Not urgent: SHC rejects request to rush hearing of anti-Mirza petition

People’s sentiments were ignited and in the next 18 hours, sixteen people were killed and 40 vehicles were torched.

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court has dismissed a request to urgently hear a petition against minister Zulfiqar Mirza over remarks he made against Mohajirs.

The bench decided, however, that there was no urgency in the matter and it could be heard after the summer vacations.

The petition was filed by the United Human Rights Commission, (not the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan or HRCP), through its honorary secretary Rana Faizul Hasan, a social worker. They want an FIR registered against Mirza for the statement he made at a reception hosted by the Awami National Party that led to street protests by the ruling part’s former coalition partner, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Named in the petition are the federal and provincial governments, the federal interior minister, among others.

The NGO maintains that due to Mirza’s unwarranted assertions made on July 14, people’s sentiments were ignited and in the subsequent 18 hours, sixteen people were killed and 40 vehicles were torched in different parts of the city. The government failed to protect the lives and property of the people.

The petitioner said that he moved an application before the SSP South, SHO of Preedy, Defence and Clifton police stations to register an FIR against Mirza but none of them did it.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd,  2011.