As the bodies pile up in the morgue and traders take to the streets to protest against extortionists, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) walked out from the Sindh Assembly session on Thursday to protest targeted killings and extortion demands in Karachi.
The MQM legislators said that ‘hidden hands’ in the government were supporting suspects of the Lyari gang war and said that the state was reluctant to take action against them.
On the other hand, lawmakers of other parties criticised the operation in Lyari and demanded that similar action be taken in other areas.
Speaker Nisar Khuhro initially refused to let any MPA raise points of order, but the MQM MPAs requested a few minutes. MPA Tahir Qureshi rose to speak and blamed criminals for killing MQM workers and Urdu-speaking people in a systematic manner. According to Qureshi, business activity has come to a standstill because of the increase in demands by extortionists, who warn of dire consequences if they aren’t paid. “No one other than the criminals of Lyari gang warfare is involved in the massacre of our workers, kidnapping for ransom as well as the extortion culture in the city,” he said.
Qureshi said that 83 MQM workers and supporters have been killed since January, and alleged that 20 traders were being kept hostage in Lyari.
“People want to know why action is not being taken. Please expose those patronising criminals who kill people and fire rocket launchers and hand grenades at police stations,” he said. Qureshi said that while the provincial government allocates billions of rupees on security, the police and Rangers are silent spectators. Minister for Religious Affairs and MQM MPA Abdul Haseeb said that around 10 party workers had been killed from June 1 to June 6.
MQM MPAs staged a token walkout after Qureshi’s speech.
Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Rafique Engineer, a provincial minister who was elected from Lyari, said that innocent people, especially labourers, were being killed in Lyari, Malir and other areas of the city. But he ruled out that a single ethnic group was being targeted. Nusrat Seher Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional criticised the recent operation in Lyari and demanded that similar action be taken in other areas. “We want to know why action was only taken in Lyari,” Abbasi said.
“There is no home minister to look after the law and order situation. The portfolio is with the chief minister. Who should be held responsible for the killing of innocent people? The police inspector-general had promised the same action in other areas... but all in vain,” she said. Abbasi also recalled the recent attack on the Awami Tehreek’s rally and said that no action had been taken against those responsible.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2012.
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These people just talk and bang on desk of assembly. Awam keep getting mugs and killed on the hand government back gangster. The days are not too far when people Karachi will start settling by there own.