SHC judge should investigate Nazimabad clash, says Ghani

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Karachi President Saeed Ghani on Wednesday demanded that an incumbent judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC) be tasked with investigating the recent incident of violence between rival political activists in the city’s Nazimabad neighbourhood that resulted in the death of a Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) worker.

Speaking at a press conference with former local government minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Ghani said video evidence is available, and its analysis can easily identify the culprits involved in the clash.

He said that the PPP’s ongoing election campaign in the city’s District Central has been affected due to the forcible removal of the party’s flags.

He also said the police should have lodged an FIR on the complaint of the PPP after three of its workers also suffered injuries due to the clash.

An FIR on the PPP’s complaint should have also been lodged when a criminal case has been lodged by the police at the behest of the rival political party, he added.

He was of the view that a post-mortem examination of the body of the MQM-P activist who lost his life in the incident should have been conducted.

Ghani said that such a tense situation in the city in the run-up to the February 8 general elections does not favour the MQM-P either. He said that the incident occurring days before next month’s polls is sorrowful.

Speaking on the occasion, Shah also reiterated the PPP’s demand that a judicial probe be conducted into the circumstances of the clash. He recalled that the PPP never resorts to violence, lawlessness and killings against its political rivals in the city.

He advised the leaders of the MQM-P to de-escalate the situation, saying that their speeches should not provoke the activists of their party involved in the election campaign in the city.