News
Friday, October 15, 2010
MQM links killings of workers with Land Reforms Bill* Party leader says ‘some’ senior officials in Sindh government supporting criminals
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Thursday linked the apparent target killings of its workers in Karachi with the Land Reforms Bill recently moved by the party in the National Assembly.
Speaking at a news conference at the National Press Club, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar, also Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, urged President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani to take notice of the target killing and to bring the culprits to justice.
He said that five of his party workers had been killed during the last two days after the party had submitted Land Reforms Bills in the National Assembly, alleging that some senior officials in the Sindh government had supported the criminals involved in the killings.
To a question about the officials, Sattar avoided naming them, saying that everyone knew who they were. He also said that the same group had been involved in the recent kidnappings for ransom, bank dacoities, robberies as well as extorting money from industrialists and traders.
He further said that the killings proved that the government had failed to establish its writ, adding that innocent workers of the party had been victimised.
Giving details of the target killings, Sattar said that bodies of three MQM workers had been recovered from an abandoned vehicle near Karachi’s Malir Halt area on Thursday morning.
He alleged that the law enforcement agencies had not been taking action against criminal groups based in the Lyari area that were spreading terror throughout the city.
The MQM leader said that faces of some criminals had been captured in closed circuit television (CCTV) footages from banks, and the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) had information about them, but still they had been roaming around freely. Sattar deplored the fact that not a single culprit involved in the killing of MQM party workers had been arrested so far. “How can they be arrested when they are enjoying the support of influential government figures,” he alleged.
He also circulated the list of the ‘fact finding committee’ of MQM in which the identities of the recently killed workers was given.
The deceased were identified as Khalid Hussain Siddiqui, Shahbaz Ahmed Khan and Sabir Ali who were shot dead after abduction.
He said that to date, at least 200 workers including MPA Raza Hyder had been killed since 2009, adding that the anti-state elements wanted to sabotage peace in the commercial hub of the country.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk