‘Unfair’ treatment: MQM supporters gather to show support for mayor-nominee

Workers and family members shout slogans against arrest of Wasim Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui


Our Correspondent July 22, 2016
MQM workers and family members came out on Friday to raise their voice for their leaders who were arrested in a terror faciliatation case. PHOTO: ONLINE

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) gathered a sizable crowd outside Karachi Press Club on Friday evening to show support for its two leaders who are in jail.

The party's mayor-nominee, Wasim Akhtar, and senior leader Rauf Siddiqui, who is also a sitting MPA, were arrested on Tuesday after their bail, in a terror facilitation case involving Dr Asim Hussain, was rejected.

The protesters shouted slogans, demanding justice and showing an increasing sense of frustration with, what they called was, an unfair treatment towards MQM leaders and workers.

If the government is not going to let us serve our voters then we will be forced to take to the streets, said MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui. If justice did not prevail then no one can guarantee the peace of the city, he warned, claiming that they were protesting the 'killing of justice'. He also asked the relevant authorities to release Akhtar and Siddiqui or they would have to get them released on their own.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Siddiqui said that the decision to arrest these leaders was "manufactured" from before and was based on JIT reports, which he deemed as not credible. He was also of the view that such dictated decisions do nothing but worsen the situation. He also hinted that the party may approach the courts to ask for justice.

Siddiqui is an MPA, pointed out MQM's deputy mayor-nominee Arshad Vohra. Did the Sindh Assembly speaker approve of his arrest, he asked. Those ruling over Karachi were not those who had the mandate of the city while those who did were not allowed to rule, he told The Express Tribune.

Speaking to the protesters, MQM Rabita Committee member Mahfooz Yar Khan said that, "Akhtar and Siddiqui were arrested because they look at Rangers right in the eye." Khan also cautioned that if the pen of the courts becomes powerless then the power of the people will prevail. He also asked the Sindh Government to be careful when granting special powers to the Rangers.

"This was not just the arrest of Wasim Akhtar but the arrest of the nominated mayor of Karachi, it is akin to arresting the people of Karachi," claimed MQM spokesperson Aminul Haq. The arrest was the 'insult of the mandate', he said, adding that such actions will only increase the prevalent sense of deprivation. The MQM prefers political dialogue at the moment but a time will come when it will have to resort to other means, he warned.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23rd, 2016.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ