MPO comes back to haunt Afaq

The release of Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Haqiqi) chief Afaq Ahmed was yet again delayed, as the Sindh Home Department detained him for another 30 days at the Landhi district jail under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) on Tuesday.
The Sindh government issued the notification for keeping the Haqiqi chairman in custody through the Home Department.
Afaq’s long-awaited release was expected on Tuesday after his bail plea was accepted in the last case registered against him and his party furnished the surety bond of Rs 500,000 in the anti-terrorism court concerned.
As the court issued the release order, Additional Home Secretary Waseem Ahmed issued orders to detain the imprisoned political leader.
In the Sindh Home Department order addressing Afaq, it was stated: “It has been reported that members of your party on your behest have revived the ‘Allahu Akbar Group’ in collaboration with the banned outfit of Sipah-e-Sahaba. It is also reported that your supporters and the banned sectarian outfit’s activists can destroy the peaceful situation in the metropolis. Therefore, I [Additional Home Secretary Waseem Ahmed] am convinced that your conduct and activities can harm peace [in the city] and your detention is necessary.”
Meanwhile, Afaq’s counsel, Iqbal Kazmi, has filed a contempt-of-court plea in the Sindh High Court against the ‘illegal’ detention of the Haqiqi chief.
Afaq has been detained under the MPO for the second time on his expected release.
The Haqiqi chairman has been in jail since April 2004 on different charges. He was granted bail on Saturday in a kidnapping for ransom case by an anti-terrorism court in one of the last cases registered against him.