Extra-Judicial Killings Continue In Karachi, A Conspiracy To Wipe Out MQM?

karachi-killings

A brutal anti-Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) military operation continues behind the smoke screen as electronic and print media has been barred from reporting the extra-judicial killings by the paramilitary forces in Karachi and elsewhere in the volatile Sindh province.

Tellingly on Wednesday (11/9), the Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel Sharif, presided over a “security meeting” of military officials to discuss the security situation in Karachi and elsewhere in the Sindh province. However, the popularly elected Chief Minister of Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, was not allowed to attend the crucial meeting because Karachi is firmly in the control of army. However, the “security meeting” was attended by the corps commander, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Director General Military Intelligence, Director General Military Operations and Director General Rangers.

According to Karachi’s leading newspaper Dawn, the military establishment has taken direct ownership of Karachi operation as the General Raheel has repeatedly termed lasting peace in the country’s business capital the “ultimate aim” of the anti-MQM operation. “Peace (in Karachi) is crucial because of its direct link with the country’s economic progress,” he had said earlier this year.

Since August this year, a brutal military operation is underway against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which has political dominance in the southern Sindh province’s urban areas – notably in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur where a large number of Urdu-speaking people reside. The drastic anti-MQM army move came after a controversial speech by the MQM leader Altaf Hussain that led to widespread arrests of MQM workers and leaders.

Not surprisingly, the army seized the opportunity to break-up the MQM which is the fourth largest party in Pakistan. The MQM is currently the second largest party in Sindh and overall the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly of Pakistan after the Pakistan Muslim League (N), Pakistan Peoples Party, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. The MQM has representation in Pakistan’s Senate, the National Assembly and also in the Sindh provincial assembly.

The Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army General Raheel Sharif personally ordered sealing of more than 200 MQM offices in Karachi and elsewhere. Some offices were bulldozed. At the same time the Army is encouraging prominent MQM leaders to form a rival MQM which is named as MQM-Pakistan while the parent organization is called Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

A senior Member of the MQM Co-Ordination Committee Farooq Sattar took over the party in Pakistan and named it as MQM-Pakistan. He disassociated himself from the MQM founder and leader Altaf Hussain saying his statements were unacceptable. He also presented and facilitated resolutions in Federal and provincial assemblies against his controversial speech. Farooq Sattar was elected a member of National Assembly of Pakistan on a ticket of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) from Constituency NA-257 (Karachi) in Pakistan’s general election in 2013.

This is not the first time that all powerful army has tried to break-up the MQM which has a solid vote-bank in Karachi and other southern Sindh towns with Urdu speaking majority.

It is a war to dislodge MQM from Karachi

The Reuters news agency reported in April 2015, the chief of Pakistan’s main spy agency is spearheading a campaign to wrest control of the teeming port city of Karachi from a powerful political party. The title of the Reuters story written by Mehreen Zahra-Malik was: “Pakistan military’s move on Karachi seen part of ‘creeping coup’”

A government official close to Rizwan Akhtar, head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, was quoted as saying: “There is a quiet, creeping takeover of Karachi by the military.” “Karachi is just too big … too much land, too much business, resources. No one party will be allowed to rule Karachi from now on,” the un-named official was quoted as saying.

Weakening the MQM’s grip, and particularly that of exiled leader Altaf Hussain, would free space for other political parties seen as more sympathetic to the military, like Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, led by former cricketer Imran Khan, the Reuter report said adding: “It would also give the army leverage over Pakistan’s economic hub. That complements other steps taken in the last two years to tighten its grip on national security, foreign policy and the judiciary through the introduction of military courts.”

Tellingly, the former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, General Asif Nawaz Janjua, once said if there could be two or three groups in other political parties, why can’t there be two or more groups in the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)? General Janjua was chief of army staff August 1991 to 1993. It was under his watch that the first anti-MQM operation was launched in 1992.

Anti-MQM operations

From 1992 to 1994, the MQM was the target of the Pakistan Army’s Operation Clean-up, The period is regarded as the bloodiest period in Karachi’s history, with thousands MQM workers and supporters killed or gone missing. Although 14 years have passed since the alleged arrest or disappearance of MQM workers, families of the missing people are still hopeful after registering the cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The operation left thousands of Urdu-speaking civilians dead. [Wikipedia]

During the 1992 violence Altaf Hussain left the country when a warrant was issued for him in connection with a murder. Since then, the MQM is run by Altaf Hussain from self-imposed exile in London.

According to Altaf Hussain, over fifteen thousand MQM workers have been killed extra-judicially since the start of the operation against the Mohajirs and the MQM on 19th June 1992 to this date.

The latest anti-MQM operation by army was launched in September 2013. Since then 68 Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) supporters have been killed extra-judicially and 1600 injured.

At least 135 MQM supporters are missing while 1600 others are in jail, according to Mohammad Wassay Jalil, member of the Central Co-ordination Committee who addressed a gathering of MQM supporters in the Bay Area. He said 7,000 houses were raided in the brutal operation launched in September 2013.

Wassay Jalil was visiting Fremont as part of his tour to the United States which includes Chicago, New York and Washington DC. The MQM USA has 21 chapters: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Connecticut, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Hawaii, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington D.C.

On September 22, Altaf Hussain appointed Nadeem Nusrat as Convenor of the MQM to reorganize the party in the wake of formation of rival MQM-Pakistan by Farooq Sattar. Convenor Nadeem Nusrat, in a statement published by MQM UK, said that step are being taken by a few member under the pretext of saving the party which, is not in the interest of the party and the Mohajir nation, in any way which, is spreading confusion and despondency amongst the workers and people throughout the country, every passing day.

Under the circumstances, he said, that the Central Coordination Committee, organizational structure and all the wings of the MQM have been dissolved and the Central Coordination Committee and all the wings would be formed afresh and he has been empowered by Altaf Hussain to make such changes. He said that Altaf Hussain has asked the workers and supporters to abide by these decisions and maintain unity in their rank and file.

Nadeem Nusrat rhetorically asked that who would answer for the extrajudicial executions of 68 workers of the MQM during the on-going operation, where is the demand for the recovery of 135 “Disappeared” workers in the current Operation?

The Diplomat

As brutal military operation continues against MQM, a Japanese paper The Diplomat commented that in the past the anti-MQM operations ended in more mass support for the party. The paper pointed out:

“The military’s consistent efforts to divide the party from within have always resulted in more support for the party from Mohajirs, refugees who settled in Karachi and the surrounding districts at the time of partition. During the 1992 military operation in Karachi, the military is known to have patronized a number of MQM’s dissident lawmakers to weaken the party: the MQM (Haqiqi) faction was the result of the split in the party that occurred in the early 1990s. The latest split has come in the form of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), which was formed earlier this year by MQM’s former Karachi Mayor, Mustafa Kamal.

“Despite publicly brandishing the organization as a movement openly involved in anti-state activities, the military has failed in breaking the party’s vote bank. The party stood as an undisputed winner in the last year’s local government elections in Sindh’s urban areas while it also came out on top in this year’s by-elections in Karachi, the Diplomat said adding: “The reason behind this solid support for the party’s leadership is simple: the military’s so called counterterrorism operation in Karachi has only deepened the persecution of Mohajir community, which the party’s leadership has successfully been able to appeal to in order to maintain its political support base.”

“The Japanese paper was of the view that bulldozing the party’s offices and banning it from the national media will not alleviate the concerns of Mohajir community, whose growing isolation from the state is the direct result of the military’s series of crackdowns against the MQM’s leadership and workers alike; rather, such actions will further strengthen the party’s narrative of marginalization and victimhood.

“Above all, quick fixes will not resolve the issue of Karachi’s security. The city’s genuine political leadership should be allowed to work unhindered, for any further securitization of Pakistan’s largest city will only push it into an uncertain political and security vacuum,” the Diplomat concluded.

Pakistan is virtually under military rule

It may be pointed out that Pakistan is virtually under military rule since Military Courts run parallel to the civil courts. In January last year, under pressure from the mercenary Army, US client government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif extended the jurisdiction of military courts to the whole county. In August last year, General Raheel Sharif approved an increase in the number of military courts for Karachi.

Not surprisingly, on August 29, 2016, the Supreme Court rejected review appeals filed by 16 alleged terrorists against death penalty they were awarded by military courts for their involvement in terror-related activities. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif had already rejected appeals of these 16 convicts.

The counsels for the convicts had complained that their clients did not receive a fair trial, nor were they allowed to choose their counsel.

The counsels for all 16 convicts had contended their clients had been tried in secret, without access to legal counsel of their choice, and that their confessions had been recorded illegally. They had also claimed they were denied access to military court records when preparing their appeals.

On June 20, civil rights activist Asma Jahangir appealed to the Supreme Court to order retrial in all cases in which military courts handed down convictions, including capital punishments. She had complained that the full record of the evidence had not been made available to the accused. She had deplored that her clients had been arrested under the Action (In Aid of Civil Power) Regulation 2011 (AACPR) before military courts were established, but their cases were sent to military courts only to “hide malice on the part of security forces because the rule under which the accused had been nabbed had no constitutional protection”.

International legal rights’ NGO, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has also criticized the military court trials. In a briefing paper that they released in June, the ICJ said that the proceedings before Pakistani military courts fall well short of national and international standards requiring fair trials before independent and impartial courts.

It said that judges are part of the executive branch of the State and continue to be “subjected to military command.” In these courts, said the ICJ, the right to appeal to civilian courts is not available, the right to a public hearing is not guaranteed; and “a duly reasoned, written judgment, including the essential findings, evidence and legal reasoning, is denied.”

In addition, the procedures of military courts, the selection of cases to be referred to them, the location and timing of trial, and details about the alleged offences are kept secret.

Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America (www.journalofamerica.net) email: asghazali2011 (@) gmail.com

Support Countercurrents

Countercurrents is answerable only to our readers. Support honest journalism because we have no PLANET B.
Become a Patron at Patreon

Join Our Newsletter

GET COUNTERCURRENTS DAILY NEWSLETTER STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

Join our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Get CounterCurrents updates on our WhatsApp and Telegram Channels

Related Posts

Join Our Newsletter


Annual Subscription

Join Countercurrents Annual Fund Raising Campaign and help us

Latest News