MQM-P’s Shahid Pasha thanks ‘officers’ on his return home after 24 days

Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Shahid Pasha returned home on Monday after 24 days of ‘enforced’ disappearance.

Pasha, the MQM-P’s deputy convener, was taken into custody by law enforcement agencies on December 15 from Stadium Road when he was heading home, along with his driver, from the party office, his wife had submitted in a petition filed to the Sindh High Court.

Upon his return, Pasha met the party’s senior deputy convener, Amir Khan, and other coordination committee members for a short meeting, the details of which were not released to the media.

MQM-P spokesperson, Aminul Haque, told The News that Pasha has been advised by the party leadership to rest and spend some time with his family before resuming his political responsibilities.

Pasha has been one of MQM-P’s leaders who are critical of the establishment. He has been arrested twice before, formally and informally, and was released from the central prison in July 2017 after an anti-terrorism court granted him bail.

He faces at least two cases of abetting sedition filed at the Artillery Maidan police station. They were lodged after an incendiary speech of the MQM’s founder, Altaf Hussain, triggered violence that resulted in one death, injuries to at least seven people and acts of vandalism.

Soon after his release, Pasha tweeted: “Thanks to Allah Almighty, I am safely homed (sic) and also a lot of thanks to all the officers who understood me and gave me a fair chance.” He was unavailable for further comments.

Haque, however, added that the MQM-P appreciated Pasha’s release and appealed to the federal government, other powers and law enforcement agencies for immediate release of the other party workers who remain missing or in jails.

He said the party believed in its ‘August 23 policy’ of no confrontation and no violence. On August 23, 2016, the MQM had further split in two factions of Pakistan and London, spearheaded by Farooq Sattar and Altaf, respectively. Unlike the MQM-P, the MQM-London faces a virtual ban in the country.