Rangers raid Nine-Zero, arrest senior MQM leaders

KARACHI: The Sindh Rangers on Friday night raided the MQM headquarters Nine-Zero and arrested two of its senior leaders, Qamar Mansoor and Kaif-ul-Wara, on the charges of ‘arranging and facilitating’ hate speeches against the people of Karachi.
However, Kaif-ul-Wara was released on the assurance that he would report to the Rangers after Eid.
“An arrested individual namely Kaif-ul-Wara arrested from the Azizabad area last night has been released on sureties till Eid. He will report to the Rangers authorities after the culmination of the given period,” a spokesman for the Sindh Rangers said in a text.
Rangers officials said it was a surgical action conducted in the Azizabad area during which all the roads and streets leading to Nine Zero were closed. The Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF) officials were seen conducting the operation.
Over 100 FIRs have been registered at various police stations of Pakistan, including Karachi, against the London-based MQM chief leader Altaf Hussain delivering a hate speech on July 12th.
Altaf had hurled abuses at the DG Rangers Sindh and the entire paramilitary force conducting the Karachi operation.
A spokesman for the Sindh Rangers said the paramilitary officers and Jawans striving for peace in Karachi had been targeted through speeches inciting violence against the law enforcement agencies of the state.
“A list of such facilitators has been finalised and more arrests will be made in the near future,” the spokesman added.
During the raid, Muttahida leaders Azeem Farooqi and Sufyan Yousuf were also detained but they were released after questioning while Qamar Mansoor and Kaif-ul-Wara were shifted to an undisclosed location.
The MQM officials said the ATF personnel of Sindh Rangers entered the Khursheed Begum Memorial Hall, Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF) offices and other party offices and also took away several documents.
No resistance was faced during the surgical operation while no weapons or unlawful material was seized during the action.
There were reports that the Rangers personnel had also raided the residences of Farooq Sattar in the PIB Colony and Haider Abbas Rizvi in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block-4 but both the leaders could not be arrested as they were not present.
Several sector and unit in-charges of MQM were also arrested in the night-long raids in different areas of the city.
The spokesman did not confirm arrests and raids on the residences of Farooq Sattar and Haider Abbas Rizvi.
According to the MQM Secretariat, Rangers arrived at the MQM headquarters around 2:00am and entered the Khursheed Begum Secretariat. They cordoned off all entry and exit points of Nine Zero and did not allow media persons to enter.
This is the second raid by the Rangers at the MQM headquarters after the start of the Karachi operation.
The first raid was carried out on March 11, 2015. Several detained people were neither produced in court nor their whereabouts found. Their family members held a press conference a day ago asking the Rangers to give details about their kith and kin who were held during the pre-dawn raid on March 11.
Meanwhile, a large number of MQM workers, MNAs, MPAs, including women started reaching Nine Zero soon after the raid.
Earlier in the evening, the Annual Assistance Programme of Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation was held at the Jinnah Ground. MQM founder and leader Altaf Hussain addressed the gathering.
MQM spokesman Wasey Jalil, who is in London, tweeted that the Rangers personnel had detained MQM’s Rabita Committee member Qamar Mansoor during the raid.
Senior Deputy Convener Nadeem Nusrat confirmed in his tweet that the Rangers personnel had also detained Rabita Committee member Kaif-ul-Warah.
The MQM Rabita Committee held an emergency press conference after Sehri on Friday and condemned the arrests.
On the other hand, Dr Farooq Sattar said certain forces wanted to crush the party and isolate it.
“The result of any party being alienated has far reaching repercussions and everyone has to bear the brunt of it,” said Sattar.
Speaking at a press conference, MQM leader Barrister Saif condemned the arrest of two party leaders and demanded their immediate release.
Meanwhile, MQM founder and leader Altaf Hussain said the second raid at Nine Zero and the arrest of two political leaders was “naked barbarism and a serious violation of human rights”. It is a violation of law, UN human rights charter and Islamic teachings, he said.
He was addressing the MQM workers, including women and elders, who had assembled at Nine Zero after hearing the news of the raid.
Altaf said the Rangers actions would harm Pakistan and would not do any good. “Policymakers in the country should sit together and try to heal the wounds of five crore Mohajirs. If their wounds continue to grow deep, it will not augur well.”
Altaf said the Rangers had arrested MQM leaders without any reason. “They had claimed that they would not let the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation collect Zakat and Fitra and they used power for stopping it, but despite all the hurdles created by the Rangers, the MQM organised its annual assistance programme successfully.
“Rangers got vexed on the holding of the programme and they raided Nine Zero in rage on the 29th night of Ramazan. They arrested Kaif-ul-Wara and Qamar Mansoor without any reason.”
Altaf told the MQM workers that the Rangers had done a great injustice in the holy month of Ramazan. “But you should not take the law into your own hands and face the situation with patience as you did in the past.”
He praised the workers for arriving at Nine Zero soon after hearing the news of the raid. He also paid tributes to the Coordination Committee, senators, MNAs and MPAs.
“It is not that only MQM workers go to jail; leaders also give sacrifices. All leaders and elected representatives have shown by arriving at Nine Zero immediately after getting the news of the raid that there is no difference between big and small in the MQM.”
The MQM chief demanded PM Nawaz Sharif to intervene in the Karachi situation and stop the excesses allegedly being committed against the MQM workers, leaders and sympathisers. He asked them to order immediate release of all the arrested people.
Addressing Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, he said, “You are the captain of the Kara­chi operation. You and the co-chairman of your party have registered FIRs against Altaf Hussain by maintaining a servile obedience towards the establishment. The Rangers have been given a license to commit injustices against the Mohajirs and arbitrary arrests. You should remember that you have sown the seed of division of Sindh by doing this.”
He said the MQM was a law-abiding party and it will seek a legal and constitutional remedy against the injustices of Rangers. “We will face all the concocted cases in courts and file petitions against the arrest of leaders and workers.”
He asked the members of the Women Wing and Elders Wing to spend as much time at Nine Zero as possible so that they may assume responsibilities if all the leaders were arrested.
He also asked students to spare time for the Movement, as it was a struggle for the coming generations.
In the meantime, Altaf Hussain said an unannounced mini-martial law has been imposed in Sindh.
In a statement issued from the London Secretariat, the MQM chief said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had struck a deal with the establishment and those involved in huge mega scams. The Sindh government, he alleged, had announced to fire the main position holders in the Sindh government who were involved in corruption to save its skin.
“The officials who were sacked had already fled the country but they failed to give details of the corruption they had done during their period.”