HYDERABAD: The standoff in Badin seems likely to intensify as traders pressed for the arrest of former home minister Zulfiqar Mirza.
Badin's trade leaders, who became entangled in Mirza's feud with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) when they joined the party last month, have given a strike call. During a press conference in Hyderabad on Wednesday, Anjuman Tajraan Badin president Imtiaz Ali Memon and Tajir Ittehad head Taj Muhammad Mallah said that if Mirza was not arrested by 10am on Thursday [today], they would march towards his farmhouse and lay siege to it. They added that the police will be responsible if any violence occurs, because they were not arresting him.
Mirza and his supporters allegedly attacked Memon and Mallah's shops on May 3, when he also reportedly ransacked a police station in Badin. Memon claims that he was robbed of Rs3.7 million in cash, while Mallah said he was deprived of around Rs3 million. They registered two FIRs against Mirza, in addition to the third one registered on the complaint of Model Town SHO Wali Muhammad Chang.
Police harassment
Mirza and his wife, MNA Dr Fehmida Mirza, reiterated their charges of police harassment and voiced fears for his life during separate press conferences at their Badin farmhouse on Wednesday.
"I have been watching the farce of punitive action for years. I am willing to go to jail and will consider it an honour," said Mirza, claiming that he was fighting to save Sindh. He lashed out at PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and his sister, MNA Faryal Talpur, saying that even those who were on their payroll had grown sick of them.
"The police haven't been withdrawn. They have just been pushed around a kilometre back from the farmhouse," said Fehmida. She accused the Sindh government for using the police force to harass political workers and influence them to register fake FIRs. "If we are pushed to the wall, I will go to the federal government and international rights organisations for justice."
Meanwhile, the Badin police produced four of the arrested suspects from around 60 persons nominated in the FIRs with Mirza in the anti-terrorism court in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The court extended the physical remand of Fida Bux Kambrani, Muhammad Khan Qazi, Nawaz Jatoi and Lala Sairab by 10 days, after initially giving a remand of one day on Tuesday.
According to sources close to Mirza, he plans to arrive in Hyderabad in a huge rally to appear before the trial court for his bail on Thursday. The Hyderabad DIG and SSP were not available for comments about what security measures will be taken for Mirza's arrest or to prevent any clashes.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2015.
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