KARACHI, March 26: The Sunday night firing near the venue of a Mushaira, organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, in Clifton where an Awami National Party activist was killed by police caused the two allies in the Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition to exchange accusations on Monday.

While the MQM accused the ANP of attempting to carry out a gun attack on the event, the latter demanded a judicial inquiry into the ‘targeted killing of its worker’.

Speaking at a press conference at the Khurshid Begum Memorial Complex, MQM leader Kanwar Naveed Jameel said that the MQM Defence-Clifton Residents’ Association had organised the Mushaira near Do Talwar, where some terrorists opened fire in an attempt to harass people and sabotage the programme. But timely action by the police led to the killing of one of the attackers, he said, adding that his accomplices escaped.

The attacker was later identified as Kamran Khan, an ANP worker, he said, adding that those who fled were also associated with the party.

He strongly criticised the ANP for “resorting to terrorism and extortion and conspiring to occupy Karachi”. He said that the ANP did not want a durable peace in the city.

He said that the attack on the Mushaira was actually a plan to give Pakistan a bad name and to target thousands of innocent citizens.

He said the people of Pakistan were aware of poor governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the ANP had failed to protect the life and property of the people.

Mr Naveed, a former nazim of Hyderabad, said that the ANP was the party of Bacha Khan but it was not following his teachings of non-violence.

He appealed to the president, the prime minister and relevant authorities that action be taken against the “ANP terrorists and their patrons” and they be awarded exemplary punishment.

He claimed that the MQM was a peace-loving party but this should not be considered its weakness.

In reply to a question, he said that the police had registered an FIR regarding the incident and it was their responsibility to take action against the suspects in the light of available evidence.

MQM leaders Yousuf Shahwani, Qasim Ali Raza, Tausif Khanzada and others were also present.

ANP seeks probe

Meanwhile, the ANP condemned the attempts being made to present its activist as an attacker who according to a medico-legal report was killed by a 9mm bullet.

Yet police registered a case against ANP activists that exposed the law-enforcers’ tilt in favour of a political party, said Sindh ANP secretary-general Bashir Jan.

Speaking at a press conference, he said that under the garb of security of Mushaira, armed men were deployed on the rooftops of high-rise buildings. They opened fire on ANP worker Kamran Khan, he said, seeking a judicial probe into the Clifton incident to find facts and fix the responsibility.

He said that the footage aired by news channels showed that the armed men took positions on the highrises and opened fire as had been done during the May 12 carnage in Karachi.

He said that the Muttahida was involved in the killing of the ANP activist, in the attack on Mohajir Qaumi Movement chief Afaq Ahmed and in extending threats to PPP lawmakers regarding eviction from Karachi.

He demanded that terrorists of “Haq Parast force” be controlled and those who entered politics during the rule of Gen Zia-ul-Haq and were later strengthened by retired general Pervez Musharraf learn to live with and tolerate other political parties in the city.

He urged all patriotic and peace-loving people of the city to strengthen the ANP so that violence-tainted politics could be brought to an end and peace be restored to Karachi.