The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has accused the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sindh government of wanting to turn the province’s urban areas, especially Karachi, into police states by using the police force to harass the opposition party’s office-bearers and members.
In a statement issued by the MQM on Saturday, the party voiced concerns over “a fresh wave of harassment and arrests of party workers in various parts of the metropolitan city”.
The MQM spokesperson claimed that the police have been harassing party workers in Defence, Clifton, Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Nazimabad and other areas by summoning them to police stations and forcing them to quit the party. “They’re even harassing female workers.”
The spokesperson also claimed that MQM Malir Town organiser Fahim Ajmeri has been arrested after being booked in a baseless case. The opposition party accused the provincial government of using the police for political purposes, harassing MQM leaders in violation of the constitution.
The party appealed to the provincial police chief, the federal interior minister and the Sindh High Court chief justice to take notice of the government allegedly using police force for political purposes, and to ensure that opposition parties, including the MQM, are allowed to carry out their political activities freely.