Operation cleanup: MQM is being terrorised, says Khalid Maqbool

MQM Deputy Convener claimes that the MQM was being targeted in the garb of a one-sided operation.

ISLAMABAD:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said on Saturday that the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi is a controversial and solely against its workers.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, MQM Deputy Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi claimed that the MQM was being targeted in the garb of a one-sided operation in the megacity where people have given an overwhelming mandate to the MQM in the May 11 elections. He added that the Karachi police chief had already termed the killing of Zafar Baloch a result of Lyari gang war.

Siddiqi said that nominating Nabil Gabol in Zafar Baloch’s murder case shows that it is a move to save the culprits, who are none other than the people of the same Lyari gangs. The MQM leader added that the Pakistan People Party (PPP) government had called members of the Lyari gang their friends and they were given a free hand to operate in the city. “Kidnapping for ransom has become an industry in the city and gangsters are fighting for this wealth,” he added.



“Nominating Nabil Gabol in the murder of Zafar Baloch and arresting former MPA Nadeem Hashmi are examples of victimizing MQM in the city, where 90% people have given mandate to the party,” said Siddiqi.

The MQM leader said the federal government is behind this operation which is less against criminals and more towards targeting the MQM. He said that implicating Gabol in the case was a conspiracy to seek political vengeance and cast doubts over the ongoing operation in the city.

Some police officers and political leaders create hurdle in the way of a transparent operation in the city, Siddiqi said, adding that most of the police officials have been inducted from other provinces and cities on political basis and failing to discharge their duty professionally.

To a question, the MQM leader said his party had demanded Karachi should be handed over to the army to restore peace in the megacity. “The military could be the last option and the purpose of the MQM to call upon the army was to invite the government’s attention towards this crucial issue,” he said. “We are still demanding a transparent targeted operation against land mafia, target killers and drug mafia”, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2013.