If killings don’t stop, the president has failed: MQM

As 16 more people shot dead in Karachi, Farooq Sattar says party can only take so much.

KARACHI:

After three more Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers were killed on Sunday, the party held a stinging press conference to declare that the violence challenged the writ of the president who had promised to tackle lawlessness in Pakistan’s largest city.

The sharply worded criticism led the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party to galvanise into action, with Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah ordering the police and paramilitary units to begin cracking down against the violence. It remains to be seen whether the PPP’s actions will be enough to assuage the MQM, which made no secret of its anger on Sunday.

“The MQM had submitted proof to the president on the political patronisation of criminals so now it is his responsibility to ensure action is taken,” said the party’s deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar at a press conference in Karachi on Sunday evening. “Failing to control the lawlessness would mean that the president has also failed.”

Even during the press conference reports filtered in of more killings. Earlier in the day, hand grenades were lobbed at two of the party’s unit offices. The first office was closed and in the second attack the explosive did not go off. No one was hurt as a result.

While target killings in drive-by shootings have plagued Karachi for years now, this recent spell started ten days ago when a protest took place against a Supreme Court decision to declare invalid the PPP’s appointment of a top bureaucrat. Nearly 16 people have been killed since then.

Sattar remarked that if the president is in the city, the escalation in violence is tantamount to a challenge to his presence and the writ of his government. He said that the president had assured the MQM that the criminals would be dealt with but he has not been able to deliver.

“The MQM’s policy of toleration and forbearance should not be misconstrued as its weakness,” said Sattar. “The government and the people at the helm of affairs must take heed and do something to control the situation.”

The MQM has ordered two ministers, Raza Haroon and Dr Sagheer Ahmed Siddiqui, to concentrate on the day-to-day affairs of the committee put together by the president during his previous visit. However, in order to be effective, the committee needs all of its members to participate. Before Sunday, PPP members of the committee had not been available.

On Sunday, however, Haroon and Siddiqui met with Sindh Local Bodies Minister Agha Siraj Durrani at the chief minister’s mansion in Karachi to put together a joint proposal for tackling the problem of target killing in the metropolis.

The MQM had handed over its recommendations to Durrani who suggested that the proposals be made jointly to the chief minister. The MQM leaders said that they expected the government to begin taking action within 24 hours in order for their demands to be satisfied.

In an apparent response to the criticisms aimed directly at him, President Asif Ali Zardari telephoned the Sindh chief minister to discuss the law and order situation in Karachi.

The chief minister asked the police to provide him with details of the victims of target killing. He also asked the Sindh Police inspector general and the director general of the Rangers to increase patrols in the city and arrest those suspected to be involved in the killings.

Meanwhile, MQM’s Waseem Aftab said that home minister, Zulfiqar Mirza, was directly involved in the ongoing killings.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2011.