Scuffles end euphoria over mayor’s release

Waseem Akhtar freed after he secures bail in all 39 cases against him

KARACHI: Within hours of securing bail in the last of 39 cases registered against him on Wednesday, Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar and his party supporters drove straight into a confrontation with supporters of the rival MQM-London.

Activists of MQM-Pakistan who were accompanying Akhtar were prevented from going to the Yadgar-e-Shuhada monument in Azizabad by a group of supporters of the rival MQM-London. Rival activists chanted slogans in favour of MQM founder Altaf Hussain.



A heavy contingent of Rangers and police, already present at the site, swiftly sprang into action and dispersed the supporters of both factions. Five people belonging to the MQM-London were taken into custody while the MQM-Pakistan members were also not allowed to enter the Shuhada monument.

Later, addressing a press conference at the MQM-Pakistan’s makeshift headquarters in the PIB Colony, the mayor lamented that he and other activists were not allowed to offer Fateha at Yadgar-e-Shuhada.

He demanded that just like the ongoing targeted operation, a targeted development campaign should also be started in the city. “Heaps of garbage are still present on streets of the city but I hope we will be able to clean the city,” he said.

“I ask [the authorities] to let me and his team work; we should be given authority and power to run the affairs of this city, which is our right,” he said, adding that he had a lot of ideas for the betterment and development of the city.

The mayor earlier accompanied a convoy of supporters to the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) granted bail to him in the last case against a surety of Rs0.5 million.



A leader of MQM-Pakistan, Akhtar was elected as Karachi’s 28th mayor after contesting the mayoral polls from jail in August this year.  He was arrested on July 19 on multiple charges including that of facilitating terrorists in getting medical aid and shelter at the former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain’s Ziauddin Hospitals.

He said Karachi earned billions of rupees for the country and for the province but still it was not given its due share. The mayor pledged that soon other political parties would also be contacted and taken onboard for the betterment of the city.

‘We expect more people to be released’

Speaking on the occasion, the MQM-Pakistan convener Farooq Sattar said he believed that the process of the release of ‘innocent’ MQM leaders and workers would continue. He said a number of political workers were still languishing in prisons.

Referring to the clash between two factions of the group, he said it is a calculated conspiracy to force Muhajirs to fight each other, adding that they thwarted the move by handling the situation in the best possible way.

He criticised his London counterpart, Altaf Hussain, for ‘hatching the conspiracy’ and sending some criminal elements to Azizabad to create a clash-like situation.

“Our silence should not be mistaken. We just don’t want to tarnish the peace,” he said, adding that the party is in a position to stage a ‘historic’ sit-in on a short call.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2016.