All religious and political parties have seemingly formed an alliance against the government’s ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a survey conducted by Pakistan Today on the situation of the metropolitan revealed on Sunday.
It seems that all the rival parties of the MQM have surrounded and cordoned off the areas dominated by the MQM.
The Pakhtun-dominated areas, being controlled by the Awami National Party (ANP), are situated on the borders of the city, whereas the main highways, the National Highway and the Super Highway, are completely in the control of the Pakhtun-dominated areas.
Sohrab Goth, the main area of the Pakhtuns, is situated on the Super Highway, whereas another Pakhtun-dominated area Quaidabad is located on the National Highway. The ANP is also resisting the MQM in other areas, including, Metroville, Orangi Town, Kati Pahari, Lasbela, Keamari, Shirin Jinnah Colony, Dawood Chowrangi and Bilal Colony. Similarly, the Baloch-dominated areas, affiliated with the Pakistan People’s Part (PPP), are also making efforts to remove the influence of the MQM from their areas.
The Baloch community is working with the People’s Amn Committee (PAC) whose activists are on the go in the Baloch-dominated areas. Armed PAC activists have set up pickets and barriers in the streets of their areas, including Lyari, the rural areas of Malir, Landhi, Bhains Colony and 80 percent of the localities in Gadap and Bin Qasim towns. Moreover, the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (Afaq group) is also active now and is resisting the MQM in various areas of the city, including Malir, Landhi, Shah Faisal, and some areas of Liaquatabad, Baldia Town and Qayyumabad.
The Afaq group entered Landhi and Malir for a few hours on Sunday and hoisted their flags and emblems on the walls of several unit offices of the MQM, whereas the MQM activists had to retreat. Even though the Sunni Tehreek (ST) and the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) have never seen eye to eye, they have started working against the MQM as well. ST is resisting the MQM in Kharadar, Tower, Burns Road, Aram Bagh, Liaquatabad, Lines Area, Godhra, Ramswami, Korangi, Shah Faisal, New Karachi and Nazimabad among other areas.
Additionally, the ASWJ is working against the MQM, especially those belonging to the Shia sect, in Sherpao Colony, Quaidabad, Malir, Shah Faisal, Gurumandar, Numaish, North Karachi, Orangi Town and Nagan Chowrangi among other areas.
According to sources, all these religious and political parties have been activated against the MQM by some influential personalities affiliated with the PPP, as some in the government have expressed reservations over the PPP-MQM alliance.
A PPP office-bearer said, “The MQM always uses ‘separation from government’ as a threat, behaving like a blackmailer.”
MQM leader/former city nazim Mustafa Kamal told Pakistan Today that terrorists have been murdering MQM activists, whereas the government and police are providing shelter to the culprits.
“However, the Rangers have played an important role in saving our activists and controlling the situation in the areas affected by violence,” he added.
He demanded arresting the people involved in the killing of MQM activists. “Or else we shall be unable to stop the people of Karachi anymore,” he warned.
PAC head Uzair Jan Baloch said that the MQM is a terrorist organisation that has been killing innocent citizens across the city. “We shall not allow the MQM to kill our people,” he added.
Rizwan of the Afaq group’s media cell said, “We have the right to engage in political activities. Our chairman Afaq Ahmed is a political prisoner. He did not make any deal with the government, so he is still behind bars.” MQM activists have murdered over a thousand workers of the Afaq group in the last decade, he added.
