Dawn – Altaf disbands MQM’s Karachi organising committee

Karachi, 21 May 2013. In an apparent reaction to ‘hooliganism’ during his speech on Sunday morning, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Tuesday night disbanded his party’s Karachi Tanzeemi (organising) Committee.

The decision was made following observations and recommendations made by public and party workers during a general workers meeting held at MQM’s head-quarters Nine-Zero, said the party’s official website.

In the wee hours of Sunday, charged workers of the MQM had roughed up members of the Rabita (coordination) Committee, some lawmakers-elect as well as some journalists, during a telephonic address by Hussain from London.

Later, a press release issued by the MQM said Hussain had strongly taken notice of what it called ‘violation of discipline’ by some elements among the party workers. He condemned the act of certain individuals against members of the coordination committee and other office-bearers and asked them to submit a written apology at Nine-Zero within 24 hours. Otherwise, he said, they would not be considered as MQM workers.

Another general workers’ meeting of the party has been scheduled for Saturday, in which some more important decisions will be taken.

According to sources, few more changes in MQM’s top posts are expected in Karachi as well as London.

Hussain said a new system will be introduced under which no office-bearer would be able to remain on a particular party slot for more than three years.

The MQM chief also appealed to all those senior party workers who have been inactive for a while to rejoin the party for the sake of the nation and the party’s cause.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/22/altaf-disbands-mqms-karachi-organising-committee/

BBC News – Imran Khan’s PTI ‘wins revote’ in tense Karachi

Karachi, 20 May 2013. Imran Khan’s party has won its first National Assembly seat in the Pakistani city of Karachi after a partial re-run of voting following rigging fears, unofficial results show.

The revote also saw the PTI take two provincial assembly seats, reports say.

The news came after Mr Khan blamed the murder of a senior party figure on Karachi’s dominant party, the MQM, which has denied any involvement.

Thousands of MQM supporters rallied in the city to denounce Mr Khan.

The general elections on 11 May handed an emphatic victory to Mr Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party.

They ensured that Mr Khan’s party became Pakistan’s third-largest electoral force.

The vote also marked the first transition of power between democratically elected governments since the creation of the state of Pakistan in 1947.

‘Baseless’

On Monday, MQM protesters burned an effigy of Mr Khan, and attacked his character and Western lifestyle from his days as an international cricket star.

Khan supporters held a separate demonstration in the city. The party has urged the British government to take action against MQM leader Altaf Hussain.

He runs his party, and effectively Karachi, from his headquarters in north London where he has been based for more than two decades.

The election gave the MQM 16 out of 19 National Assembly seats in its stronghold, Karachi.

Sunday’s re-run took place amid tight security in 43 out of about 200 polling stations across Karachi’s upmarket NA-250 constituency – the MQM boycotted the partial re-run.

The latest results show that Dr Arif Alvi of the PTI polled 77,000 votes and that the MQM’s Khushbakht Shujaat was the runner-up with more than 30,000 votes.

Once confirmed, it will be the PTI’s only National Assembly seat from Sindh province.

The party also appears to have won two provincial assembly seats from Karachi. Voting for these seats was also completed on Sunday.

Tensions peaked at the weekend over the killing of PTI vice-president, Zahra Shahid Hussain, who was shot dead outside her home by gunmen on a motorcycle.

Her funeral was on Sunday, the day repolling was held with a heavy police and army presence.

MQM spokesman Mohammad Anwar dismissed the accusations by Imran Khan, telling the BBC his comments were the “groundless, baseless” accusations of a man who had suffered a bitter, unexpected loss in the election and accused him in turn of behind the killing.

The MQM (Muttahida Quami Movement) is supported mainly by Muslim Urdu-speaking people whose families moved to Sindh province at the time of the partition of India in 1947.

Correspondents say that the party is seen as a perpetrator – as well as a victim – of violence in Karachi.

Since the 1980s, it has won every election it has contested there.

The projected victory for the PTI in this final assembly seat will not change the big picture in the city or in the country, correspondents say.

However, it will give the PTI an influential foothold in Pakistan’s commercial capital, something the MQM will see as a major setback, particularly after results show that the PTI got the most votes in the city after the MQM.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22593284

The Tribune – Take gradual steps to boost India ties: Kayani tells Nawaz

Islamabad, May 19. In the backdrop of Nawaz Sharif’s positive remarks on ties with India, powerful Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has suggested Pakistan’s Prime Minister – designate to take gradual initiatives with utmost caution for improving relations with New Delhi, a media report said today.

Kayani made the suggestion when he called on PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, set to become Prime Minister for a record third term following his party’s victory in the May 11 polls, at his brother Shahbaz Sharif’s home in Lahore yesterday.

The News daily quoted its sources as saying that Kayani wanted the new government to take gradual initiatives with utmost caution to improve relations with India as this alone “may lead to lasting peace in the region”.

Kayani ensured that Sharif “knew the exact situation on the ground with regard to Pakistan-India ties in the backdrop of developments over the last decade” as Sharif did not have first-hand experience in view of his absence from power, the report said.

In Kayani’s view, the relationship between Pakistan and India “demands a comprehensive strategy for addressing the geopolitical challenges which have cropped up over the years” since Sharif’s last tenure as premier.

There was no official word from the PML-N or the army on the meeting.

Before the elections, Sharif had made some surprisingly positive statements on ties with India which many thought may not have gone down well with the Army, the News said.

The PML-N chief had said he is keen on resuming the India-Pakistan peace process that was interrupted in 1999 by then Army Chief Pervez Musharraf, who ousted Sharif’s government in a military coup.

The report said Kayani called on Sharif to congratulate him on the PML-N’s success in the general election and informally talked “about all national security issues”.

He informed Sharif that the new premier and his Cabinet would be given a briefing on all important internal and external national security challenges after their swearing-in.

The armed forces are “fully behind the democratic government and had worked hard for ensuring democracy”, Kayani was quoted as saying. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130520/main4.htm

Dawn – Zahra’s slaying: Imran calls for protests in Karachi today

Lahore, 19 May 2013. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has again alleged that his party’s senior leader Zahra Shahid Hussain was killed at the behest of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and has urged his workers in Karachi to stand up against ‘oppression’ in the city.

Responding to the allegation, the MQM said that Mr Khan had hurled the accusation against it before investigation into the incident and announced that it would hold demonstrations across the world against the PTI.

In a video message released on Sunday from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital where he is recovering from injuries suffered in an accident during an election rally, the PTI chief said Zahra Shahid had been murdered at the behest of the MQM. He termed the incident part of its policy to control the city by spreading fear.

The elderly PTI leader, who was vice-president of the party’s Sindh chapter, was shot dead outside her home in Karachi on Saturday night.

Appealing to his party’s workers to take a stand against ‘brutalities’ and protest against the murder on Monday, Mr Khan also urged other parties and those who wanted an end to the era of oppression to join the demonstration and not to lose this opportunity.

He said had he been discharged from the hospital he himself would have led the protest in Karachi.

He said Zahra Shahid had not laid down her life without a cause and her sacrifice would not go in vain.

The PTI chairman also urged his party’s workers to join a sit-in being held outside the Election Commission offices in Islamabad in protest against alleged rigging in the May 11 elections.

Backtracking on his demand for re-polling, Mr Khan said he was not insisting on it for the sake of continuity of the democratic system.

He urged the chief justice of Pakistan and chief election commissioner to take notice of the killings and rigging and said the nation had pinned high hopes on the judiciary and the ECP for justice.

http://beta.dawn.com/news/1012404/zahras-slaying-imran-calls-for-protests-in-karachi-today

BBC News – Pakistan politician Zahra Shahid Hussain killed in Karachi

Sunday, 19 May 2013. A senior female Pakistani politician has been shot dead in the southern port city of Karachi.

Zahra Shahid Hussain was the senior vice-president of Pakistan’s Movement for Justice party (PTI), led by former international cricketer Imran Khan.

She was killed by gunmen on a motorcycle outside her home in the city’s upmarket Defence neighbourhood.

Her murder took place on the eve of a highly-contested partial re-run of last weekend’s general election.

The reason for the shooting is unclear.

PTI leader Imran Khan took to Twitter to blame Altaf Hussain, the London-based leader of Karachi’s dominant MQM party for her murder – a claim the party has strongly denied.

Mr Khan said Mr Hussain had “openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts”.

Mr Khan, a former cricketer, said he also held the UK government responsible, as he had already given a warning about the MQM leader’s remarks.

The MQM condemned the murder and described Imran Khan’s allegations as “immature”.

‘Tragic incident’

Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, citing police, said the shooting happened during an attempted robbery.

However, our correspondent says that reports of Ms Hussain being shot twice in the head raise suspicions that it was a targeted killing made to look like a robbery.

Local PTI leader Firdous Shamim told AFP news agency that Ms Hussain “was leaving her home for work when three gunmen attacked her. She thought they wanted to snatch her purse and handed it over to them but they killed her”.

Ms Hussain was reportedly rushed to hospital but succumbed to her injuries on the way.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the murder, describing it as a “tragic incident”.

Sunday’s partial re-run of the vote in Karachi was ordered after Mr Khan’s party accused the MQM of widespread vote-rigging and intimidation.

The MQM – which took most of the seats in Karachi – denies any irregularities and is boycotting the vote.

The authorities have decided to deploy troops at 43 polling stations in Karachi’s NA-250 constituency where Sunday’s vote is taking place. Voting was halted at the polling stations during the 11 May election because of alleged irregularities.

Karachi is torn by regular violence – much of it politically motivated.

Last week’s general elections appear to have paved the way for the first transition from one elected government to another in Pakistan – a country prone to military takeovers.

Unofficial results suggest that the Pakistan Muslim League led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will secure a majority in parliament.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22584440

The Tribune – Pakistan appoints judge to probe Sarabjit’s murder

Lahore, May 17. A serving judge has been named by a Pakistani court to probe the murder of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died earlier this month after being assaulted within the Kot Lakhpat Jail here.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial appointed Justice Syed Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi to investigate the matter and submit a report to the court.

However, no deadline has been given to Naqvi to complete the probe. Earlier, caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Najam Sethi had written a letter to the Chief Justice, asking him to appoint a judge to conduct the probe.

Five to six prisoners had brutally assaulted Sarabjit in a well-coordinated attack on April 26. After being comatose for nearly a week, Singh died at Jinnah Hospital in Lahore on May 2. Police registered a murder case against two death row prisoners Amer Aftab and Mudassar for allegedly assaulting Sarabjit.

Both men told police that they wanted to kill Sarabjit as he was involved in killing innocent Pakistanis in bomb blasts. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130518/main5.htm

Dawn – Judges detention case: Complaint withdrawn against Musharraf

Islamabad, 18 May 2013. In a surprising development, the lawyer who had filed a petition in the judges’ detention case has withdrawn his complaint against former president retired General Pervez Musharraf.

The decision by Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman came a day before the hearing of the case on Saturday by the Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court at General Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse which has been declared a sub-jail.

The judges’ detention case was registered by the Secretariat Police Station on Aug 11, 2009, on the complaint of Advocate Ghumman who had sought legal proceedings against the former military ruler for confining 60 judges of the superior courts for over five months at their homes and restraining them from administering justice.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, Advocate Ghumman said he had withdrawn the complaint in the larger national interest. “I think that the trial of General Musharraf in such a state of affairs is not in the national interest and, therefore, I have decided to withdraw my complaint,” he said.

“Before taking the decision to withdraw the petition I also consulted my friends and it was taken after due deliberation.”

Advocate Ghumman said he would neither appear before the court nor press for the prosecution of General Musharraf, adding that it was up to the court to decide the fate of the case against him.

It may be mentioned that over the past couple of weeks at least three lawyers, including special prosecutor of Islamabad police Syed Mohammad Tayyab, have dissociated themselves from the case. The other two — Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Qamar Afzal — are reported to have received threats from unknown people.

But Advocate Ghumman rejected reports that he had withdrawn the complaint under any pressure or fear and said he had never been threatened by any quarter.

Advocate Ashraf Gujjar, the counsel for Mr Ghumman, told Dawn that he was not aware of the decision taken by his client. He said Mr Ghumman had not consulted him on the issue although he had been appearing in the court on his behalf.

Advocate Gujjar was of the opinion that Mr Ghumman could not withdraw the complaint because the FIR also included sections of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. Only the state could withdraw the case. According to legal expert Barrister Zafarullah Khan, an individual can dissociate himself from prosecution but cannot withdraw a case. “After the happening of a crime, a complainant informs the state machinery about it and the responsibility to prosecute the criminal is put on the shoulder of police or other law-enforcement agencies,” he told Dawn.

“Since the crime is considered an illegal act against the society and the state, only the federal or provincial government through the district magistrate (deputy commissioner) can withdraw the case against a criminal,” he said.

The complaint against Gen Musharraf was registered under section 344 of the Pakistan Panel Code. The offence is a bailable and entails a maximum imprisonment of three years.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court had dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea of General Musharraf on April 18 and observed that the act of detaining the judges of superior courts and forcefully restraining them from performing their lawful duty was an act of terrorism. He ordered police to book the former military ruler under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

General Musharraf may get life imprisonment if he is convicted by the court under this section.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/18/judges-detention-case-complaint-withdrawn-against-musharraf/

The Hindu – Awais Sheikh, the Pakistani lawyer of slain Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh, has told police that the armed men who abducted him and his son were “Pashto-speaking”.

According to the FIR registered by police, Mr. Sheikh and his son Shahrukh were intercepted by four to five men travelling in a red pick-up truck and a motorcycle yesterday morning.

The armed men then bundled them into the pick-up.

Mr. Sheikh said the kidnappers did not talk to him or his son while they were in captivity.

The men, who were armed with sophisticated weapons, assaulted Mr. Sheikh and dumped him on Sheikhupura Road, 40 km from Lahore.

The abductors did not harm Shahrukh and dumped him several kilometres from the point where his father was thrown out of the pick-up.

Mr. Sheikh told police that the kidnappers were wearing ’shalwar-kameez’ and were fluent in Pashto. They also spoke Urdu.

“They didn’t talk to me and my son,” Mr. Sheikh said.

He further said police that he did not suspect any intelligence agency or anyone else was involved in the kidnapping.

Mr.Sheikh needed six stitches for a wound on his head.

Police registered a case against unidentified men under Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which relates to kidnapping a person with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine him.

Mr.Sheikh and his son were abducted when they went to a village near Burki Hudaira area to buy land for a farmhouse.

Mr.Sheikh was the lawyer for Sarabjit, who died on May 2 after being comatose for nearly a week following a brutal assault by other prisoners in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail.

The lawyer recently said that he had been receiving threats for defending Sarabjit, who was sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks in Pakistan’s Punjab province in 1990.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sarabjits-lawyer-says-his-kidnappers-were-pashtospeaking/article4723811.ece

BBC News – Pakistan MQM’s Altaf Hussain attracts UK police interest

Thursday, 16 May 2013. Police in London say they are investigating complaints against a UK-based Pakistani politician to see if he has violated UK law.

Altaf Hussain, leader of the MQM party that controls Karachi, addressed supporters from London last Sunday after Pakistan’s general elections.

In response to accusations of electoral fraud, he is alleged to have threatened his accusers with violence.

Mr Hussain says that his remarks were taken out of context.

London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed to the BBC that an investigation had been launched “following complaints concerning comments made in a broadcast” by Mr Hussain.

Since the mid-1980s, the MQM has won every poll it has contested in Karachi and it did so again in last Saturday’s general election.

But this time, it is facing strong and widespread allegations of rigging and electoral fraud.

Half a dozen smaller parties, led by former international cricketer Imran Khan’s Movement for Justice Party (PTI), have been holding rallies and sit-ins to demand a re-run in Karachi.

On Sunday, addressing party workers from London, Mr Hussain responded to the allegations by appearing to threaten protesters with violence, and suggesting that if his party’s mandate was tampered with, Karachi would have no choice but to separate from Pakistan.

During his speech he referred to protests taking place near the Three Swords roundabout in Karachi.

“Those people who are protesting – and grandstanding – near Three Swords – I don’t want to fight or quarrel, but if I order my supporters now, they will go to Three Swords and turn them into a reality.”

He added: “MQM is blamed for everything. I say, oppose us with respect and decency, and with proof, otherwise I will soon unleash my supporters.”

Karachi is wracked with violence – much of it politically motivated.

Mr Hussain has since said that his remarks, which were broadcast on live TV, were taken out of context.

Possible prosecution

On Wednesday, the British High Commissioner in Pakistan, Adam Thomson, told a news conference that the UK took allegations of inciting hatred very seriously.

He said it was up to the police in London to determine whether Mr Hussain’s remarks violated British laws, and whether or not he could face prosecution.

The BBC’s Shahzeb Jillani in Karachi says that Mr Hussain effectively controls the city of 18 million people from his MQM headquarters in north London.

He has lived in the UK since 1991, saying his life would be at risk if he returned to Pakistan.

The MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) is supported mainly by Muslim Urdu-speaking people whose families moved to Sindh province at the time of the partition of India in 1947.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22559282

The Tribune – Good relations with Pakistan vital for resolving tricky issues: Sushil Kumar Shinde

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 15. Close on the heels of Nawaz Sharif — who is certain to be the new Pakistan Premier after his emphatic election win —seeking warmer ties with India, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Wednesday said good relations with Islamabad were vital for resolving tricky issues between the two countries.

“When Nawaz Sharif’s party was leading in majority of seats, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had congratulated him and in return Sharif had invited the Prime Minister to attend his swearing-in. It’s a good initiative. Such initiatives can greatly help in resolving tricky issues,” Shinde told reporters here.

On being asked if government agencies have made an assessment of the situation in Pakistan after elections, Shinde said: “It was too early to make a review”.

In December 2012, Shinde had to face an embarrassment when his then Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik during his visit to India had equated Babri mosque demolition to terror attacks. Malik at that time had even claimed that 26/11 mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed had been arrested in Pakistan. Later, it was revealed that Saeed had never been arrested. Shinde had told Malik that it was of “paramount importance” to bring perpetrators of terror strikes to justice for smoother Indo-Pak ties.

The Home Ministry, meanwhile, has asked all states to set up fast-track courts to take up cases of youth jailed for suspicion of being involved in terror cases. The Centre has sent an advisory to states and was also trying to find out how many Muslim inmates (involved in terror cases) were in jail.

“We are trying to ascertain the facts. It will take time. We have asked the states to set up fast-track courts,” Shinde said. Minister of State for Home RPN Singh had informed Parliament recently that under the NIA Act, the Central Government had set up 39 special courts to take up terror-related cases. About three months ago, Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan had expressed concern over “wrong arrests” of Muslim youths in different parts of the country in terror cases. He had taken up the matter with Shinde and had proposed setting up of special courts to ensure speedy trial in such cases.

No decision on Bhullar

On demand for commuting the death sentence of terrorist Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, the Home Minister said he had received a number of representations but no decision has been taken yet. “We are still looking into these demands,” he said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130516/main1.htm