MQM, whose leader Altaf Hussain lives in exile in London, holds 23 seats in the National Assembly, almost all in Karachi.
He said it was a disgrace that a leading political party was "being ridiculed in such a ruthless way". Party worker killed - "It was all licensed weapons issued to the MPs of the party," senior MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi told AFP. MQM condemned the raid and insisted that the weapons were all legally held. "The finding of weapons carries a question mark and we will investigate it," Mahmood said. The statement said a "huge quantity of weapons and ammo" were seized in the raid. "There were some criminals to whom the court has handed down the death sentence." A Rangers statement said those held included one man sentenced to death for the murder of a television news journalist in 2011. "We have arrested five to six people who had criminal backgrounds," Colonel Tahir Mahmood, who was leading the team, told reporters outside MQM headquarters. Rangers personnel raided the offices in central Karachi acting on an intelligence tip-off that convicted criminals were hiding inside. At least one supporter of the MQM, the fourth-largest party in parliament, died as government paramilitary Rangers opened fire on protesting activists. The raid on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) headquarters, known as "Nine-Zero", sparked an angry response from the party, with workers shutting down large parts of Pakistan's biggest city. It 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.Pakistani security forces raided the offices of the main political party in Karachi on Wednesday, seizing a "huge quantity" of weapons and arresting activists, including one accused of murdering a journalist. The MQM emerged as a largely ethnic party in the 1980s. MQM’s Izhar ul Hasan, Opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, told reporters the party will not resort to protests or violence and rather use legal and constitutional means to stop the demolition of party offices and reopening of the headquarters. “These buildings have not made any speeches against Pakistan and I fear that if this demolishing drive continues it will only reignite sympathies for Hussain,” he warned. Mustafa Kamal, who heads the Pak Sarzameen Party which was formed by dissidents from the MQM earlier this year, told a press conference today that demolishing MQM offices would serve no purpose. The rangers have also sealed the headquarters of the party.Īlthough the senior MQM leaders have tried to distance themselves from the leadership in London including Hussain after his hate speeches, the Paramilitary Rangers and police have continued its crackdown on the party, which claims to represent the Urdu-speaking population in Pakistan. The authorities have renamed the roundabout close to the MQM headquarters at Aisha Manzil as Liaquat Ali Khan chowk.įor years now, Hussain’s posters have dominated the landscapes of Karachi and other urban areas but since Wednesday, his posters have been taken down even from the Aisha Manzil area where the MQM had its headquarters ’90’ since its emergence as a major political player in Pakistan. Posters of Hussain have also been taken down in different areas of Karachi including the Mukka chowk, which has served as a symbol of power for the MQM since the 80s. The paramilitary rangers and police have arrested at least 30 senior leaders of the party and started the drive to demolish MQM offices and seal sector and unit offices. Pakistan has charged the self-exiled leader in London with treason for his inflammatory speech that incited party workers to attack media outlets here.
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