Waseem rubbishes May 12 violence ‘confession’ reports

Karachi

Waseem Akhtar, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader and Karachi’s mayor-elect who was recently arrested in connection with a case against former minister Dr Asim Hussain, announced on Wednesday through a letter written in jail that the media reports about him confessing to his involvement in the May 12, 2007 violence in the city were false and baseless.

Akhtar’s lawyers met with him in the central prison where he wrote a letter carrying his signature and mentioning his CNIC number.

He handed over the letter to his lawyers and it was later presented before media by the MQM coordination committee members at a press conference.

In his letter, Akhtar wrote that he had not made any confessional statement about the May 12 violence; instead he had demanded a judicial inquiry into it.

The mayor-elect wrote that a campaign was being run through the media to tarnish his reputation.

He appealed to the media to verify statements attributed to him before making them public.

The coordination committee members at the press conference, Kunwar Naveed Jamil, Mohammed Arif Khan Advocate and Sathi Ishaq,appealed to the government to take notice of the injustices meted out the to the MQM.

They reiterated that the mayor of Karachi would only be Akhtar in accordance with its citizens’ desire and it was not for the establishment to decide.

The members said it was their democratic and constitutional right to protest at every forum against atrocities the MQM was being subjected to, particularly Akhtar .

They added that they were being denied justice across the country and even the judiciary was not taking notice of party’s grievances.

The members demanded action against former home minister Zulfiqar Mirza for issuing thousands of arms licences.

The committee also asked as to why nobody was being held accountable for the destruction in Karachi in December 27 following the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

JIT report

A joint investigation team (JIT) report had quoted Akhtar as saying that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had ordered the party to stop the rally of the then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on May 12, 2007.

It was further stated in the report that Akhtar, then the adviser to chief minister on home affairs, had confessed that he was directed to prevent the rally from being successful no matter how many people died and the MQM chief was receiving directives from Indian agency RAW.

The report had also quoted Akhtar as confessing that all political parties in Karachi including the MQM have militant wings and the money was transferred to the party’s London accounts through Hundi.