KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain demanded Tuesday that the administration of Karachi should be handed over to army personnel, DawnNews reported. In a statement issued from London, Hussain said the situation of Karachi was worsening day by day and prime minister Nawaz Sharif should hand over responsibilities of the city to army personnel. Hussain said the Sindh government, which was led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), had failed to provide protection to residents of Karach’s Lyari neighbourhood despite the fact that the area was steeped in violence and gang-wars and several people had died due to terrorist attacks. Earlier this month, Pakistan's president-elect Mamnoon Hussain indicated in a TV program that the army’s assistance could be sought for restoration of peace in Karachi. Mamnoon moreover said if MQM was a patriotic party, it would not have objections to seeking army persons for provision of security in Sindh’s metropolis. The president was of the view that extreme measures would have to be adopted in order for peace to prevail in Karachi. Karachi is home to multiple conflicts that frequently turn violent, including gang wars, ethnic and political rivalries. Militants are said to use the city as a hiding place and a source of funds obtained through bank heists, extortion and kidnapping for ransom. Moreover, political parties have increasingly started using the city as a battleground for their conflicting interests. REFERENCE: MQM chief demands handing over Karachi to army 2013-08-27 11:38:40 http://dawn.com/news/1038700/mqm-chief-demands-handing-over-karachi-to-army
Nawaz Sharif on Military Courts in Karachi & MQM
Nawaz Sharif on Military Courts in Karachi & MQM by SalimJanMazari
KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Monday declared his party would again establish military courts in Sindh if voted to power in the next general election. Mr Sharif was speaking at the party’s Sindh Council meeting in a hotel. “If our government comes to power, it will ensure provision of electricity to each and every village and will set up military courts to eliminate dacoit rule in the province,” he said. It was during the second tenure of the PML government (1997 to 1999) that military courts were set up in Sindh for cases related to terrorism, violence and dacoity. Apart from uncontrolled robberies in the interior of Sindh, Karachi went through unprecedented violence during the period. A military operation had also been carried out in the city to bring the situation under control. The Supreme Court ordered abolition of the military courts after one of them awarded capital punishment to an accused in a murder case. REFERENCE: Nawaz says he will again set up military courts in Sindh BY HABIB KHAN GHORI 2012-01-03 02:25:52 http://beta.dawn.com/news/685206/musharrafs-team-being-fostered-in-new-cantonment-nawaz
Altaf Hussain Q&A Interview with PJ Mir - 1 (ARY) by SalimJanMazari
Altaf Hussain Q&A Interview with PJ Mir - 2 (ARY)
Altaf Hussain Q&A Interview with PJ Mir - 2 (ARY) by SalimJanMazari
Altaf calls for martial law in Punjab: KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain said on Monday that martial law should be imposed in Punjab since crimes against women and kidnappings for ransom were rife in the province. He appealed to the people and students of Punjab to support his party`s demand. “Those who impose martial law every now and then, why are they not coming forward to end the curse of extortion, killings and other crimes,” he wondered. Speaking from London to the reinstated employees of KESC at Nine Zero, the MQM headquarters, Mr Hussain said a “revolution is unavoidable” and expressed the hope that generals and judges would not support feudal lords and capitalists, but the vast majority. He appealed to the military and the judiciary to support people if they tried to usher in a change reminiscent of the French revolution. The MQM chief said if necessary, he would return to the country to make it truly independent and self-reliant and provide better living condition to people. “If the military or the judiciary tries to obstruct my way, I will not bow before them and stand by the people.” He urged the nation to support the MQM against criminals, saying that people were fed up with kidnappings for ransom, extortion and other crimes. “If the armed forces do not act now, they would also be put in the dock in case of a revolution by people,” Mr Hussain said. He accused the Punjab government of having failed to curb criminal and terrorist activities and improve the law and order situation. The MQM chief urged the president and the prime minister to eliminate terrorists and militants from the country with the help of the army and law-enforcement agencies. He said the MQM did not believe in ethnicity and stood for the rights of all oppressed people. He warned against privatising national assets for the benefit of a few. He said the armed forces were the most powerful institution and the judiciary was independent, yet the political leadership was confined to a few powerful families. “These families take loans and get them written off and build their empire in foreign lands. “On the other hand, the country is being forced to beg from the IMF and the World Bank and compromise its honour and independence.” Mr Hussain congratulated the KESC employees and said he had always stressed that workers should be reinstated because their well-being was vital to security, progress and salvation of the country. He urged the KESC management to also reinstate 216 employees from the interior of Sindh. REFERENCE: Altaf calls for martial law in Punjab 2011-01-24 21:31:10 http://beta.dawn.com/news/601294/altaf-calls-for-martial-law-in-punjab-2
MQM and its self-exiled leader Altaf Hussain have invited the wrath of most political parties for demanding Karachi be handed over to the army to deal with the deteriorating law and order situation of the city. Ostensibly, the demand, which was voiced by Dr Farooq Sattar in the National Assembly, has been triggered by continuing target killings and clashes between, it is assumed, the returning Kachhi community IDPs who have recently returned to their homes in Lyari and elements of the now banned People’s Amn (Peace) Committee. Although Dr Sattar based his demand on the provisions of Article 245 of the constitution, which envisages calling the army in aid of civil power (by the government of the day), his startling statement has evoked bitter resentment and criticism by the PPP and PML-N, muted criticism and the question being raised of how the situation has come to this pass by the PTI, condemnation by the Jamaat-i-Islami and most sensible people in the entire country. Surprisingly, the ANP, which was approached by the MQM to persuade the ruling party in Sindh, the PPP, supported the demand, at least if its Sindh leadership’s response is to be taken as the party’s policy. Interestingly, the MQM wants an ‘indiscriminate’ operation against criminal and other elements disturbing the peace of the city. Interesting because the MQM stands charged with being the originator of what has now become commonplace in Karachi: political parties all have armed wings, some of those parties (including the MQM) are accused of being behind extortion activities, criminal gangs have for some time been emulating extortion, leading to turf wars, and the general disturbed conditions in the city have encouraged mugging and kidnapping on an unprecedented scale. Dead bodies strew the streets of Karachi on a daily basis and hardly a day goes by without the news of fresh bloodshed. While it may be conceded for the sake of argument that it is these conditions that have resurrected the time-worn formula of relying on the army as the ultimate solution for all problems, wisdom gleaned from the track record and history would seem to suggest that this is nothing if not illusion. It is doubly surprising that a party (MQM) that never tires of reminding us of its ‘victimisation’ during the 1992 army operation in Karachi (Altaf Hussain having fled into exile in anticipation six months earlier) should now contemplate going back to inviting the army in for an ‘indiscriminate’ operation (that could, if allowed, envelope the MQM in its fold too). The ‘desperation’ inherent in the MQM’s call deserves thought. It is ironic that the MQM should only have woken up to the horrible conditions in Karachi after it is no longer in the government. For the past five years, it was a coalition partner of the PPP in the Sindh government. Did that period see an improvement or deterioration in the law and order situation in the city? First and foremost, the MQM should carry out some self-accountability and explain to the suffering people of Karachi what, if anything, it did to improve law and order while in power. The fact of the matter is that the previous government’s tenure saw Karachi slide further and further into chaos, with the police and Rangers unable to make a dent (despite their spirited defence now by Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon). The police and Rangers, whatever their limitations and weaknesses (and they are legion), are also hampered by the fact that political patronage of criminal law breakers sees arrested miscreants released through political intervention from on high. As if this was not bad enough, the myriad law breakers arrested by the law enforcers usually get bail or even acquittal from the courts because of the flawed prosecution and judicial system. Unless law enforcement is freed of political interference and the judicial system is vamped up to be able to put law breakers away irrespective of their clout, etc, there can be little hope of improvement. In the absence of the political parties refraining from going down the path of armed wings and turf wars and the law enforcement system seemingly ineffective, demands such as the MQM’s may arise from time to time (the ‘strong hand is needed’ syndrome). Those making such demands have obviously forgotten how army intervention on a limited scale has often led to wider, unforeseen outcomes that the country hardly wants or needs to revisit. Democracy may have its flaws, and ours is still embryonic, but military interventions, invited or uninvited, are surely things we can do without. * REFERENCE: EDITORIAL : Altaf Hussain’s incredible demand Thursday, August 29, 2013 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C08%5C29%5Cstory_29-8-2013_pg3_1
Former DGIB Colonel (R) Iqbal Niazi with Mubashir Lucman (Express News)
Former DGIB Colonel (R) Iqbal Niazi with... by SalimJanMazari
Hakim Said's case being sent to military court today: PM KARACHI, Jan 1: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif disclosed on Friday that the cases relating to the murder of Hakim Mohammad Said and Maulana Salahuddin would be referred to the military courts for trial tomorrow. Several other high-profile murder cases like those of former MNA Zohair Akram Nadeem, KESC chief Malik Shahid Hamid, education board chairman Ismail Memon, Col Bilal, and two sons of a former SP Azizur Rehman, would also be sent to these courts within the next
24 to 48 hours, he said. Mr Sharif made this statement to newsmen after presiding over a high-level meeting on law and order at the Governor's House here on Friday. Governor Moinuddin Haider, Interior Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Labour and Manpower Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, prime minister's principal secretary Saeed Mehdi, Sindh chief secretary Salik Nazir Ahmad, federal and provincial home secretaries, IG Sindh, the DIG Karachi, the DG rangers, and the chief of the citizen-police liaison committee (CPLC), Jameel Yousuf, also attended the meeting. Official sources said during the meeting the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the performance of military courts and
it was decided that the number of these courts would be increased. The meeting was informed that of the 49 cases sent to the military courts 12 were being proceeded on, while judgment had been delivered in four cases. Sources said the provincial administration had been directed to complete the investigations into the murder of Iranian cadets and
the Americans on priority basis. The meeting also decided to review all the appointments made in the provincial government in violation of the prescribed procedure and re-evaluate the qualification of such officials. Talking to the newsmen Mr Sharif said military courts were performing satisfactorily and the criminals were being given the punishments they deserved. The prime minister also expressed satisfaction over the law and order situation in Karachi which, he said, had improved. "Government's steps to improve the situation were bearing positive results and the performance of police and administration showed mark improvement under the guidance of the governor." He said the government had succeeded in apprehending notorious criminals and the military courts were trying them. He assured that
the government was sincerely working for restoration of peace in Karachi. "The people of Karachi have taken a sigh of relief because the city's economic activities have increased along with the investment reducing the unemployment levels," said the premier. To a question he said the law and order and the national economy were his government's top priorities for the year 1999. PPI/NNI REFERENCE: Hakim Said's case being sent to military court today: PM DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 02 January 1999 Issue : 05/01 https://dl-web.dropbox.com/spa/zohkohb0i282t94/Area%20Studies/public/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1999/02Jan99.html#haki
Nawaz Sharif on MQM and MQM on Nawaz Sharif
Nawaz Sharif on MQM and MQM on Nawaz Sharif by SalimJanMazari
Altaf flays Nawaz for singling out Karachi LONDON, Feb 22: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has criticised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for singling out Karachi while referring to acts of terrorism in the country during his recent address to the nation. He said the PM had deliberately ignored Punjab where more people had died in religious terrorism as compared to Karachi. In an 18-page statement issued in London, Mr Hussain deplored that Mr Sharif had used Quranic references to justify the illegal,
unconstitutional and un-Islamic killings either in police custody or through military courts. He said Islamic injunctions clearly stated that the relatives of a person killed could either take revenge or accept blood-money or
forgive them - an indirect reference that the relatives of those killed in police custody or through summary trials could demand the lives of the killers. "In Islam, everyone is equal before God, whether he is a ruler or an ordinary person, and Qisas and Diyat can be claimed from the ruler as well." Mr Hussain claimed that five MQM workers had been killed extra-judicially after the imposition of governor's rule in Sindh. Israr Ahmad, he said, was killed by government officials after his arrest whereas Fasih Ahmad Jugnu, Muhammad Anwar, Mubashir Ali and Arman were arrested and tortured to death. "Thus the government is directly responsible for the killing of these five innocent people who were killed even before being produced before a court of law," he said. "Under the Islamic law, their relatives could claim Qisas and Diyat from the president and the prime minister." The MQM chief said similarly, the relatives of around 300 workers killed during the tenure of Nawaz Sharif in police custody or by torture or fake police-encounters could also claim Diyat and Qisas from those who tortured and killed them or from those who ordered the killings. "In Islam it's eye for an eye, ear for an ear and nose for a nose and a tooth for a tooth," he said quoting a verse from the Holy Quran. The MQM chief said by misquoting the Quranic verses, the prime minister tried to justify the killings of the Mohajirs which were being carried out by state agencies and through the government-paid touts. He said the prime minister tried to convey a message to the people that whatever he was doing was right and in accordance with
the teachings of Islam. The PM, he added, ignored other Quranic verses in which the God had directed the rulers to treat their subjects equally and with justice. He said Mr Sharif did not refer to those verses because that would have exposed him and his so-called love for Islam." The MQM chief said successive rulers in Pakistan had misused the
name of Islam for their own political objectives and Sharif was no different from his predecessors. He said that Nawaz Sharif had long been dreaming of crushing the Mohajirs and recalled that in 1992 he had launched an army operation in Karachi to crush the MQM and its people. However, he said, he could not fulfil his ambitions at that time as his
government was dismissed on charges of corruption and incompetence. Hussain said that the army operation in 1992 was launched on the pretext of arresting 72 "big fishes" from Sindh. "The list of 72 big fishes was also produced in the National Assembly. Can the prime minister tell the nation how many big fishes were arrested during that army operation?" He said when the operation was launched Nawaz Sharif had claimed that it would be an evenhanded operation and it was not aimed against any particular community or group. "Every child in Pakistan now knows why the operation was launched and who was the target and that not a single big fish was arrested during that operation." The MQM chief also held the PM responsible for the deterioration in the law and order situation in Karachi. He maintained that before
the 1992 operation, there was complete peace and harmony. "If there is any one to blame for the present situation in Karachi, it is Nawaz Sharif himself, who ordered the killings of thousands of MQM people and created a private army to kill MQM workers," he said. Referring to the mention of terrorism in Karachi by Nawaz Sharif, the MQM chief pointed out that the prime minister conveniently ignored the growing incidents of terrorism in the Punjab, which was
being ruled by his younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif. He said that the crime figures presented by Interior Minister
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain in the National Assembly made it very clear that the largest number of people were killed in acts of terrorism in Punjab. REFERENCE: Altaf flays Nawaz for singling out Karachi DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 27 February 1999 Issue : 05/09 https://dl-web.dropbox.com/spa/zohkohb0i282t94/Area%20Studies/public/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1999/27Feb99.html#alta
Altaf Hussain Interview with Jasmeen Manzoor on Nawaz Sharif (ARY NEWS 2009)
Altaf Hussain Interview with Jasmeen Manzoor on... by SalimJanMazari
MQM urges COAS to take notice of govt 'conspiracies' ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has appealed to the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, to take notice of "conspiracies being hatched to undermine and taint the impartial and uncontroversial image of the army."
The MQM's parliamentary leader in the Senate, Aftab Shaikh, alleged at a press conference that the government was making a "deliberate attempt to divide and dilute" the army on the dictates of the IMF and World Bank by deploying it in the PIA, WAPDA and other institutions. Shaikh Aftab said his party had tried to establish contacts with
the army high command but there had been no response so far. REFERENCE: MQM urges COAS to take notice of govt 'conspiracies' DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 30 January 1999 Issue : 05/05 https://dl-web.dropbox.com/spa/zohkohb0i282t94/Area%20Studies/public/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1999/30Jan99.html#mqmu
Dr. Ishrat ul Ebad & MQM on Nawaz Sharif & Operation against MQM (ARY NEWS 2009)
Dr. Ishrat ul Ebad & MQM on Nawaz Sharif... by SalimJanMazari
Muttahida holding talks with PPP for alliance RAWALPINDI, Dec 14: Muttahida Qaumi Movement was continuing dialogue with the Pakistan People's Party to form an alliance with it at all levels with an agenda envisaged on restoration of Sindh Assembly, withdrawal of governor's rule and military courts, Kalabagh Dam and restoration of peace in Karachi, the leaders of MQM, Senator Aftab Sheikh, Nasreen Jalil and Farooq Sattar, said in a "Meet the Press" programme held at the Rawalpindi Press Club on Monday.
They said the MQM had no option but to form an alliance with one of the main political parties of the country, the ruling PML or the PPP, for remaining in political scenario of Sindh and the country. It is why the MQM has continued dialogue with the PPP for making alliance at national assembly, senate and provincial level. Responding to a question, the MQM legislators said that government and agencies were involved in killing innocent people in Karachi while the workers of Muttahida were being implicated in fake cases. Sen Sheikh said that over 25,000 different cases had been
registered against the workers of MQM within last four years while all of them have proved to be fake and baseless.
He said the senators of MQM were being threatened of dire consequences by the ruling party and their supporters if they did not cast vote in favour of Shariat Bill in the upper house. He said the establishment of military courts in Karachi and CA-15 (Shariat Bill) was a bid of prime minister Nawaz Sharif to impose one-party rule in the country. "We have never talked about the division of the country because Pakistan was founded by the efforts and sacrifices of our
forefathers who left their property, relatives and migrated to Pakistan," he added. He said that armed forces of the country were respectable to the MQM but the government wanted to make a rift between the armed forces and the Muttahida by setting up military courts in Karachi. Speaking on the occasion, MQM parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar
termed the imposition of governor's rule as a planned conspiracy of the government to take total control of the politics of Sindh. Replying to a question, he said law and order situation in Punjab was not different from that of Sindh as according to a report of ministry of interior, 1,071 people had been killed in Punjab from January 1, 1998 till now while in the same span of time 861 people were murdered in Sindh. He said that since their alliance with the government which was formed in Feb 21, 1997, over 300 workers of MQM had been killed in Karachi. He said that all offices of MQM had been sealed by the government throughout the country and majority of their workers had gone underground due to excesses and brutalities of police. "Each and every workers of MQM has been implicated at least in a
single case," he added. He said the arms being shown on TV were not recovered from the possession of MQM workers, but brought from government's arms depots. workers held: Haq Parast Senators have condemned the arrest of
Muttahida Qaumi Movement workers, sympathizers and their relatives. They said the police and rangers raided homes and arrested many workers while at places where the raiding parties failed to arrest the wanted men, they ransacked the homes and used indecent language against ladies and other family members. REFERENCE: Muttahida holding talks with PPP for alliance DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending : 19 December 1998 Issue : 04/50 https://dl-web.dropbox.com/spa/zohkohb0i282t94/Area%20Studies/public/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1998/19Dec98.html#mutt
