KARACHI - The law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) have geared up the crackdown against Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London presence in Karachi, which reportedly is gaining strength day by day here, The Nation learnt on Wednesday.
According to details, the security agencies have drawn up a plan to prevent MQM-London from resurfacing rapidly in various parts of the city.
Sources privy to the matter revealed that wall chalking, hoisting banners in favour of MQM founder Altaf Hussain during the last two days in most parts of the city grabbed the attention of security agencies, believing in the success of ‘minus one formula’.
As per the plan, a new list of London loyalists has been compiled, and a strategy has been chalked out to curtail covert party activities.
A police official, wishing not to be named, explained that the growing activities of MQM London had given a tough time to the security agencies as these were under the impression that they had put an end to the legacy of Altaf Hussain. The official confided to this scribe that no MQM faction could gather such strength in the last couple of months as shown by the loyalists of Altaf Hussain, who managed to organise a covert party structure.
He said that the local leadership and active party operatives had distanced themselves from London to avoid arrests and either joined Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) or MQM-Pakistan. “Majority of the workers who had joined rival factions remained loyal to the party founder and their connections with the leadership in London remained intact,” he disclosed.
A senior party activist, associated with MQM London, while talking to The Nation, revealed that the party’s structure was still unchanged and working was continuing. He further revealed that the covert working groups were rather strong and energetic than the previous MQM. He pointed out that now the groups were even operating directly from London.
“There are 22 sectors and around 300 units are being operated from London through social networking applications,” he said, and pointed out that large number of party activists, who had taken shelter in rival factions, had apologised to the groups operating from London. Sources revealed that Dr Nadeem Ehsan, a senior MQM member, used to operate party organisational structure from London. They further said that MQM London had planned to organise a large public gathering on December 9, on ‘Martyrs Day’ at Yadgar-e-Shuhada at Jinnah Ground Azizabad.
It is worth mentioning here that the party workers operating covertly had started wall chalking and hoisting banners and had even start appealing to Karachiities to observe the Martyrs Day.
Sources in the law-enforcement agencies believe that any large gathering will belie their claim that the minus one formula is being considered seriously.
Sources further said that it would be difficult for the security forces to arrest such a large number of party operatives and registering cases against them.
They added that workers involved in criminal activities and other anti-social activities had already been arrested and had changed their political affiliations by either joining Pakistan Muslim League (N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muslim League Functional besides PSP and MQM Pakistan. MQM London, headed by MQM founder Altaf Hussain, is apparently not in the picture since August 22. Following the inflammatory speech by Altaf, MQM Pakistan leadership disassociated itself from the former, which became an unannounced proscribed organisation.
Earlier, MQM London had announced a coordination committee, but the law- enforcement agencies took the coordination committee members, including Professor Zafar Arif, Amjadullah and Kanwar Khalid Younas into custody and booked them under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) while another member Momin Khan Momin was arrested and charged with possession of illegal weapons.
Following the arrests of key members of the committee, an attempt to regain position in Karachi politics seems fruitless while arrests of MQM workers are continuing intermittently in various parts of the metropolis.