Nisar seeks support for targeted operation

Not fulfilling MQM’s demand will be like disrespecting the mandate of the Sindh government, says Chahudhry Nisar.

ISLAMABAD: As lawmakers heap scorn at the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) demand to hand over Karachi to Army, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar tried to solicit consent for a ‘targeted operation’.

A day after announcing plans for an operation, he told the National Assembly on Thursday that it was time to act to restore peace in the metropolis. “The time has come to put our money where our mouth is.”

While he made this statement, many of the opposition members endorsed the proposal.

Yet, Chaudhry Nisar made it clear that the Sindh chief minister would be spearheading the operation and the federal government would provide all assistance to the provincial government in line with the Constitution. His statement coincides with the demand made earlier by MQM MNA Dr Farooq Sattar as well as the party’s founding chief, Altaf Hussain. They called for army administration under Article 245 of the Constitution.

During the assembly session on Thursday, Farooq Sattar underlined the gravity of the situation in Karachi but he also informed the House of the ‘uncalled for’ arrest of MQM members late Wednesday night.

More than 150 leaders, workers and supporters of four political parties, the MQM, Awami National Party, Pakistan Sunni Tehreek, the outlawed Peoples Aman Committee and the Kutchi Rabita Committee, were apprehended during unannounced overnight raids in the city.

The MQM and ANP workers formed the majority as around 100 people associated with each party were arrested.

During the assembly session, the MQM staged a token walkout on the issue.

“It seems like there are going to be extrajudicial killings, just like in the 90s,” Sattar said. “If an action is taken without diagnosing Karachi’s real issues, it would lead to an irreversible chaos, which would not be good for democracy,” he warned.  Citing Article 149(4) of the Constitution, he urged the interior minister to ensure that the MQM workers arrested are not forced or tortured into giving self-discriminating statements.

Chaudhry Nisar assured Sattar that those arrested would neither be subjected to torture nor would they go missing. They would be dealt with in accordance with the law, he emphasised.

Interior minister said that not fulfilling MQM’s demand would be like disrespecting the mandate of the Sindh government, and that he was working on a framework that would be presented before the special cabinet meeting called by the premier. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Sharif had summoned a meeting for the next week to get input from all the stakeholders regarding the proposed operation.

He also submitted a proposal to form a parliamentary committee over the Karachi situation. Nisar also shared the contours of the framework with the house, saying that a monitoring committee headed by the Sindh chief minister and comprising politicians, senior journalists and businessmen, will oversee the targeted operation.

He also urged the judiciary to help the government, mentioning the frequent release of criminals on bails, or for lack of evidence.

When the operation begins and arrests made, the political parties should not come out to ask for their release, he told lawmakers.

Briefing on foreign affairs

On the opposition demand, Nisar said that Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security, Sartaj Aziz, would take the house into confidence regarding myriads of pressing international issues including Afghanistan, the post-Doha talks, and tension across the Line of Control (LOC). He will also inform the House about the newly formed Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC), its contours and its mandate.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2013.