ISLAMABAD/KARACHI – The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday submitted the “Deweaponisation of Pakistan Bill, 2011” in the National Assembly, saying Pakistan needed to be purged of weapons, as Interior Minister Rehman Malik called a meeting of the MQM and ANP at the Sindh CM House to take them into confidence over plans of imposing a partial curfew in Karachi.
The MQM said the extensive proliferation of weapons had posed a serious threat to the country’s peace and stability. “The Pakistani society has weaponised badly over the years and terrorist activities like suicide bombings and blasts on one hand and increase in crimes, like kidnappings for ransom, thefts and robberies on the other have not only made the life of a common man extremely miserable, but put the peace, stability and integrity of the country at stake. In this situation, deweaponisation is essential for establishing durable peace and stability, ” MQM leader Farooq Sattar told a press conference.
He said the MQM’s bill gave a clear modus operandi for deweaponising the country, whereby both illegal and licensed weapons would be surrendered for making Pakistan a weapon-free state. In Sindh, the government and its law enforcement agencies remained confused about how to impose the impartial curfew in Karachi’s troubled areas, Pakistan Today learnt. The meeting called by Malik would aim at devising a final strategy to implement the curfew decision.
Meanwhile, two men, including an activist of MQM Haqiqi, were gunned down in Karachi on Monday. Orangi Town remained tense on the fourth consecutive day. Intense aerial firing was reported in Peerabad and Qasba Morr throughout the day.
