KARACHI: Sixty percent of the people held for targeted killings in Karachi belong to a “major city-based political party” while the rest are also affiliated with other political parties, Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza said on Monday while addressing members of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).
Without taking any names, the home minister said that 38 of the 60 people arrested for targeted killings belong to a Karachi-based political party, while the rest are also affiliated with other parties. “Suspects charged with target killing have been thoroughly interrogated by the joint interrogation team,” he said.
“We are also deeply concerned, but nothing could be done on an individual basis,” Mirza said while referring to the complaints of the members of the KCCI and its affiliated associations.
He said that the business community got rid of the notorious Rehman Dakait gang of Lyari under the leadership of the present government. “The law and order situation has considerably improved this year as compared to the crime figures of the previous year.”
He urged KCCI members to come forward and assist the provincial government in procuring vehicles and other necessary equipment, as the government lacked resources to fulfil all the budgetary demands of the Police Department.
Aftab Channa adds: “Dr. Imran Farooq was assassinated in London and shops were forced to shut down in Karachi. Was it ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan who killed Dr Farooq that Pathans are being targeted here in reaction?,” the minister questioned.
Pathans, Punjabis, Baloch and Sindhis are being targeted in the city, he said. “If the people from these communities join hands and retaliated, a large number of innocent Urdu-speaking people would be killed.”
The minister went on to say that the animal hides were snatched at gunpoint in Karachi. “What book preaches this lesson?” Mirza said that a man was held hostage and later released on payment of ransom in Liaquatabad and it was found that a “sector in-charge” was involved in the crime.
MQM says Mirza’s speech provocative: Reacting to Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza’s claims that all political parties had a hand in targeted killings in Karachi, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday said Mirza’s speech was provocative, while the Awami National Party (ANP) supported the home minister’s statement, demanding more powers for police and Rangers to control the city’s deteriorating law and order. The MQM, on the other hand, demanded the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership take notice of Mirza’s comments, deciding that an MQM delegation would meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani after Muharram and would present them a DVD of the speech and inform them about their concerns.
The MQM Coordination Committee held an emergency joint session in Karachi and London to discuss Mirza’s “provocative” speech. The meeting expressed disappointment that at a time when the MQM coordination committee members, elected representatives and office-bearers were engaged in promoting unity among Muslims and working for ensuring religious harmony during Muharram, the provocative speech was a cause of concern.
Meanwhile, ANP’s Shahi Syed told Pakistan Today that criminals “have taken shelter in political parties”. “They [criminals] are using the name and flags of political parties and taking advantage,” Syed said, adding that the ANP would support any action against criminals, who hide themselves in the folds of political parties. However, Syed avoided taking any political party’s name during the conversation.
Mirza stirs up a hornets’ nest?
