MQM rejects Rangers’ claim, says Kashif was arrested in Dubai

Kunwar says paramilitary force’s claim of seizing arms
in a park is a bid to justify operation against his party

Karachi 

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) rejected on Tuesday the Rangers’ claim that Mohammad Kahif alias David was arrested in a raid in the Azizabad area late on Monday night, saying it was a blatant lie because he was arrested in Dubai last year.

MQM leader Kunwar Naveed Jameel told a press conference at the Khursheed Begum Memorial Hall that Kashif had been in the custody of law-enforcement agencies since his arrest in 2015.

The news of his arrest had not been aired on the electronic media, but many newspapers had published stories last year, he added.

Jameel said Kashif’s family members had been in touch with the law-enforcement agencies and contacted the relevant quarters in Dubai and Pakistan for his safe recovery.

The detainee’s family members, including his wife and parents, attended Tuesday’s press conference and showed all correspondence made to the authorities, including Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. The parents had complained to the interior minister about the “illegal arrest” of their son and his detention at an undisclosed destination.

Jameel said that just as the news of Kashif’s arrest was false, the claim about the discovery of a huge cache of arms was also incorrect and exposed the true intentions of the Rangers.

He said Kashif’s wife was also present when the MQM staged a sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club the other day for the recovery of missing persons.

The MQM leader said it was strange that the Rangers, said to be a reputable institution, was point-scoring and had shown Kashif’s arrest several months after actually taking him into their custody. 

He said termed Monday night’s development part of the paramilitary force’s policy to portray the MQM as a terrorist party.

He added that continuous arrests of his party’s supporters and activists and labelling them as terrorists were
meant to malign the party just to justify the operation against it. 

He appealed to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court to take notice of what he called “illegal and unconstitutional arrests”. 

The Rangers had earlier claimed catching Kashif during a serach operation in the Azizabad area over charges of his involvement in target killings.

During a pre-dawn raid on the MQM headquarters, Nize Zero, in March last year, paramilitary soldiers had detained a number of party workers and senior members, including Aamir Khan.

Last month, Rangers arrested MQM Rabita Committee Deputy Convener Shahid Pasha in a late-night raid on his residence.

Welcome statement

Senior MQM leader Nadeem Nusrat lauded a statement given by PPP Senator Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan condemning the media ban on Altaf Hussain’s speeches, saying that the restriction was not only illegal but also a violation of Article 19 of the constitution.