Afaq Ahmed case: MQM-H’s hype cut short as chief detained again

The home department detained Afaq for another month to ‘maintain public order’.

KARACHI:

Although the Sindh High Court has granted him bail and issued his release orders, Afaq Ahmed has been detained for a month under the rules of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

Ahmed, the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi chairman, was expected to be released on Wednesday after a seven-year imprisonment in Central Jail, Karachi. He was shifted to the Malir District Jail late on Tuesday night in anticipation of his release and excited party workers made arrangements to welcome their chief home.

About one thousand MQM-H activists and supporters gathered outside the jail to welcome Ahmed only to be bitterly disappointed at the eleventh hour. The provincial home department issued a notification that sentenced him to another month’s detention in jail in accordance with the MPO. It is believed that the police asked the home department for the notification in order to prevent an outbreak of violence with his release. However, neither the government nor police have confirmed this.

Ahmed was implicated in about a dozen cases registered across the city and was eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. On Monday, the Sindh High Court accepted his bail plea and announced his release for Rs1 million in his last pending case - the murder of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement activist in 2009.

The city was disturbed on Tuesday night as the time for his release on Wednesday drew near. The tension was palpable as MQM-H supporters surfaced in areas such as PIB Colony, Shah Faisal Colony, Lines Area, Landhi and Malir. Strict security measures had to be taken to keep matters under control. Former Liaquatabad town nazim Dr Pervez Mehmood and police officials even visited the MQM-H’s temporary headquarters, Baitul Hamza, on Wednesday to inspect security.

As the government announced the MPO detention, angered activists and supporters took to the National Highway, condemning the decision. They shouted slogans against the government, law enforcement agencies and rival political parties and demanded the release of their leader. MQM-H leader Shamshad Ghauri told the media that the government took the decision to delay Ahmed’s release in accordance with MQM chief Altaf Hussain and Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan’s wishes as they are threatened by Ahmed’s popularity. He said that the party’s leaders are mulling over a new course of action and would tell the media about it soon.

“Why does this only happen to us? The court released Afaq bhai because he is innocent,” MQM-H leader Khalid Hameed told The Express Tribune. “We are very unhappy with the government’s decision.”

He felt that, considering that the Rangers and police have already been deployed across the city, the MPO is unnecessary. “It isn’t right that Afaq Ahmed’s release is seen as a cause for a potential law and order situation. If you look at it that way, then our leader will never be released - maybe that is what they want,” he said vehemently. “We don’t have any weapons, we have flowers.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th,  2011.