Weapon-free karachi: ANP, MQM-H forge alliance

ISLAMABAD:

The Awami National Party (ANP) and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqqiqi (MQM-H) on Sunday announced formation of an alliance to “make Karachi a weapon-free city.”

The alliance between ANP and Haqqiqi group is primarily meant to rid Pakistan’s financial hub of weapons, said ANP’s Sindh president Senator Shahi Syed after his meeting with MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmed.

“It will be too early to say whether we will enter into an electoral alliance … [but] I don’t rule out the possibility,” Syed said when contacted by The Express Tribune.

Speaking at a news conference after their meeting, both leaders said they wanted to form a loose alliance of political, religious parties and civil society groups to lobby for eliminating the weapon culture from Karachi.

A delegation of all these groups, Afaq said, would soon visit London to convince Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain to support the cause.

Shahi Syed called for clearing Karachi of weapons, conducting a military operation to restore peace in the city and then holding ‘free and fair’ elections to give all parties an opportunity to prove their electoral strength.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2012.