The proposed all-parties conference (APC) on targeted killings in Karachi was cancelled on Friday due to pressure by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), sources told Pakistan Today.
The sources in the Sindh government said Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad had personally contacted the Presidency for the cancellation of the event. They claimed that the ongoing operation against target killers was only eyewash for the people, adding that despite reservations of the PPP leadership in Sindh, Interior Minister Rehman Malik was still supervising the law enforcement agencies.
They said it was an exercise to bring the MQM back in the coalition, “that’s why no action is taking place in the areas which are famous for presence of miscreants”, adding that even Korangi, Liaqatabad, Nazimabad, Orangi Town, Burn Road, North Karachi, Gulistan-e-Johar, Gulisha-e-Iqbal, which were the worst-hit areas had been avoided.
According to the sources, the MQM pressed for the cancellation of the APC because it was afraid that all political, religious and nationalist parties would declare the MQM responsible for the targeted killings in the city. “Therefore the Sindh chief minister cancelled the event on the instructions of the president,” the sources added.
MQM ‘pressure’ cancels APC again
