Karachi violence: Govt’s about-face on shadowy group

Expunges references to Mohajir Republican Army from report submitted in Supreme Court.

ISLAMABAD:

In a surprising move, the government withdrew on Friday a written reply it submitted in the Supreme Court on the law and order situation in Karachi. The report, submitted by Attorney General Munir A Malik on Thursday, blamed a shadowy militant group, Mohajir Republican Army (MRA), for the rampant violence in the megacity.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told lawmakers in the National Assembly on Friday that though the report was not ‘perfect’ it contained ‘highly sensitive information’. He also pointed out that the report was submitted in the apex court without his permission.



“I withdraw this report,” he said in a brief statement when some lawmakers from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) quizzed him on the controversial ‘revelation’. Though the minister neither denied nor confirmed the existence of the previously unknown outfit, he admitted that the name figured during an internal briefing at the ministry earlier this week.

A senior official of the ministry told The Express Tribune that the briefing was given by officials from the National Counter-Terrorism Authority, Crisis Management Cell and Intelligence Bureau. The outfit had apparently been operating in Karachi since 2012. The information was classified and not meant to be shared with anyone.

The official added that the minister is keen to find out who included the mention of MRA in the report submitted before the Supreme Court.

Surprisingly, another senior official of the interior ministry, who is one of the authors of the report, claimed that the government deliberately leaked the information to gauge public reaction ahead of a ‘targeted operation’ in Karachi. “We uncovered the existence of this group six months back. It was involved in violence in the metropolis,” he told The Express Tribune.



Shortly before the fourth session of the National Assembly was prorogued, the MQM lawmakers told the house that businesses in half of Karachi were closed on Friday due to the fears triggered by the ‘new revelation’.

MQM parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar called the report an “affront to the Mohajir community and its struggle for maintaining peace in the  violence-plagued city. “We never heard the name [Mohajir Republican Army]. It’s shocking for Karachiites,” he told The Express Tribune. “The government has some hidden agenda behind this ‘propaganda’ — political victimisation.”



On Wednesday, the interior minister revealed that the government had finalised the blueprint of a ‘non-partisan targeted operation’ against target killers, criminals and extortionists in Karachi. A day earlier, MQM chief Altaf Hussain had demanded that the city be handed over to Pakistan Army to purge it of violent crimes.

Late Friday evening, the government submitted a revised report in the Supreme Court in which the mention of MRA has been expunged because the government couldn’t find credible evidence against the group. “Any inconvenience caused due to the earlier report is regretted,” a member of the government’s legal team quoted the report as saying. “This explanation was issued after the approval of Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan,” it added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2013.