Yaum-e-Shuhada: MQM factions likely to face off on December 9

Workers, leaders to visit Yadgar Shuhada-e-Haq in Azizabad to pay respects to slain workers

KARACHI: In the history of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), this December 9 - the day the party commemorates Yaum-e-Shuhada, which is Urdu for martyrs' day - is feared to be a turbulent one, as the recently emerged factions of Pakistan and London will face each other off in Azizabad.

Given that the rift between the Nadeem Nusrat-led London group and Farooq Sattar-led Pakistan group is intensifying, it is apprehended that workers supporting the two factions might clash at the event.

Both the groups have announced that they will move to Yadgar Shuhada-e-Haq, a white coloured monument built by the party to pay homage to its workers who were killed on December 9.

MQM-Pakistan is hopeful to hold a public gathering there and has sought permission from the authorities to do so. The application, moved through MPA Mehfooz Yaar Khan, however, has yet not been approved. According to the party spokesperson, Aminul Haque, the District Central deputy commissioner had marked it for security clearance from the relevant SSP. "We have not heard anything as yet," he said.

Sources told The Express Tribune that permission may not be granted due to pressure from senior security officials. A contingent of police and Rangers has stood guard around the premises since the August 22 crackdown against the party and its installations.

Meanwhile, MQM-London has also asked its supporters to hold prayer events and visit the monument and graveyard. A statement issued in the name of MQM founder Altaf Hussain from London urged workers to commemorate the day with 'love and respect'.

An office-bearer of the London group said that they will surely enter the monument's surrounding areas, as no constitution or law bars them from doing so. "Free movement is the right of each and every individual of this country," he said. "And the place intended is no sensitive installation where entry is restricted."

On a question regarding what would happen when supporters come face to face, leaders from both the sides said it was the responsibility of the authorities to maintain law and order. They both denied the possibility of a clash or any untoward incident occurring.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2016.