KARACHI, May 27: Mohajir Qaumi Movement’s candidate in the byelection for NA-255 on Tuesday deplored demolition of Baitul Hamza, the party’s headquarters located in Landhi, and termed it ‘worst kind of state terrorism’ which he equated with Ariel Sharon’s policy in Gaza.
Addressing a news conference the candidate, Syed Abid Ali Jaferi, who is pitted against Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Dr Farooq Sattar, accused the government of unleashing a reign of terror against the people so that they remain indoors on June 22 and the establishment gets the chance to stuff the ballot.
But he vowed not to give a walk over to his rival despite the fact that he felt convinced that the upcoming elections would not be transparent owing to misuse of authority and government agencies.
The demolition began as the High Court rejected a contempt petition filed against the Sindh governor by Mr Jaferi who said that despite the setback, his party would explore all avenues of legal justice for the Mohajirs and their rights.
Mr Jaferi claimed that he was the owner of the plots on which Baitul Hamza was built and that he had already submitted papers with the KBCA for regularization under amnesty scheme. He also circulated copies of the application for regularization and amalgamation together with replies and counter replies in this regard.
In the past, he said, the court had ordered to unseal the building and hand it over to late Mahmood Qureshi.
He claimed that the officials who were loyal to Muttahida Qaumi Movement, illegally used powers vested in the governing body of the now defunct KDA, to cancel the plots and to demolish the building.
Mr Jaferi was convinced that the government had moved in such a harsh way because it was not sure of its success in the byelection in which the Haqiqi candidate also claimed support of the ARD.
He said people of the area had not forgotten how the
rival group, which was now promising tax relief, had spoiled their business during last Ramazan.
Without naming Muttahida, Mr Jaferi accused it of being a ‘terrorist organization’ which had allegedly filed a case in Geneva against the state of Pakistan, which believed that 1973 Constitution was not workable and which had not allowed patriotic political forces to operate in the city and other parts of the province.
When he was told that the demolition work was being carried out by the city government then how he could blame the other political party, Mr Jaferi claimed that the city Nazim had become hostage to circumstances and in order to get some of his demands accepted by the provincial government, he had obliged with such a negative deed.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, Afaq Ahmad, deplored the demolition of his party’s headquarters and cautioned activists to remain calm because he feared that the establishment could trigger off fake encounters.
He said that those who had accused the Haqiqi of being a proxy of ISI had themselves expressed their gratitude to Gen Ehtesham Zameer for favours.
A spokesman for the MQM (Haqiqi) claimed on Tuesday that some unidentified people beat up Khalid Hameed, a member of the party’s sector committee Landhi, near Baitul Hamza late Monday night and subjected him to torture. The unidentified people, he added, later whisked him away in a car and his whereabouts were still not known.
He said since he went missing, 21 more activists of his party, who were in contact with Khalid Hameed, also went missing and believed to have been kidnapped.
