, and that is why the Karachi Operation was launched,” Nisar said. “The situation will take years to stabilize, but we are on the right track.”
The arrested men were released a day later after the MQM staged sit-ins all over the city and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar intervened.
“This is discrimination against us. The people arrested should be produced in courts and proper reasons need to be given as to why only MQM workers are arrested,” said Faisal Sabzwari, a member of the Sindh Assembly. “Law enforcement agencies need to arrest criminals. These people were our workers.”
A Rangers official who asked not to be named said the paramilitary force wanted to arrest MQM’s Student Wing worker Umair Siddiqui, who is wanted in connection with high-level targeted killings including the killing of Karachi University dean Dr Shakeel Oaj. Apparently, Siddiqui never showed up at the meeting.
“We coordinate with the Rangers, who are involved in the Karachi Operation,” the chief of Karachi police said. “The raids against the MQM were not connected to Zahra Shahid’s murder. We have more than four men in custody in the Zahra Shahid case. They belong to a political party.”
According to statistics provided by Sindh Police and Rangers, there were over 40,848 reported incidents of crime in Karachi in 2013. At least 2,700 people were killed, of which 1,754 were victims of political and sectarian target killings. Since the start of the Karachi Operation, there have been over 9,736 targeted raids in which over 15,389 suspects have been arrested and more than 10,381 weapons seized. According to Police, 79 high-profile target killers were arrested by them and more than 417 by Rangers. They were linked with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (173), the MQM (68), Sunni Tehrik (18), the PPP (27), the Amn Committee (11), Lyari Gangs (62), the ANP (31), and the ASWJ (87) among others.
But prosecutions are rare. From January 2013 to January 2015, the prosecution rate was only 0.04%. The Karachi Operation did bring results though, decreasing targeted killing by 31%, and extortion and murder by 76%.
The Sindh province has suffered because of an urban-rural divide, with the PPP representing most of rural Sindh and the MQM being strong in the urban areas. The two parties have had uneasy coalitions.
[quote]"The MQM thinks it has been cornered, and the PPP wants a share in MQM's stake"[/quote]
“The MQM thinks it has been cornered, and the PPP wants a share in MQM’s stake because controlling Karachi is worth billions in revenue,” according to Dr Hasan Munir, a political analyst. “The People’s Party does use pressure tactics but so does the MQM, which carries out strikes and political agitation to achieve its goal,” he says. The federal government of the PML-N is neutral and wants to stay clean.
In 2009, some PPP stalwarts helped launch the Lyari Amn Committee to face the MQM, with the goal of taking over four or five constituencies for the PPP. “I had been tasked by Zulfiqar Mirza and company to take on the MQM and Zafar Baloch (now dead) was specifically tasked to work on a militant wing to grab vulnerable seats from the MQM,” said Uzair Baloch.
But the idea backfired. “The party had to come clean and dissociate itself from the criminals many of who turned against us,” said one PPP official.
A spokesman for Sindh Rangers rejected MQM’s protest. “Our vehicle came under fire from one of the buildings, after which we raided the compound. We will not tolerate attacks on our personnel,” he told reporters.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar met the director general of Rangers separately after the incident.
“The prime minister has taken special interest in bringing order in Karachi, and that is why the Karachi Operation was launched,” Nisar said. “The situation will take years to stabilize, but we are on the right track.”