Political parties sporting armed wings are crying foul following the arrest of their armed miscreants and the exposing of their criminal faces following the initiation of operations against criminal elements by the police and security forces in different parts of Karachi. The law enforcers have so far taken several suspects, including political activists, into custody.
During a crackdown in Kharadar and Meethadar areas of the city, police detained several suspects and also seized weapons from their possession. Separately, police carried out a search operation in the city’s Garden area and detained four suspected individuals whereas a political party’s unit in-charge was taken into custody in ShahLatifTown. In a separate operation conducted in Lyari, police detained seven suspects. According to Ranger’s sources, police and paramilitary raided different localities in Lyari and arrested a number of persons allegedly involved in crimes such as theft, murder and robbery. Rangers and police continued their joint operation even during the night.
The operations against criminal elements unsurprisingly invited the criticism of the ‘peace loving’ Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP).
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has warned the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in Sindh of dire consequences if it doesn’t stop, what he called ‘atrocities’ against his party. MQM chief said the police raids were targeting his party workers and officials on the directives of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government in Sindh. In a statement issued on Thursday, following the reports that several MQM activists were held in the police crackdown, Hussain said that the PPP government had started ‘state terrorism’ against his party. He said that the MQM had legal and constitutional rights and would protest against the police action. The MQM said that the government was planning to arrest key leaders including Dr Farooq Sattar, Faisal Sabzwari and others. Moreover, MQM’s Rabita Committee also condemned the police operations saying that the provincial government was employing “high-handed tactics”.
On the other hand, the Awami National Party (ANP) has demanded President Asif Ali Zardari to take notice of law enforcing in the province. A spokesman for the party’s Sindh chapter Bashir Khan claimed that an unannounced operation had been launched against the ANP. ANP also claimed that police arrested over 30 of its workers from different areas of the metropolis.
He said that the crackdown against the ANP had been launched on the instructions of the Sindh government while the PPP leader Sharjeel Memon had expressed ignorance about the unannounced operation against ANP. He further informed reporters that the party leadership had been informed about the arrest of its leaders and workers. Security analysts and commentators in Karachi and Islamabad said they were expecting a strong opposition from the MQM and ANP as the criminals involved in target killings, extortions, kidnapping for ransom, arms and narcotics smugglingh and other street crimes were active members of these so-called political parties. They said no gang in the city was without backing of the political parties. Analysts pointed out that that police and rangers were helpless because after every initiation of operation, the said institutions came under immense pressure to release the gangster and criminals belonging to said political parties. They said Director General Rangers was correct when he made the statement that armed wings of political parties were involved in deteriorating law and order situation in the mega city. It was further demanded of the government and particularly the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to continue with the operation by backing the Sindh Government and no political pressure, whatsoever should be accepted. They said the situation would not improve in the business hub of the country until and unless the outlaws realized that their political parties would no longer be able to shield them and they would have to give up their activities. They said it was a shame that more than a dozen people were being killed and tortured bodies are being recovered and not a single accused is being arrested. It is worth mentioning that the MQM just a a few days back had demanded the prime minister to handover Karachi to the army to restore order. This demand by Altaf Hussain and MQM parliamentarians drew strong opposition from other parties in the parliament.
The security commentators questioned as to why the MQM and ANP were now up in arm to oppose the operation by rangers and police if they had no outlaws in their ranks as security agencies were only rounding up the gangs of criminals. Meanwhile, the exiled MQM leader Altaf Hussain said that the PPP government was singling his party out only due to bias and prejudice.
The names of members of National and Provincial Assembly, Dr Farooq Sattar, Dr Saghir Ahmad, Faisal Sabazwari, Ashfaq Mangi, Sajid Ahmad, Irtaza Farooqi and Adnan Ahmad were included in the list of those the law enforcers would try to nab. Altaf warned the PPP government in Sindh of consequences if it doesn’t stop atrocities against his party.
