Indefinite closure: Party announces to close election offices

MQM's Dr Farooq Sattar puts up number of questions against government institutions.

KARACHI:

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s deputy convener, Dr Farooq Sattar, said that in order to protect the lives of its activists, the party had no other option but to close down its election offices indefinitely across the city.

Sattar, who was talking to journalists on Wednesday after attending prayers held for their party workers killed in the blast, put up a number of questions to the caretaker government, law enforcement agencies, the election commission and the chief justice. “Do they want to hold free and fair elections? Will elections be peaceful?

The party leader said that apart from MQM, two more political parties were being pushed to the wall and terrorists were derailing their election campaigns.

“Other political parties are carrying out rallies all over the country, they are campaigning the way they want to and there are no threats to them. Yet we are being targeted and no one is taking notice of it.”

Dr Sattar, who was flanked by MQM leaders Nasreen Jalil and Sagheer Ahmed, said that in the wake of deadly threats, they were not in a position to hold huge gatherings or rallies in the city. “Our offices are being attacked by improvised blasts. People have become hostage to the current volatile situation. How will a voter step out on the election day?”

Despite the attacks, Sattar made it clear that the party had no plans of pulling out of the elections, and they would continue to contest it. He urged the election commission to take notice of the deadly attacks.

Later, the party’s coordination committee in a statement called the silence by political and religious parties a national tragedy. They said that not a single national political leader expressed sympathy with them and condemned the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2013.