HYDERABAD, May 16: Holding MQM responsible for Karachi killings, the Sindh Democratic Forum (SDF) has said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief should be pursued through Interpol and the cases against members of the party which had been withdrawn by present government, should be reopened.
The forum’s policy statement, issued by its convener Abrar Kazi and secretary Zulfiqar Halepoto, called for closure of the party’s international secretariat in London and stressed that the British and US governments should be asked to stop according special treatment to the party.
They said: “The party’s hypocrisy was laid bare by TV channels, especially Aaj TV, which showed armed people firing on the channel’s building from all directions for three hours without fear of getting caught while Dr Farooq Sattar was bemoaning attacks on the party’s ‘peaceful rallies’.”
The forum leaders said that efforts should be made to stop the party from siphoning off billions of rupees to London, all MQM members employed in government departments, especially police, should be fired and the vacancies should be refilled though open merit.
They praised the Chief Justice of Pakistan and lawyers for showing courage in their struggle for independence of judiciary and supremacy of law as well as for helping expose the true colours of MQM.
They also complimented the political parties, print and electronic media for displaying exemplary courage in bringing the truth to the fore.
They said Karachi witnessed ‘fascism and terrorism’ on May 12 and warned that it should serve as an eye-opener for the people of Pakistan and the world.
The two leaders proposed division of Karachi into seven districts, including Lyari and Manghopir, and restoration of the district status of Malir and Hyderabad.
They said a ban should be imposed on immigration to Sindh from other countries and laws should be passed to deny voting rights to outsiders in the province.
They said now that the nation had seen the real face of MQM and the way it worked, people of Sindh demanded that the government, which was trying to divide the country on linguistic and ethnic lines by encouraging private militias and states within states to rule different parts of the country, should quit.
They claimed that the party had relentlessly pursued the agenda of dividing Sindh and swelling the ranks of its electorate by regularising the status of a large number of illegal immigrants since President General Pervez Musharraf took over and MQM became his coalition partners.
They said that combining five districts of Karachi into a mammoth city of 15 million, dividing Hyderabad of 2.7 million population into four districts with the apparent objective of making the city a majority Urdu-speaking area, buying large chunks of land in coastal belt, opening Khokhropar railway route, selling two islands outside Karachi and now making attempts to divide Thatta into two districts were the moves that had added to Sindhis’ suspicions and fears.
They said: “Years ago terrorists in Hyderabad conducted periodical slaughter of members of a particular community. When the government decided to take action against them, Gen Aslam Baig, the then army chief, personally stopped police from taking action in exactly the same manner as policemen were disarmed on May 12, 2007 through an official fiat.”
