KARACHI - Police on Wednesday tortured and arrested multiple Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) male and female activists including MPA Sadaqat Hussain, MNA Kishwar Zahra and others after the party marched towards Chief Minister House against the fresh amendments in the Local Bodies Act 2013 and murder of a party activist in Tando Allahyar.
The party took out its protest rally from Nursery at Shahrae Faisal with Senior Deputy Convener Amir Khan and former Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar leading the march.
The police initially intercepted the MQM-P rally at Metropole from where the party activists succeeded in breaking the cordon after scuffles and marched towards the CM House.
However, they were finally intercepted by the police near the CM House with the cops resorting to baton charge and shelling against the marchers.
MQM-P Senator Faisal Subzwari shared footages of police torturing the party activists including women. In one of the videos, MQM-P MPA Sadaqat Hussain could be seen being dragged on the road with cops hitting him with batons.
“Our sisters and mothers are being tortured but we will not surrender before this corrupt government,” Hussain could be heard in the video as policemen grabbed him with his collar and dragged towards the police van.
MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui later spoke to media outside Karachi Press Club while being surrounded by charged party activists and announced to observe a black day against torture on elected members from the city.
“Our MPAs were tortured, some of our female activists are still missing,” he said and threatened that if the female activists are not released they would be forced to take decision that PPP-led government could not bear.
While addressing the PM Imran Khan, Khalid Maqbool said that he should look into the affairs of Karachi and how a federal appointed IG is acting like the ‘commissioner of Sindhu Desh’.
“I demand the PM to suspend the IG Sindh while CM Sindh should also resign over using brutal tactics against peaceful marchers,” he added.
He threatened PPP leadership to control their leaders otherwise Bilawal House is not far from their reach.
“We are announcing to observe a black day on Thursday (today) and ask traders to join their voice in protest against this biased CM Sindh and the government,” he said.
He said that one of their former Town Nazim lost his eye while Sadaqat Hussain was also injured badly. “I ask the biased CM Sindh to refrain from such acts otherwise he will have to bear the consequences,” he said.
Meanwhile, condemnations have poured in across the board against use of force from police against MQM-P activists with Jamaat-i-Islami, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Farooq Sattar, and other political groups condemning torture and arrests from police.
PTI Parliamentary Leader in Sindh Assembly Khurram Sher Zaman while condemning torture on peaceful protesters asked as to why PPP-patronized police is not able to charge against the culprits who roam freely on Karachi streets and rather resort to violence against peaceful protesters.
“Nothing short of Governor rule can solve the issue of this incompetent government,” he said and demanded the provincial government to immediately release the injured MPA and other activists of the party.
Speaking to media, provincial Information Minister Saeed Ghani later apologised over injuries during police action against protesters and said that they had to use force under unavoidable circumstances.
“I asked MQM-P to shift their protest to Karachi Press Club; however they refused and instead marched towards the CM House, forcing the police to stop their march with force,” he said.
“I apologise to those who sustained injuries today,” he said.