bisaat
Banned
MQM-London workers go underground
January 09, 2017
KARACHI - The law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) kicked off operation against Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) on Sunday to forestall the partys rally to be organised under the umbrella of Pakistan Qaumi Movement (PQM) on January 21.
MQM-L often remains the focus of LEAs, as is evident from the fact that several of its workers have been picked up during the Karachi operation.
Its worth mentioning here that even after more than three years of operation against the party, most of Altaf Hussains loyalists have not disassociated themselves from the London-based leadership.
MQM-L is rather stronger and more organised than other factions such as MQM-Pakistan, (MQM-P) Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), which have an open space for participating in political activities.
Talking to The Nation, Senior MQM-L operatives said that the party was on the hit list of security agencies as the latter sought to dismantle its organisational structure by picking up the sector and unit in-charges because of their contacts with the London-based leadership.
Sources in the party further told this scribe that the London-based leadership had decided to distance the party workers from the arrangements of 21st rally.
They added that PQM would organise the rally instead, and would start the campaign in the coming weeks, and for that will set up camps to mobilise the Karachiites.
MQM-L has a covert organisational structure on WhatsApp that operates directly from London.
Family members of Hameed-ul-Hassan, MQM North Karachi sector activist, picked up by security agencies from his residence in North Karachi on December 17, along with two other workers from the same locality,
while talking to The Nation pointed out that security agencies did not disclose his arrest, while the two others arrested were released on the same day as rival MQM factions gave them a clean chit.
They opined that the reason why Hameed was disowned by MQM-P and PSP was because he remained loyal to the party chief Altaf Hussain.
MQM-L activists further allege that rival factions first tried to convince the potential workers and then hurled threats at those declining to disassociate themselves from the partys founder.
It is also worth mentioning here that both MQM-L and MQM-P claim that at least 135 of their workers picked up by the security agencies are still missing.
However, over two dozen workers of PSP were released by security agencies couple of months ago.
It is important to note that those who were released had not been charged in any case, but kept in custody for months and years.
A recently released activist, wishing to be anonymous, revealed that he had been kept in the custody for more than a year and released without being charged in any case.
He pointed out that number of other activists, associated with different groups, were still detained.
He further said that such a long detention had nothing to do with the investigation as he was not even questioned during the period of his detention.
Meanwhile, the paramilitary force on Sunday claimed to have arrested three more suspects in the metropolis.
The arrests were made when Rangers conducted targeted raids in various parts of the city, including Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gadap Town and North Nazimabad areas. According to Rangers spokesperson, three criminals were arrested during the raids.
The spokesperson also claimed to have recovered weapons from their possession. The suspects were shifted to an undisclosed location for further questioning.
This news was published in The Nation newspaper. Read complete newspaper of 09-Jan-2017
January 09, 2017
KARACHI - The law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) kicked off operation against Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L) on Sunday to forestall the partys rally to be organised under the umbrella of Pakistan Qaumi Movement (PQM) on January 21.
MQM-L often remains the focus of LEAs, as is evident from the fact that several of its workers have been picked up during the Karachi operation.
Its worth mentioning here that even after more than three years of operation against the party, most of Altaf Hussains loyalists have not disassociated themselves from the London-based leadership.
MQM-L is rather stronger and more organised than other factions such as MQM-Pakistan, (MQM-P) Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), which have an open space for participating in political activities.
Talking to The Nation, Senior MQM-L operatives said that the party was on the hit list of security agencies as the latter sought to dismantle its organisational structure by picking up the sector and unit in-charges because of their contacts with the London-based leadership.
Sources in the party further told this scribe that the London-based leadership had decided to distance the party workers from the arrangements of 21st rally.
They added that PQM would organise the rally instead, and would start the campaign in the coming weeks, and for that will set up camps to mobilise the Karachiites.
MQM-L has a covert organisational structure on WhatsApp that operates directly from London.
Family members of Hameed-ul-Hassan, MQM North Karachi sector activist, picked up by security agencies from his residence in North Karachi on December 17, along with two other workers from the same locality,
while talking to The Nation pointed out that security agencies did not disclose his arrest, while the two others arrested were released on the same day as rival MQM factions gave them a clean chit.
They opined that the reason why Hameed was disowned by MQM-P and PSP was because he remained loyal to the party chief Altaf Hussain.
MQM-L activists further allege that rival factions first tried to convince the potential workers and then hurled threats at those declining to disassociate themselves from the partys founder.
It is also worth mentioning here that both MQM-L and MQM-P claim that at least 135 of their workers picked up by the security agencies are still missing.
However, over two dozen workers of PSP were released by security agencies couple of months ago.
It is important to note that those who were released had not been charged in any case, but kept in custody for months and years.
A recently released activist, wishing to be anonymous, revealed that he had been kept in the custody for more than a year and released without being charged in any case.
He pointed out that number of other activists, associated with different groups, were still detained.
He further said that such a long detention had nothing to do with the investigation as he was not even questioned during the period of his detention.
Meanwhile, the paramilitary force on Sunday claimed to have arrested three more suspects in the metropolis.
The arrests were made when Rangers conducted targeted raids in various parts of the city, including Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gadap Town and North Nazimabad areas. According to Rangers spokesperson, three criminals were arrested during the raids.
The spokesperson also claimed to have recovered weapons from their possession. The suspects were shifted to an undisclosed location for further questioning.
This news was published in The Nation newspaper. Read complete newspaper of 09-Jan-2017
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