No-go to go-between: MQM-H chief parleys with PPP polars

Afaq Ahmed meets Zulfiqar Mirza and Manzoor Wassan.

KARACHI:

Afaq Ahmed, once one of Karachi’s most feared confrontationists, seems to have learnt the art of diplomacy while in jail.

In the course of one day, the Haqiqi leader met two home ministers, one current and one former – Zulfiqar Mirza and Manzoor Wassan – who both happen to be Pakistan Peoples Party men but with no love lost between each other.

The recently released chief of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) met Wassan to ostensibly discuss Afaq’s allegations that ‘no-go areas’ persist in Karachi. The gripe about no-go areas is an old one, as Afaq says his party’s men are not allowed to enter certain neighbourhoods.

Ahmed had taken the matter to court, filing a contempt petition in the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry earlier this month. Claims were made to the SC that no-go areas do not exist anymore, he said in the petition. “But this is not true,” he said while speaking to the media outside Wassan’s office. He maintains that since the SC’s verdict in the suo motu Karachi killings case, its orders to end the no-go areas have not been implemented.

“I have gone from one jail into another,” Afaq remarked, while referring to limitations on doing political work. “People who come to meet me are being abducted, as we saw with Aziz Memon, and other friends and politicians who come to meet me are being checked out and abused.” Afaq claimed that the situation near his home was so bad that even people living in the area are being affected because utility bills don’t even reach.

Wassan assured Afaq that he would look into the areas that he mentioned. Afaq accused the rival Muttahida Qaumi Movement of creating a state of its own in certain areas where, “Altaf Hussain’s laws are applied, not Pakistan’s law and constitution.”

Afaq will be travelling to Islamabad to appear in front of the Supreme Court on January 24.

In the meantime, the MQM-H chief has been meeting fringe politicians, including those with religious and nationalist parties, to create what he calls a “force for peace” in Karachi. Thursday was his first meeting - with Zulfiqar Mirza.

“[Zulfiqar Mirza] can play a great role in our efforts and he has already made great efforts in Karachi,” said Afaq. “He is a jihadi against terrorism.”

Afaq and other party leaders he has been meeting have consistently mentioned that they are working on a “single-point agenda” to de-weaponise Karachi. Speaking about Mirza’s recent trip to the United Kingdom, Afaq claimed that Mirza has shown the Pakistani community in the UK what the reality of Karachi is. Other issues pertaining to Sindh were also discussed in the meeting between the two politicians.

A two-day MQM-H meeting has concluded and the party will brief the media on the details Friday.

Hearings adjourned

It is not still over for Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Haqiqi) chief Afaq Ahmed, who on Thursday appeared before two courts in different districts in separate murder cases. Both cases were adjourned after a brief hearing.

Afaq first appeared before the additional district and sessions judge for Malir, Munawwar Sultana, where he faces a murder case of an unidentified person. The proceedings were put off till January 23 when Afaq is likely to be formally charge sheeted.

In another case, the additional district and sessions judge for the east, Javed Kerio, holding trial against Afaq Ahmed inside jail, adjourned the hearing of a case on the murder of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement activist, Ateeq-ur Rahman, till February 7.

According to the prosecution, the deceased and a few other activists of the MQM were sitting at a paan shop when four Haqiqi activists came on motorcycles and fired at them, killing Ateeq in 2009.

The court earlier heard arguments by the counsel for the co-accused, Asim Hussain, and reserved the orders till Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2012.