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Thursday March 28, 2024

‘Only Centre can decide if MQM is a terrorist entity’

Qaim says MQM has 100 percent mandate from Karachi and Hyderabad; claims governor’s presence was not mandatory at premier’s ‘informal meeting’ at PAF Faisal Base

By Azeem Samar
March 27, 2015
Karachi
The chief minister found himself in a difficult situation on Thursday when he was bombarded with questions pertaining to the federal government’s harsh stance regarding the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the absence of Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad at a meeting held by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif a day earlier.
“Only the federal government can declare any entity to be a terrorist organisation,” said the Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah while answering a question related to the MQM’s status during a press conference at the CM House. “It is not the job of the provincial government to declare any entity to be a terrorist organisation.”
However, as far as the chief minister’s opinion was concerned, he said he believed that MQM was a democratic party that had ‘100 percent mandate’ of the people of Karachi and Hyderabad.
This was why, he said, the Pakistan People’s Party government was engaging with it through political means.
Attempting to play down the significance of the absence of Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad during the meeting held by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Faisal Base on Wednesday to review law and order, the chief minister claimed that neither the meeting had been formal nor was it a formal session of the provincial apex committee. Hence, according to him, presence of the governor was not compulsory.
When he was asked about any likely change in the governor’s office, the chief minister replied that he knew nothing of the matter and even the prime minister during his visit a day before hadn’t mentioned anything to him regarding the subject.
According to the chief minister, he had only been officially notified of a meeting with the premier after the latter had been done with the awards distribution ceremony at the PAF Museum.
“The home secretary and I were asked to see the prime minister to brief him of the progress of the crackdown against criminals. It was later that the Karachi Corps Commander and Director-General Sindh Rangers also arrived at the venue and the briefing turned into an informal session on the law and order situation in Karachi,” was his explanation. “The prime minister neither planned to visit the Governor House nor did he intend to chair a meeting of the provincial apex committee.”
The chief minister said the governor used to attend the meetings of the provincial apex committee, held under his supervision, after the Sindh government used to send him a ‘special invitation’. He said the governor was invited so he could be kept in the loop regarding the plans of the provincial government for tackling terrorism in the province and maintaining peace in Karachi.
During the press conference held to share the achievements of Karachi operation which, the chief minster reiterated, was launched with the consent of MQM and other political parties, he was accompanied by Sindh information and local government minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, home secretary Mukthiar Soomro and senior police officials.
He stressed yet again that the operation against criminals was not against any political party but only against criminals.
The chief minister said the prime minister during his visit the previous day had appreciated the Sindh government and law-enforcement agencies for improving the law and order conditions in the city.
However, he pointed out that the Centre had yet to provide Sindh Rs10 billion promised to them when the Karachi operation was launched in September 2013.
He said the money was promised to the Sindh government to it could buy the latest weapons and equipment for its law-enforcement agencies.
He said the provincial government had so far allocated Rs60 billion for this purpose while the Rs10 billion promised from federal government hadn’t materialised despite several reminders sent to the premier and interior minister.
Having said that, the chief minister appreciated the support provided by the Centre, to the Sindh government, for conducting a crackdown on criminals across the province.
He praised the forces involved in the operation against criminals, the Sindh Police and Rangers, and said the vigilance of law-enforcement agencies was not only preventing crimes in the province but also leading to breakthroughs in the terrorism cases due to their stringent investigation.
He said soon the investigation agencies will be able to find out those involved in attacks on a mosque of the Dawoodi Bohra community in Arambagh area of Saddar and Rangers patrolling party in Nazimabad.
He claimed it was due to the valiant performance of law enforcers that the number of average killings in Karachi had dropped to less than two, from 12 since before the operation was launched and there had been no fresh case of kidnapping for ransom in the entire province.

Bilawal House barriers
The Sindh information and local government minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that barricades were placed outside the Bilawal House after seeking special permission from the federal and Sindh governments.
He said permission had been sought to put barriers in place in view of the threats to the party leaders since the premises has come under fire before.
He said it had been the home department and Sindh Police’s special branch who had evaluated the situation and then permitted the establishment of barriers near the premised of Bilawal House.
The chief minister then quipped that the barriers were not of a ‘harsh kind’ as observed in other parts of the city, which hampered and obstructed movement in the barricades streets.