Reacting to the arrest of Bashir Qureshi by Rangers, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) on Thursday announced a three-day peaceful wheel-jam and shutter-down strike in all districts, towns and cities [of the province] to protest the arrest of the party’s chairman.
Talking to the media, JSQM Central General Secretary Asif Baladi alleged that strong forces are again active to present the party as mafias like Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Awami National Party (ANP) and People’s Amn Committee (PAC).
“Not even a single case against JSQM was discussed in the Supreme Court’s suo motu hearing on violence in which names of MQM, ANP and PAC surfaced repeatedly for involvement in killing of innocent people,” he said. He claimed that the manhandling and arrest of Qureshi is a conspiracy to present JSQM as another mafia party; however, the party workers will foil all such bids. “Some forces are engaged in derailing the peaceful struggle of JSQM.”
Earlier, JSQM Chairman Qureshi was arrested in Gulshan-e-Hadeed by Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) personnel, who also claimed recovering weapons from his convoy. The nationalist leader along with his four guards was shifted to an undisclosed location.
Reliable sources told Pakistan Today that the JSQM leader was subjected to severe torture following his arrest and shifted to an undisclosed location.
“Qureshi left for Thatta at 11:50am Thursday morning to visit rain-affected areas. On his way, he stopped at the residence of DSP Ghulam Subhani. A patrolling van of Rangers, parked in C-Block, Gulshan-e-Hadeed reached the spot and seized the weapons being carried by Qureshi’s security guards. They started thrashing the JSQM leader on the road with clubs,” they said.
“Qureshi repeatedly told his identity to Rangers and insisted that his guards’ weapons were licensed but the security personnel tortured him for about eight minutes,” eyewitnesses, requesting anonymity, told Pakistan Today.