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

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

Dawn – Shutdown in Karachi over twin blasts on MQM

Karachi, 5 May 2913. Businesses and petrol pumps in Karachi and other cities of Sindh were shut on Sunday (today) following a strike called by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) as twin bomb blasts outside their election office killed three people and left more than 30 injured on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

A bomb planted near a park where the MQM had set up its election office for its unit in Azizabad (Federal B. Area Block 8) went off around 9pm on Saturday, leaving at least 12 people injured. The blast caused panic and fear in the densely populated and highly guarded neighbourhood as a number of MQM activists, volunteers, personnel of law enforcement agencies and media crew rushed to the place.

About 20 minutes later, another explosion took place at almost the same place which was crowded by the party’s activists, volunteers and security personnel. Police said apparently the MQM election office was the target.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility of the attack. Speaking to Dawn.com via telephone from an undisclosed location, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the target was MQM and both bombings were carried out through planted devices.

The MQM, however, has vowed to not bow down to the terrorists. Speaking to DawnNews, the party’s leader, Haider Abbas Rizvi said that MQM has been targeted by forces which do not wish to see it coming into power. “We will continue with our election campaign and no one can deter us from our fundamental right of partaking in polls,” he said.

“It’s sheer brutality,” MQM chief Altaf Hussain said. “Our morale is high and we will not surrender to the evil forces of extremism and terror. It’s so unfortunate that despite consistent attacks, no credible move has been witnessed against terrorists from the government, administration and security forces.”

The outlawed TTP has vowed to target the secular political parties of the country, naming Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP) and MQM in the run up to the coming general elections.

The historic May 11 polls will witness the first ever democratic transition of power in Pakistan.

http://beta.dawn.com/news/812158/shutdown-in-karachi-over-twin-blasts-on-mqm

Dawn – Terror attack on election candidates continues

Shikarpur, Quetta, 1 May 2013. At least two people were injured in a suicide attack which occurred near the Shikarpur toll plaza on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The blast took place near the convoy of National Peoples Party’s candidate Dr Ibrahim Jatoi in Shikarpur who remained unhurt.

In another incident, three people were reported injured when a bomb exploded in Balochistan’s Dera Murad Jamali region.

The blast took place near the convoy of an independent candidate for PB-32, Allah Dino, in the district’s Kachchi Pul area.

Rescue teams had reached the site of the attack and started an operation.

Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistan Peoples Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party alleged that they were being compelled to boycott the May 11 elections.

Senator Shahi Syed of ANP, Rehman Malik of PPP and Dr Farooq Sattar of MQM addressed a joint press conference at MQM’s ‘Nine Zero’ headquarters over the attacks targeting candidates and workers of the three parties.

During the press talk, Dr Sattar said world powers wanted to bring a government of rightwing parties in Pakistan just to ensure their safe exit from Afghanistan.

Protesters block National Highway over Abdul Fateh Magsi’s killing

Moreover, supporters and relatives of Abdul Fateh Magsi, the slain candidate for PB-32 (Jhal Magsi), blocked the National Highway linking Sindh and Balochistan on Wednesday in order to protest his killing.

Long queues of vehicles were witnessed on the National Highway during the road’s blockade. Later, however, protesters agreed to clear the highway following negotiations with the administration.

http://dawn.com/2013/05/01/blast-in-dera-murad-jamali/

Dawn – Civil society seeks arrest of Rahman’s killers

Karachi, 18 March 2013. Members of civil society organisations called for the immediate arrest of Parveen Rahman’s killers while demonstrating near the Quaid’s mausoleum on Sunday.

Ms Rahman, a renowned social worker, was killed on Wednesday in a targeted attack when she was returning from her office in Orangi.

The demonstration was jointly organised by the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP), Institute of Architects Pakistan (IAP), and an environmental NGO Shehri. Participants in the demonstration demanded that the killers be caught, booked, tried and punished sternly, according to the law.

A few speakers also named a certain ethnic party and its local leaders, who they accused of extending death threats to Ms Rahman, and demanded that a thorough investigation be carried out into the murder.

The demonstrators said that many other social workers, whose work was affecting various mafias and power groups, were also receiving threats and demanded that protection be provided to them.

According to them, Ms Rahman had said that she had been working on land surrounding the city which was being encroached upon. They said Ms Rahman had probably come too close to the powerful mafia and land grabbers, who fearing exposure, had eventually silenced her. They said the social worker’s cold-blooded murder had shocked the entire civil society and demanded that the government take concrete steps to contain the prevailing sense of insecurity. However, the demonstrators vowed that they would continue their work despite threats for the empowerment of the poor and rule of law.

Paying tribute to the slain social worker, Prof Nauman Ahmed of the NED university said Ms Rahman’s organisation, the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), had been working at the grass-roots level to turn a major chunk of Orangi Town from a slum into an area with proper infrastructure.

Amber Alibhai of Shehri, an NGO, said that many other social workers, whose community improvement work was affecting various mafias and power groups, were also receiving threats and demanded protection for them.

Sikander Hayat of the PCATP, Mumtaz Jilani of the IAP and others also spoke on the occasion.

The demonstrators carried banners inscribed with their demands and also chanted slogans. A statement condemning Ms Rahman’s murder and demanding her killers’ arrest was also distributed among the participants.

http://dawn.com/2013/03/18/civil-society-seeks-arrest-of-rahmans-killers/

BBC News – Pakistan Karachi bomb blast kills dozens

Sunday 3 March 2013. At least 45 people have been killed by a bomb explosion in the Pakistani city of Karachi, police say.

The blast in the mainly Shia Muslim area of Abbas Town destroyed several buildings and set others on fire. Some reports spoke of a second explosion.

No group has yet said it planted the bomb, which went off near a mosque as worshippers left evening prayers.

Pakistan’s Shia minority are the target of frequent sectarian attacks from Sunni militant groups.

The explosion sent a huge column of smoke into the sky above Karachi and caused a power cut in part of the city.

Police are investigating whether it was a suicide attack.

Rescuers have been struggling to reach people trapped under the rubble.

Residents have been using car headlights to help the search for survivors, local media reports said.

Around 150 people were wounded by the explosion, officials said.

“I was watching television when I heard an explosion and my flat was badly shaken,” Karachi resident Mariam Bibi told Reuters news agency.

“I saw people burning to death and crying with pain. I saw children lying in pools of their own blood and women running around shouting for their children and loved ones.” she added.

Rescue work was delayed as some residents fired guns into the air in anger at the carnage, reports say.

Sectarian divide

Pakistan’s main political and religious leaders rushed to condemn the attack – the latest to target the Shia minority.

Nearly 200 people were killed in two separate bombings targeting the Shia community in the south-western city of Quetta in January and February.

Some relatives of the victims there initially refused to bury their dead in protest at what they said was the failure of the authorities to protect their community from attack.

No group has yet admitted to carrying out the Karachi bombing, but correspondents say suspicion is likely to fall on Sunni militant groups.

Groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi regard Shia Muslims as heretics and have stepped up attacks in recent years.

They are thought to have set several training camps for militants and police seizures have shown they have access to large quantities of weapons and explosives, the BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says.

Some activists called 2012 the worst year in living memory for attacks on Pakistan’s Shia community.

But already this year bombings in the south-western of Quetta alone have killed nearly 200 people.

Last month Pakistan’s Supreme Court called on the authorities to devise a strategy to protect Shia Muslims more effectively, given the increase in attacks.

Karachi – Pakistan’s biggest city and commercial capital – has a long history of violence.

As well as a sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia, that city has also seen conflict between different ethnic communities – Pashtuns from north-west Pakistan, Mohajirs (immigrants from India following the Partition) and Sindhis.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21649412

Dawn – Parties scared of polls want ECP changed, says Nawaz

Abdul Aziz

Naushahro Feroze, 9 February 2013. PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif said on Friday that political parties calling for reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) were running away from elections as they could foresee their defeat in the polls.

He was speaking at a public meeting in Kandiaro, 35km from here, in which senior PPP leader Syed Zafar Ali Shah, MNA, and his brother Dr Ahmed Ali Shah announced that they had joined PML-N.

Zafar Ali Shah was deputy speaker of National Assembly and a federal minister in previous PPP governments.

Mr Sharif said he would not act as guarantor for peace talks with Taliban because President Asif Ali Zardari was not a man of his word.

He deplored rampant crime, poverty and joblessness in Sindh and said people of the province had been robbed of their basic rights.

“My party will provide basic facilities to the people, construct a motorway from Karachi to Peshawar and provide jobs to youth after coming to power,” Mr Sharif vowed. He described the Sindh People’s Local Government Act 2012 as a discriminatory law and said nobody allow be allowed to divide Sindh. “The people of rural areas should get the same rights as those of urban areas of the province.”

Expressing concern over poor law and order situation in Karachi, the former prime minister said the provincial government had failed in this regard as more than 300 people were killed in the city only in January and the Supreme Court had to intervene by taking suo motu notice of the situation.

Talking about the Shahzeb murder case, he said prime suspect Shahrukh Jatoi was arrested only after the court issued an order.

Zafar Ali Shah said the PPP government had failed to deliver because its leaders were least concerned with people’s problems and remained busy in loot and plunder. “Nawaz Sharif was the only national leader and the only hope for the country.”

Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Mumtaz Bhutto and Marvi Memon also addressed the gathering. Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, chairman of the Sindh United Party and convener of the Sindh Bachayo Committee, was also present.Mansoor Mirani adds from Khairpur: Talking to reporters in Thehri, where he had gone to offer condolence to a local PML-N leader on the death of his brother, Mr Sharif urged the government to consult the opposition about the caretaker set-up.

Asked about holding of elections at a time when there was unsatisfactory law and order situation in three provinces and governor’s rule in Balochistan, he said elections offered solution to all problems. “Elections are held even in warlike situations in many countries,” he added.

In a veiled reference to the SPLGA, he said after coming to power, PML-N would abolish laws about which people of Sindh had reservations.

Mr Sharif belittled government claims about having provided jobs to people, alleging that merit had been ignored in the process.

Merit was again killed on Thursday when the Sindh Assembly adopted the Sindh Civil Services (Amendment) Act to legalise out-of-turn promotions of government officials, he said.

Later, Mr Sharif left for Kandiaro in a motorcade.

Waseem Shamsi adds from Sukkur: Talking to reporters at Sukkur airport, Mr Sharif said some ‘imported’ personalities were trying to get the elections postponed and seeking installation of a caretaker government for a prolonged period.

Such arrangements, if made, would weaken democracy and strengthen anti-democratic forces, the PML-N chief feared.

He said demands for verification of voters’ lists and fresh delimitation of constituencies in Karachi were justified, but other demands regarding ECP were aimed at getting the elections delayed.

http://dawn.com/2013/02/09/parties-scared-of-polls-want-ecp-changed-says-nawaz/

BBC News – Karachi strike: Anger over sectarian violence

Friday, 8 February 2013. A strike called by religious groups to protest against a wave of sectarian violence has paralysed the Pakistani city of Karachi.

Schools and businesses were closed and there were isolated reports of gunfire and vehicles being set alight.

The Wifaqul Madaris and other religious parties called the strike to protest against the recent killing of clerics.

Last month a senior Sunni Muslim cleric from a high-profile Muslim seminary was killed in a targeted attack.

Abdul Majeed Deenpuri, 60, and two others were shot dead when a gunman opened fire on their car.

He was a leading figure of the strict Sunni Muslim institution, the Jamia Banuri Uloom Islamia. Police suspect it was a sectarian attack.

Reports say Sunni Muslim religious groups have been angered by the failure of police to apprehend any suspects in that case.

In the northern city of Peshawar a senior Shia Muslim lawyer was shot dead early on Friday. Malik Jarar Hussain had recently been nominated as a judge, reports say.

Lawyers in the city are also on strike and staging a sit-in outside the governor’s house to protest against recent killings.

Sectarian violence between extremist members of Pakistan’s majority Sunni and minority Shia communities has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people over the past 20 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21378679

BBC News – Senior Pakistani cleric Abdul Majeed Deenpuri shot dead in Karachi

Thursday 31 January 2013. A senior cleric from a high profile Muslim seminary in Pakistan was among 13 people killed as violence hit the southern city of Karachi.

Abdul Majeed Deenpuri, 60, and two others were shot dead on Thursday when a gunman opened fire on their car.

He was a leading figure of the strict Sunni Muslim institution, the Jamia Banuri Uloom Islamia. Police suspect it was a sectarian attack.

An IED explosion and targeted killings account for 10 other deaths overnight.

CCTV footage shows that Mr Deenpuri, another cleric Mohammad Saleh, and the car’s driver were killed by a gunman who was waiting near the eastern Nursery neighbourhood, police quoted by the AFP news agency say.

“When the car slowed down near a traffic intersection, he opened fire to stop it and then attacked them at close range,” a senior police official who did not want to be named told AFP.

Sectarian violence between extremist members of Pakistan’s majority Sunni and minority Shia communities has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people over the past 20 years.

Four people were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) placed alongside a stationary car exploded in the Sohrab Goth neighbourhood of the city.

It is not clear if those who were killed were passers-by or those responsible for planting the bomb. The area is reported to have a heavy Taliban presence.

A subsequent police search of the car revealed five more IEDs inside it – all linked to each other and connected to the dashboard. Officials say that there were approximately 300kg (47lb) of explosives packed into the car.

That is nearly half the size of the truck bomb that hit Islamabad’s Marriott hotel in September 2008.

It is not clear what the target of the bomb was, but police believe the explosion went off earlier than intended.

The remainder of those killed were kidnap victims whose bodies were recovered by police. Targeted killings and abductions of ethnic, political and sectarian rivals in Karachi have taken place for several years.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Wednesday night that a “new wave of terrorism” was spreading across southern Pakistan, including Karachi and nearby Balochistan province.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21276329

Dawn – Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari launches political career on Benazir’s fifth death anniversary

Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, 27 December 2012. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and President Zardari, made his first major public speech on Thursday to vast crowds gathered in Garhi Khuda Baksh to mark the fifth anniversary of his mother’s the assassination.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s (PPP) workers, supporters and the party’s top leadership, had congregated at the Bhutto family mausoleum near Larkana in Sindh to pay their respects to the slain leader and witness what many have termed as the launch of her son’s own political career.

“Today, I am with the martyrs at Garhi Khuda Baksh. I am with my mother and my grandfather. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto are still alive in our hearts even today,” said Bilawal.

“Bhutto is an emotion, a love,” he said. “Every challenge is soaked in blood, but you will be the loser. How ever many Bhuttos you kill, more Bhuttos will emerge from every house.”

Security was tight around the huge stage, adorned with the red, black and green tricolour of the ruling PPP, where Oxford-educated Bilawal spoke.

In an impassioned speech, Bilawal – the third generation of his family to go into politics – vowed to continue his mothers fight for democracy, the struggle for the poor and against “anti-democratic forces”.

“There are two kinds of powers in this country: that which prefers the path of dictatorship, and then there is the power of the people…On one side we stand up as a wall against the terrorists, and then there are those who are even afraid to take their names,” said Bilawal in a passionate speech.

“We have chosen a very difficult path. Our path is the path of democracy, which Benazir taught us to walk on. We will go to the place where a bright and progressive Pakistan awaits us.”

Police said more than 15,000 officers had been deployed at the venue, as well as some 500 government paramilitary forces.

Emergence of a new Bhutto ?

Benazir Bhutto, twice elected prime minister, was killed in a gun and suicide attack after an election rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. No one has yet been convicted of her murder.

At her grave, women beat their chests and wept as they touched the tomb as a mark of respect and shouted “Long Live Bhutto” and “Bhutto was alive yesterday, Bhutto is alive today”.

Bilawal was just 19 when his mother was killed, and his spokesman Aijaz Durrani said Thursday’s anniversary would mark the start of a new chapter in Pakistan’s political history.

“This is his political career’s first public meeting. A new Bhutto is emerging today in the shape of Bilawal who has vision of his mother and grandfather and people are excited on his launching,” he said.

A general election is due in the spring and though the 24-year-old Bilawal will be too young to stand – the lower age limit is 25 – he could act as a figurehead for the campaign.

“Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, following in the tradition of generations, will prove to be an important turning point for democracy and politics,” Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had said in a statement.

“Trial of my mother’s grave”

Bilawal also took aim at Pakistan’s vocal Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, demanding to know why the Supreme Court could find time to deal with issues such as compressed gas and sugar prices but not punish his mother’s killers.

“I asked the top judge, can’t you see the blood of Benazir Bhutto on the roads of Rawalpindi?” Bilawal said.

“I, as an heir of Bhutto, ask why the killers of my mother have not been punished, while you have time to hold the trial of my mother’s grave.”

The ruling PPP and the judiciary have been at loggerheads for more than two years over the Supreme Court’s attempt to reopen graft cases against Benazir and her husband President Asif Ali Zardari.

The PPP regards the efforts as tantamount to putting the dead former prime minister on trial.

Bilawal, who has been co-chairman of the PPP with his father since Benazir’s death, in May accused former military ruler Pervez Musharraf of “murdering” his mother by deliberately sabotaging her security.

A UN report in 2010 also said the murder could have been prevented and accused Musharraf’s government of failing to properly protect Bhutto.

The Musharraf regime blamed the assassination on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and was killed in a US drone attack in August 2009.

http://dawn.com/2012/12/27/thousands-gather-to-mark-benazirs-death-anniversary/