Hyderabad's 1988 massacre: MQM factions observe 29th anniversary

Demand justice for victims, their families

KARACHI: The Pakistan and London groups of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) observed on Saturday the 29th anniversary of Hyderabad's September, 1988 massacre, in which over 160 people were killed and many others wounded when gunmen attacked people in different parts of the city.

The case, like many others in the country, has remained unsolved and as of now the state has failed to deliver justice to the victims and their families.

The MQM groups organised gatherings at their offices in Karachi and London to mark the tragedy and urged authorities to reopen the case.
Farooq Sattar, head of MQM-Pakistan, said that almost three decades on the victims' distress is the same as of the fateful day because the terrorists who caused this mayhem were still roaming scot-free.



The casualties were so many that the deceased and injured were continuously being shifted to hospitals from evening till late night, Sattar said, in a reference to the intensity of the attacks. A judicial commission should be formed to ascertain the facts, he added.

Meanwhile, MQM-London, in a statement, said that it was an unforgettable black day on which the roads and streets of the city were flooded with the blood of the people, yet the police and paramilitary force remained out of sight.

Qasim Ali Raza of MQM-London said that the state and its institutions should see all the citizens of the country as equals irrespective of their ethnicity or religion. "The unjust and bias behaviour [of the authorities] with us is still evident as we have not been allowed to hold a Quran khwani in Karachi."