ISLAMABAD: Opposition senators on Wednesday lashed out at Rangers officials for carrying out a raid on the MQM’s headquarters in Karachi and raised questions over the timing of the action.

After delivering fiery speeches on the last day of the outgoing Senate, MQM senators staged a walkout from the house, alleging that the raid might have been carried out to punish the party for not supporting the government’s candidate for the office of the Senate chairman.

Read: Rangers raid MQM HQ in Karachi, detain member of Rabita Committee

Members of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) also condemned the Rangers’ action and joined the MQM senators in their walkout.

However, Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq rejected the MQM’s allegations regarding the involvement of the ruling PML-N in the raid on the party’s headquarters.

“I strongly reject the allegation. This is absolutely false,” Mr Haq said, wondering how this was possible when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had personally endorsed Mr Rabbani’s nomination as Senate chairman and even visited Zardari House.

He said that under laid-down procedure, the chief ministers were acting as captains in the fight against terrorism in their provinces. He assured that he would contact the Sindh chief minister and present the details of their consultation in the House.

The issue was raised by the MQM’s Tahir Hussain Mashhadi. Speaking on a point of order, the MQM senator alleged that the party was being victimised for its decision to support a good candidate for the office of the Senate chairman.

Mr Mashhadi declared the Karachi operation a “complete failure” and demanded that the operation be “depoliticised”.

MQM’s Babar Ghouri asked the PM to order a probe into the incident and book all those involved. He also sought Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif’s intervention in the matter. “Was this action launched with the approval of Gen Raheel Sharif? If so, then we should be told whether political activities have ended in the country,” he said.

MQM, PPP walk out from Senate

He alleged that the people of Karachi were facing brutalities worse than those of Indian-held Kashmir.

MQM’s Nasreen Jalil alleged that Rangers personnel had been “busy minting money” for the last 22 years in Karachi. She said that her party was not so foolish that they would keep weapons in their offices. She warned of another Bangladesh-like situation if things did not improve.

Two PPP senators — Farhatullah Babar and Abdul Qayoom Soomro — questioned the timing of the raid on Nine Zero and said it had been done at a time when all the parties had shown unity on the issue of Senate chairman election.

“A message is being sent by raiding a political party’s office under the cover of darkness. Yesterday, all the political forces were united and it seems that this is intolerable for some circles,” said PPP’s Abdul Qayoom Soomro.

“No law enforcement and security agency can be allowed to operate beyond the confines of law and without oversight and accountability,” Mr Babar said.

He said there had been widespread allegations against Rangers in Karachi on issues ranging from missing persons to water tankers to depriving small fishermen of their livelihood and there was dire need of developing some oversight mechanism.

He also called for referring the Rangers’ affairs to the human rights committee or a special committee to be constituted by the house.

Shahi Syed of the Awami National Party (ANP) was the only senator who indirectly supported the raid on the MQM’s headquarters and defended the Rangers, saying that national institutions should not be ridiculed.

“Should a political party dump arms and give refuge to criminals in its office,” he asked, rhetorically. Mr Syed said: “Terrorists, irrespective of their political affiliations must be nabbed and punished. Political parties should purge themselves of criminal elements,” he added.

The Senate chairman-designate Raza Rabbani, in his last speech as a senator, termed the Rangers’ action “regrettable” and said the PPP had always struggled the for sanctity of the offices of political parties.

Mr Rabbani was of the view that if the Rangers had any information about anybody’s hiding at Nine Zero, they would have taken the MQM leadership into confidence. “Had the MQM been taken into confidence, they would have cooperated with Rangers,” he said.

“The MQM has repeatedly been stating that it had no connection with terrorism. It had very clearly stated in Baldia Town tragedy that it had no connection to culprits”, he added.

“It is a time to stand united to fight the menace of terrorism. It is also time for political parties to purge themselves of extremist elements,” Mr Rabbani said.

Published in Dawn March 12th , 2015

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