“The MQM is a major political party, but its reservations are being ignored,” party leader Raza Haroon said outside the provincial assembly building on Friday.

“If the government guarantees us that the situation in Karachi will improve if the MQM separates itself as a coalition partner, we will surely quit.”

He was speaking after the MQM wrote a letter to the chief minister, drawing his attention towards the continuous killing of party activists and requesting concrete actions for improving the deteriorating law and order situation in the city.

The letter comes amid the fresh wave of target killings, which have claimed the lives of at least 14 MQM workers and several traders related to activists of the party since June 1. The party suspects the involvement of the banned People’s Aman Committee in the violence and has demanded action against it.

In the letter, MQM Deputy Parliamentary Leader in the Sindh Assembly and Youth Affairs Minister Faisal Sabzwari pointed out that dozens of innocent citizens of Karachi, including many MQM activists and supporters, had been killed in the last few weeks.

He stated that had it been a mystery as to who the killers were, apparently stronger than the law enforcement agencies and not under the writ of the government, the party might not have expressed its shock over the rampant killings.

However, he added, everybody knew that a group of gangsters was involved in the target killing of innocent people and MQM activists, extortion, kidnappings for ransom and other heinous crimes and they were being backed by some influential people and politicians.

“Being the largest party of Karachi, the MQM is again trying to seek the attention of the government and everyone who matters,” Sabzwari said in the letter.

He noted that if the economy of the city shattered, the economic activities in not only the province, but the entire country would come to a halt.

He said his party trusted the chief minister, but “a criminal should be called a criminal” and those with bounties on their heads should not be made leaders.

Sabzwari hoped that the officials concerned would not misjudge the gravity of the situation and take “stern” and “visible” actions against these criminals.

Responding to the letter, the recently reinstated information minister, Sharjeel Memon, in his first interaction with the media after his comeback, termed the MQM’s reservations as genuine and said the government had convened a meeting on Saturday (today) to discuss the issue.

“The government is serious about tackling the situation and will remove all reservations expressed by the MQM at the earliest.”

Speaking about the Lyari operation, the information minister said it was a targeted action in which several wanted criminals were arrested. He added that criminals’ hideouts were raided in different areas of the city.

IG orders deployment of 500 more cops for Old City

Inspector General Police (IGP) Sindh Mushtaq Ahmed Shah on Friday directed the deployment of an extra 500 cops in District South and Old City market areas to improve law and order, PPI adds.

He gave these directions during a meeting with a 12-member delegation of businessmen led by Atiq Mir. The meeting was also attended by AIG CID Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh, DIG Headquarters Sardar Abdul Majeed, DIG South Mushtaq Mahar and others.

He said the deployment should be made after consulting the businessmen of the area. It was also decided to promote community policing in different areas, particularly in the old city, to tackle crime.

On the occasion, the business community was assured about the installation of CCTV cameras in the areas which would be linked to the Police Command and Control System.