No leniency towards criminals, MQM told

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was of a little or no help to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) when its representative delegation met him to plead that its rank and file should be spared in the operation.
“There will be no relenting of the unanimously agreed drive against target killers, kidnappers for ransom, extortionists and mafias till the arrest of all criminals,” a senior source, privy to the deliberations, quoted the prime minister as telling the MQM leaders.
Nawaz Sharif also told the MQM that he was pained to learn that hardened criminals were arrested during the Rangers’ raid at Nine-Zero. “You should purge your party of criminal elements, if any.”
The prime minister assured the MQM team that there will be no discrimination against it or any other party or group during the drive. “We can’t afford to have Karachi the business and commercial hub in constant turmoil; it is high time to clear it of all criminals.”
Asked about the objective behind the meeting, the source told The News, Nawaz Sharif did not want to give any impression that it was opposed to the MQM as a political party.
“But the message was conveyed loud and clear: nobody has objection to the MQM working as a political entity, but it has to shun out and disown criminals, who should be voluntarily handed over to the law enforcement agencies to face the law,” he said.
The source said the prime minister stressed his determination to take the ongoing targeted operation to the logical conclusion. “There is no question of lessening the severity of the drive or abandoning it mid-stream.”
The prime minister, according to the source, said that no offender would receive any lenient treatment during the operation. “The Rangers and police have a free hand to curb criminals irrespective of their political affiliations and influence. They have directions that the campaign will have no political element.”
The source said that Nawaz Sharif was clear that anybody having grievances and complaints about the operation should approach the relevant courts of law to get relief, and he would not interfere in the operation at any stage.
The prime minister met the MQM delegation reluctantly because of its track record in Karachi’s law and order scenario. “He gave them a patient hearting,” the source said.
Senior MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar, who headed the delegation, stated after the session that Nawaz Sharif promised to order an investigation into the recording of a confessional video statement of condemned target killer Saulat Mirza in his death cell at the Machh jail of Balochistan.
But the day the MQM leaders held the meeting, the prime minister advised President Mamnoon Hussain to extend by 30 days the postponement of Saulat Mirza’s execution, scheduled for April 1, partially accepting the interior ministry’s proposal. So, the government went ahead with its plan about the death row inmate.
The extension has been sought by authorities to provide time to investigators to question Mirza about his various claims, all against the MQM, made in his video statement. Although the MQM disowned him after March 19 was fixed for his execution, after dilly-dallying by successive governments because of the MQM pressure for over a decade, the party quickly disassociated from him saying that he was expelled long time ago.
The source said the prime minister emphasised what he has been stating in his public statements before and after the Rangers’ raid on Nine-Zero that the campaign was not directed against any political party.
“The drive was never aimed at any particular party as it was never intended to be so. When the decision to launch the operation was taken in consultation with and on the demand of all political parties, it was clear to everyone that the drive would be only against criminals, who have destroyed the peace of Karachi for years,” the prime minister was quoted as saying.
As Nawaz Sharif assured no lenience to the MQM as far as operation criminal elements is concerned, the source said, he doesn’t plan to retain MQM’s Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad in office. “The prime minister wants the governor to step down voluntarily, and he has been conveyed that he is no more required.”
However, the governor has stated that it is not necessary that he attends or is invited to each and every high level meeting on law and order. He dispelled what he said speculation about his resignation.
Dr Ishratul Ebad has no instructions from MQM chief Altaf Hussain to call it a day as the MQM wants him to continue in office.
The source said that the governor would be kept away from serious consultations on the Karachi operation as it was done when the prime minister visited the metropolitan city a few days back. “Dr Ishratul Ebad should have then read the message.”
According to the source, the MQM leaders basically raised four issues – those shown by the Rangers to have been arrested from Nine Zero were in fact apprehended from somewhere else; the weapons seized by Rangers were licensed and copies of the permits have been given to the Rangers; the Rangers is against the MQM; and the party is ready to voluntarily hand over to the Rangers any criminals pinpointed by the force.