JI questions govt’s role in target killings

KARACHI: The government must stop target killings and take “stern action” against the culprits, said Jamaat-i-Islami chief Muhammad Hussain Mahenti at a press conference on Friday.

Hundreds of people have lost their lives in this “blood game”, said Mahenti, adding that the government has yet to take action against the murderers. “The government knows that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was involved in the killings. It deliberately avoids blaming the MQM for political reasons,” he said.

The killings are not political in nature, but the result of clashes between the MQM and the Awami National Party (ANP) over land, said Mahenti, who was of the belief that the MQM is blaming the ANP and the Hazarewal for the killings to shift the blame away from itself. “We believe, however, that the Pakistan People’s Party, MQM and ANP are all responsible for the killings,” he added, claiming that the “evidence” lies in the fact that the killings stop whenever the MQM and the ANP hold talks.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2010.