MQM recalls 1992 operation as 'assault on political voice'

Marking 34 years since the launch of the June 19, 1992 operation, MQM-Pakistan Chairman Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui described the military-backed crackdown as one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan's political history, alleging that it was aimed at suppressing the political awakening of urban Sindh rather than restoring law and order.

In a statement issued from the party's Bahadurabad headquarters, Siddiqui said June 19 was not merely a date but a symbol of "repression and fascism" that targeted educated, constitutional-minded citizens and the descendants of Pakistan's founders.

According to the MQM chief, the operation launched in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas was designed to protect the country's entrenched feudal political order by silencing the growing influence of the urban middle class. He claimed that under the banner of the so-called "Operation Clean-up," efforts were made to dismantle a political movement that had challenged traditional power structures.