Raising voices: MQM decries arrests of workers

Waseem Akhtar says arrests of LG polls candidates are against Constitution and rules of ECP

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has alleged that pre-poll rigging is taking place as its candidates for the upcoming local government elections are being arrested by the law enforcement agencies.

"The arrests of our candidates are against the Constitution and the rules of the Election Commission [of Pakistan]," said senior MQM leader Waseem Akhtar at a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Tuesday.

So far, four of the party's candidates contesting for chairperson and vice-chairperson from Karachi have been arrested. The men belong to Shah Faisal and Korangi areas. According to the MQM, the forms of the arrested men had already been accepted after scrutiny and they were neither criminals nor tax defaulters.



Criticising the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi, Akhtar said that more than 4,000 workers had been arrested and hundreds of them were languishing in prisons. "Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah is the captain of the province," he said. "He should know that if the MQM is side lined and pinned to the wall, the terrorists will step in and the government will then have to bear the consequences."

He said that the targeted operation, which was initially against criminals, had turned against the MQM. The party said that its worker, Arshad Hussain, was killed in a targeted attack at Old Sabzi Mandi on Monday.

Urging the federal and provincial governments to take notice, he claimed that 440 workers have been killed by 'terrorists', while 55 have become victims of extrajudicial killings. More than 225 workers have gone missing, he added. "None of the people involved in the killing of our workers have been arrested," he said. "We demand that those responsible should be held accountable."

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2015.