KARACHI, April 3: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal has announced that if their leaders and workers were not released forthwith, they would announce their future line of action on Monday. A spokesman of the MMA said that police had raided the Idara on March 31 at 3.30pm and arrested Iqbal Ahmad, Saeed Usmani, Kaleemur Rehman, Muhammad Asghar, Syed Zahid Ali, Badar Eraj, Nazeer Khan who were assistants of JI Karachi Secretary Information Sarfraz Ahmad along with other party workers.
Besides, he said, JI Karachi chief Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui was arrested on April 2 from his office. After taking him to the police station, he was implicated in concocted cases on the instruction of the governor and claiming recovery of weapons from Idara which deserved condemnation.
The MMA also condemned police brutal action against JI senior worker Muhammad Tayyeb who died of heart attack due to police mishandling on Saturday near Baitul Mukarrm Masjid in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
Meanwhile, the MMA Karachi chapter’s meeting chaired by Shaikh Rafique Ahmad condemned institution of false cases against their leaders and workers and warned that if they were not released immediately, the alliance would be justified to take direct action.
The meeting termed the claim of provincial governor and home minister about recovery of fire arms and explosives from Idara Noor-i-Haq a bundle of lies and recalled that 56 years record of Jamaat-i-Islami was the proof that the JI had never resorted to the politics of violence even when its six workers were killed on an election day by the activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
The All-Pakistan Small Traders and Cottage Industry in its emergency meeting on Sunday condemned the uncalled arrest of its Karachi President Mehmood Hamid on the eve of strike against price-hike, unemployment and increase in petroleum products and demanded his immediate release. The meeting, which was presided over by Nisar Ahmad Siddiqui, warned that if their president was not released and cases were not withdrawn against him the small traders of the country would be compelled to resort to shutter down strike once again.
The MMA spokesman said that the success of the April 2 strike had panicked the rulers who were now levelling false allegations, adds PPI.
He said that peaceful and democratic politics had always remained the hallmark of Jamaat-i-Islami. He said that in past, armed activists of a linguistic party of Karachi had applied worst tortures on JI activists and many of them had been killed, but the JI had never responded in a same manner which proved that it never believed in violence.
The spokesman said that the Idara Noor-i-Haq was not only the central office of the JI, but also a centre of Islamic culture and civilization that had frequently been visited by leaders of Islamic movements from all over the world.
He said that there was an extensive collection of books on religion, law, philosophy, culture and social sciences in the Idara’s library, besides a collection of the holy Quran’s translations in 40 languages for the benefit of people.
He declared that the ongoing protest campaign involving masses would continue till a logical outcome, i.e. ouster of the present rulers.
Meanwhile, MMA legislators, Mohammad Hussain Mahenti, Abdul Sattar Afghani, Laeeq Khan, Nasrullah Shaji, Hameedullah Khan, Younus Barai, Hafiz Mohammad Naeem, Abdul Rehman Rajput, Maulana Umar Saddiq and Kalsoom Nizamani, in a joint statement issued on Sunday, said that the countrywide protest was a vote of no-confidence against the rulers’ policies.
“Days of the rulers are numbered as they have tried to sabotage the peaceful protest by masses by applying brutal police action. In past also, the masses had fought bravely against dictators.”
