MQM seeks invocation of Article 245 in Karachi

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a major opposition party in the National Assembly, on Tuesday called upon the government to invoke Article 245 of the constitution for handling the law and order in Karachi.

“The situation in Karachi is worsening. Killings, robberies, kidnappings for ransom and other crimes have paralysed the city,” Farooq Sattar, parliamentary leader of the MQM, said in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“Criminals are being patronised and the situation has gone beyond control,” Sattar added.

“Apparently being an undemocratic demand, invoking Article 245 has become imperative as nothing is more important than lives and property of citizens,” he added.

Sattar also called upon the federal government to take notice of the situation, which was normal three days before the by-election, but killings and other crimes gripped the city from the very next day.

PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi contested the demand for invoking Article 245, saying Karachi’s situation was worrying, but that was not the right course to take.

He demanded the government to take the opposition into confidence and update the House on measures being taken to maintain law and order in the port city.

Syed Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) said there could be other ways to tackle the situation other than invoking Article 245.

“We invite the MQM to sit with us and discuss measures to improve law and order, just as they evolved consensus with us on the local government law,” he stated.

Leader of the Opposition Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah went a step ahead and invited the MQM to join the Sindh government. He, however, called Farooq Sattar’s demand “undemocratic”.

“Invoking Article 245 will not only be an undemocratic decision but also a political blunder. We do not know where this conspiracy has been hatched.”

He added that the MQM was partially a part of the government as they had their governor in Sindh province. “And if they demand so, they should first leave the office of the governor.”

Replying to points raised by the PPP, MQM’s Nabeel Gabol said the PPP itself had taken such decisions in the past when its governments had imposed governor’s rule in provinces in 1997 and 2009 and slapped curfew in Karachi in 1974.