Karachi shuts down as MQM mourns extra-judicially killed workers

By
AFP
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Karachi shuts down as MQM mourns extra-judicially killed workers
KARACHI: Terming the murder of party workers in police custody ‘extra judicial killing’, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has announced to observe a day of mourning on Saturday against the killings and appealed to transporters and businessmen to keep their businesses closed and transport off the roads.

Addressing a press conference at Nine Zero on Friday evening, party leaders — Haider Abbas Rizvi, Amir Khan, Nasreen Jalil and others — said that MQM worker Muhammad Waseem had been brutally tortured in custody and was killed. They said Waseem, worker of Unit 75, Korangi Sector, was arrested two days ago and his dead body was recovered from the Landhi area.

The party claimed that according to the initial post-mortem examination report of another party worker Salman, his lower body parts had been mutilated and his neck-bone was broken corroborating the fact that he was subjected to brutal and inhuman torture while in custody.

The party leaders appealed to the people to observe the day as mourning and demanded of the transporters not to bring their vehicles on the roads. They also asked the businessmen to keep their shops closed and announced that the party workers and leaders would observe the day by wearing black armbands. Accusing the police of the brutal murder of party workers, Rizvi said the murder case should be registered against the police chief.

Expressing fear for the life of the party workers who were arrested in the recent operation, the MQM leaders alleged that party workers were being targeted and the operation was being diverted towards the MQM.

The party leaders appealed to the human rights bodies to take notice of this ‘extrajudicial killings’ and raise their voice. Rizvi said that the torture marks on Waseem’s body proved that he was brutally tortured. He said the action of the police to deposit the dead body in Edhi mortuary as unclaimed was enough to expose the mindset of the law enforcement agencies towards the MQM.

Earlier, MQM chief Altaf Hussain strongly condemned the extrajudicial killing of the party workers and said that the extrajudicial killing of innocent workers and sympathisers of the MQM had been continuing for the past four months but regretted that no one had taken any notice of these killings.

He said that Salman Nooruddin was arrested by plainclothesmen on February 3, along with his nephew, and his dead body was found in the Shah Latif Town area of Landhi on Tuesday, February 4.

Altaf said that the MQM had always maintained that if there was a charge against any worker of a political party and he was wanted by any law-enforcing agency, he should be produced in a court of law. He said that the fundamental human rights should be respected, adding subjecting innocent workers of the MQM to brutal torture was highly reprehensible.

He appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan and Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah to take a serious notice of the incidents of extrajudicial killings of the MQM workers.

Meanwhile, the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI), while endorsing the MQM’s mourning day, has also announced that the transport will remain off the roads on Saturday.

Irshad Bukhari, Chairman KTI, while talking to Geo News, confirmed that buses, minibuses and coaches would remain off the roads, owing to the call given by the MQM against what they declared extrajudicial killing of their worker. However, the decision to bring vehicles on roads in the second half of the day would be taken in accordance with any further announcement made by the MQM. Asked whether the decision was taken under duress, he flatly rejected this notion and said they had endorsed the call given by the MQM.

Also, the Additional Inspector General Police, Karachi, (AIG) Shahid Hayat Khan taking notice of the allegation levelled by the MQM of extrajudicial killing of their workers, formed a committee of senior police officers to ascertain the facts.

According to a spokesman for the AIG Karachi, the Karachi Police chief has taken notice of the allegations levelled by the MQM and has formed a probing team, comprising DIG South Range Abdul Khalique Sheikh, DIG East Range Munir Ahmed Sheikh and SP Investigation East.

The Karachi Police chief has also ordered the probing team to ascertain the facts regarding the allegation made by the party and if any police official was found involved in the murders, strict action should be taken.