Minister concedes govt has no solution to Karachi issue

LONDON: A federal minister has conceded that the current ruling setup didn’t have a concrete plan for the resolution of issues faced by Karachi where lawlessness has only gone and shows no signs of abating.
The admission came from the Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Dr Farooq Sattar, who said that every institution has to work within its domain and that “judiciary cannot act as the election commission”.
He was speaking to a conference organised by International Human Rights Association’s Rubab Mehdi Rizvi on the topic of sectarian killings in Pakistan.
Farooq Sattar said that Pakistan was facing “now or never situation” and “until we do not begin to cure ailments afflicting the body politics of Pakistan, I do not see that the mere cosmetic treatment is going to take Pakistan anywhere where it could become a cementing country and can be in a position to give leadership to 56 Muslim countries.” He said the movement that Altaf Hussain began in Karachi had similarity with the movement of Kerbala that transformed the history.
“Our movement also has the potential of transforming this Pakistan which is being forced to become a Pakistan of Taliban. He said Imam Hussain (A.S) is a beacon of light for those “struggling in Karachi and for those speaking against injustice everywhere in the world”.
Rubab Mehdi Rizvi, Chairperson, International Human Rights Association, said, at a time, when the world is talking about global citizenship, “we are going to the dark ages”.She stressed upon the fact that nations like Pakistan which visibly identify with Islam need to provide security for its citizens. “We have had the deadliest Muharram and Shia Muslims seem to have only three choices: keep on being persecuted, flee or arm themselves for self-defence. It is important to examine which elements force people to migrate.”
MQM International Secretariat in charge Mustafa Azizabadi alleged that Pakistan’s national policies are formed by the establishment not by politicians. “Karachi is destabilised according to a deliberate plan to pin blame on the MQM so that to stop the message of the MQM from reaching to other parts of the country,” Azizabadi said, adding that banned sectarian and terror organisations were being used for killings in the city and they enjoyed support from powerful quarters; otherwise, they will not be able to operate and kill innocent citizens.