This refers to the article “The antics of the foreign office” published in Pakistan Today on 14 December. The writer seems to have concluded in his own judgment that the mere registration of FIRs in police stations is proof enough for anyone to be condemned. Is it not a fact that fake FIRs are registered as a routine in this country as an instrument of coercion?
Have not FIRs been registered against all the leading politicians of the country about which it was also candidly admitted by leaders belonging to leading parties that they were fake? But perhaps when it comes to the MQM the registration of the FIR is the ultimate proof. Has the writer ever bothered to investigate as to why almost all cases registered against the MQM workers and leaders have been thrown out by the courts? Why is it that no case has stood the test of evidence and scrutiny of law?
Those who think that the MQM does not enjoy massive popular support “in Karachi and some other parts of Sindh” are living in a fool’s paradise. The MQM emerged on the political scene of the country riding on the crest wave of strong public support. It is the unwavering support of the people that has kept the MQM active on the political landscape in spite of many conspiracies to quell it. The fact is that the MQM’s mandate has never been accepted with open heart by anyone and such hateful analysis also point in the same direction.
Situation in Karachi needs tactful handling. There is disturbance here and it cannot be denied but the situation in other areas of the country is even worse. Kidnappings, killings and terrorism are rampant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan but we have never seen such vitriolic comments about parties ruling there.
If the MQM had a guilty conscience it would have given support to the government in the passing of the NRO from the parliament. Our conscience is clear and we have nothing to hide and to be afraid of. A guilty conscience would have given full support to any law that would have closed cases against its workers and leaders. Innocent until proven guilty is the basic precept of the law across the world but perhaps in the MQM’s case it becomes “guilty unless proven innocent”.