KARACHI: Kazmi seeks to withdraw plea against Altaf, Arbab
By A Reporter
KARACHI, Oct 11: Civil rights campaigner Mohammad Iqbal Kazmi on Thursday submitted an application to the Sindh High Court registrar for the withdrawal of his May 12 petition against Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussein, Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Adviser on Home Affairs Waseem Akhtar and others.
On the occasion of his appearance in a case in the City Courts, he told Dawn that the recent presidential election had unmasked the faces of all selfish politicians who were fighting for their personal interests and had no concern for the country and the nation.
“I had submitted the petition on the May 12 mayhem in the public interest, but I realised that no political party had sympathies for the country and this did not encourage me in the fight for a worthy cause,” he said.
The negative tendencies in politics, he said, would cause a serious political and economic crisis and law and order problem in the country, he said, adding that conspiracies were being hatched in Sindh to stoke ethnic tensions.
“I don’t want anybody to start bloodshed on the basis of the May 12 violence just to gain politic mileage. Political jugglers are always trying to get advantage of others’ misery and to cash in on others’ sacrifices,” he said.
He claimed that the decision about the withdrawal of the petition was neither taken under pressure from any person or group nor as a result of any deal with the opponents.
Mr Kazmi said the people themselves had the authority to hold the corrupt leaders accountable and reject all the narrow-minded, and unpatriotic persons in the next elections. He said some elements were planning to disrupt the peace of the province by starting bloodshed as was being done in Afghanistan.
He urged the people to work for the independence of the judiciary, progress of the country, and extend support to the moderate, democratic forces in the next general election and reject those fighting for their own gains.
Bail granted
Meanwhile, the judicial magistrate XIII, Central, Amir Awan, granted bail to Iqbal Kazmi in a dud cheque case against a surety bond of Rs30,000.
The case (FIR 98/07) was registered against him at the Liaquatabad police station on Aug 22 under Section 404 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Complainant Mohammad Iqbal in his application to the police had stated that Iqbal Kazmi had rented one of his cars, but he did not return it and later issued a cheque for Rs500,000, which was dishonoured.
Mr Kazmi told the court that the complainant had once lodged another FIR (548/06) against him at the Darakhshan police station under Sections 489-F, 506-b, wherein he (Mohammad Iqbal) had admitted to having taken into custody all of his cabs.
He said the case was baseless and was registered with mala fide intentions, and pleaded for its dismissal. He also pointed out contradictions in the statement of the complainant.
He said this fresh case was registered at a time when he had been granted bail in all the cases against him in different courts. He said it was also in the notice of Sindh High Court judges that the case was registered with mala fide intent and was aimed at keeping him in prison indefinitely.
The court, after hearing the arguments, granted him bail in the case.
Surety amounts
Mr Kazmi told Dawn that he was granted bail in five other such cases and he was bound to submit surety bonds of Rs320,000, but he could not arrange the amount despite the fact that the Sindh High Court had reduced the amount to Rs200,000.He said his fellow inmates in the Malir District Jail were kind enough to collect an amount of Rs125,000 as a contribution for his surety money, adding that being a petitioner of various public welfare cases in the Sindh High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan nobody else in the city was ready to support him in this hour of need.
