KARACHI – Criminal activity has risen by 109 percent in Punjab, therefore the province should be handed over to the army to curb the rising violence and terrorism, members of the MQM Rabita Committee said on Sunday.
They also alleged that criminals in Punjab were being protected by industrialists and landowners in the province, while the police were busy torturing and killing innocent citizens. They said that the situation was particularly alarming in those areas of the province where people refused to venture out after dark for fear of being robbed.
The MQM Rabita Committee members urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of these incidents, and requested that Punjab be handed over to the army to ensure security of the life and property of the citizens. Calling MQM’s demand a political joke, PML-N central leader Ahsan Iqbal said by demanding that Punjab be handed over to the army, the MQM cannot conceal its involvement in violence.
“The deaths in Karachi have exceeded the total number of killings that took place in various incidents throughout the country in the last year and the MQM cannot conceal its involvement in the Karachi carnage by demanding that Punjab should be handed over to the Pakistan Army. Karachi is Pakistan’s economy hub and purging it of violence is our national duty,” Iqbal said.
