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Archive for category MQM TERRORISTS

VIDEO: Pakistan’s Terrorist in US Babar Ghauri’s subversive activities in Houston, Texas

Babar Ghauri’s subversive activities in the in Houston, Texas, USA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2hEgCQn1JQ

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Another Scam in Pakistan, as March Towards Economic Disaster Continues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Scam in Pakistan, as March Towards Economic Disaster Continues

 

 

 

In Pakistan there are certain politicians who have no love for Pakistan

Their only desire in life is to make money by hook or crook.

Amongst the top suckers of the blood of Pakistan are:

  1. Nawaz Sharif
  2. Shahbaz Sharif
  3. Mian Mansha 
  4. Ishaq (Dollar) Dar
  5. Khurshid Shah
  6. Zardari and others

The present government is hell bent to find ways to rob Pakistan.

Ishaq Dar comes up with one mischievous scheme after another:

  • PIA: Trying to privatise and sell to their own nominee. The sale was to be done underhand. Thank goodness that the whole scheme which “stank to high heaven” was thrown out. FAILED
  • LNG DEAL: The secret deal planned with the “unknown” seller of Gas to Pakistan, arranged surreptitiously by SAIF UR REHMAN, sitting in DOHA. This too was foul and many questions had to be answered 
  • WORLD BANK LOANS. There is no necessity. We are gradually being sunk into debt by these uneducated and greedy leaders. From these US Dollars they will siphon off to their own projects.

Now the latest scheme they have out with is :

EUROBONDS; The present market rate is around 2 % for 5 years

PAKISTAN IS GOING TO FLOAT AT 8.5% for 5 years- As one famous Economist said; only a stupid nation will do this. People must have vested interest in getting these US Dollars. Soon they will disappear.

 

What we as Pakistanis must know who is going to pay back on these borrowings. Nawaz and Dar are not Economists. They are simply “Daylight Robbers.”

 

GOD SAVE PAKISTAN from these Machiavellian schemers. 

 

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Who are the Real Gangsters in Pakistan? by Dr Shahid Qureshi

lp

By

Dr Shahid Qureshi 

The London Post

 

 

 

 

British actor Ross Kemp’s program about ‘Gangs’ in the world gives an interesting insight. I was watching one of his programs about the ‘gang war in El Salvador’. He interviewed rival gangs, their everyday lives in the streets, role of police and lives in prisons. After interviewing all the notorious gangs like MS13 he asked a local journalist Lino Gomez with great connections to comment about the gang war 12 murders a day in a population less than London. Lino Gomez said; ‘According to DEA (US Drugs Enforcement Agency) report there is a movement of 570 tons of pure cocaine from El Salvador to US worth around $30,000 million ($30 billion) every year.

These gangs or its members can not move that amount of cocaine (570 tons worth US $30 billion) and live the way they live. He was of the opinion that to run a drugs business of $30 billion smoothly there is need for a clique of tattoos, violence, corruption because it catches the attention of the media, press and international bodies. The real (gangsters) movers of 570 tons of cocaine are the most powerful people in the rich, the elite with connections in the governments or part of the government, essentially they like to do business, or buy corrupt officials to get their jobs done instead of coming in to politics themselves directly. They don’t wear tattoos (like gang members) but they do wear expansive ties and Rolex watches too, said Lino Gomez.

They live in expansive villas with no trail of their money. Can some identify these characters around them? A senior journalist said; ‘these people are funding all terrorists’ gangs voluntarily so much so they have lent their licensed weapons to these criminal gangs.

A new recent trend emerged is to hire a retired army officer as manager to protect them from nuisance. The funny situation arises when most of the ‘wood cutters’ have similar stories of growth or finding ‘treasure troves’ like in children books. The queen bee formula really applied creates one character very honourable in public eye and give all your black money to him for investment than sit back and relax. This dummy is not going to betray the rest of the syndicate’. These young men ‘target killers’ or even their leaders from lower working class families are like bubbles for them. They made them feel powerful, get them do dirty jobs for them some times on the behalf of the ‘outside players’ even enemies of the state. ‘The secretive closed structure keeps all the mess inside’.

A senior Pakistan journalist Mohammad Malick said; ‘some one asked my son in school what does your father do? My son said; ‘he makes enemies for his profession’. No journalist, judge of general or politician is bigger than the multi billion $ dollar international game being played in Pakistan especially Karachi. A senior British – Pakistani journalist formally informed the British authorities and police with the names and addresses of the alleged plotters planning to assassinate him linked with the target killings in Karachi. These people have rented their whole gang to the international players. He said; ‘no one should be allowed to play with British values and democratic norms’.

A former Pakistan army officer said; ‘I followed the orders and my oath but was let down by the institution when they left me on my own to the foreign backed terrorist mafia. It was never a personal fight. It was a heart breaking story of this former army officer. All he is asking is justice? No doubt these people are cowards as some one said; though brave don’t live longer but cowards don’t live at all’. When institutions don’t look after their people the rate of their dissolution is quicker than one can think. When you have demoralised force be it police or military it’s functioning soon become minimal. Who will protect the protector? The most interesting part is the US has been able to restore NATO supplies without any extra costs and also hasn’t paid money it owes to Pakistan? That trick could have been only possible if it has friends in high places. Who says Pakistan is not a US friendly country? There was an interesting dialogue in movie ‘a state of play’ between a senator and chief of private military company; “we paid to train these (now terrorists) and you are getting paid to kill them”.

I have said many times that if US solve its internal problems for example financial terrorism and mismanagement by the banks, financial institutions and the bankers over 70% problems it is having internationally will be resolved. The closure of manufacturing industry in the US and conversion of manufacturing based economy to consumer based economy has caused mass unemployment and promotion of ‘temporary and part time workers’. Private sector companies are taking over service industry i.e. health, military and social sectors. They are following ‘PBR payment by results’ model which is causing lot of trouble in the systems designed to function as a service and not as a corporate business for example a hospital cannot be run as a business or profit making machine or state armed forces cannot be used profit making machines. The job cuts and reduction in the military spending has ended US in more spending in financial as well as human costs.

It is like to save one dollar they ended up spending 5 dollars. When a hospital closes down crucial services to save money they end spending more money in buying those from private sector because in some case they lose the building, human resource. Private sector hires them on cheap rates and makes profits. Congratulations to NATO for completing successful mission in Pakistan by restoring supplies route free of charge. That could only be possible if it has friends in very high places with broader vision than normal Pakistani. Congratulations to all and sundry for whatever is achieved and leave the rest for next time. The enemy monger elements must be discouraged as not whole world is enemy of the country. One must congratulate the vision and ‘donor kebab’ strategy of the President against his opponents.

It might not make sense to many but this mind set is causing misery, death and destruction worldwide including Pakistan. This mind-set creates or sometimes manufactures crisis and wars on the issues which could be resolved without any trouble or need. For example if a private company do a ‘cost benefit analysis’ of US air craft carrier it has to be ‘rationalised’ and tools they will use to do this analysis will definitely make ‘military leadership nervous’ as it will create fear of cuts in their mind.

My response to this rationalising (cuts in) military, health and social services is simple – PRACTIALISE it. As imagination is better than knowledge and practical wisdom is far better than anything else?

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IS THERE A RAW-MQM CONNECTION ? By Saeed Akhtar Malik

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IS THERE A RAW-MQM CONNECTION ?

 
By Saeed Akhtar Malik
 
 
The short answer is: Yes.
How certain am I of this: Absolutely.
On what is my certainty based: On material uncovered before and after Operation Clean-up, Karachi, 1992.
And how do I know this: I had a ring-side seat at this operation.
 
Before going further, I need to introduce Lt Col Obaidullah [ late] who,concieved and executed the operation and was the moving spirit behind it.
Obaid was an officer of high intelligence, completely free of the taint of prejudice, both ethnic and religious. He was one of those rare birds who either had no fear, or could mask it to perfection. And in his personality, what competed with his patriotism as a defining trait, were his flights of emotion, which often tended to fly him off the handle.
 
It was one such emotional outburst which got him superseded as a major, and he got posted to Headquarters ISI, for the last leg of his service. Gen Hamid Gul was D.G ISI at the time. He had introduced the the practice of personally interviewing all freshly posted officers to the organization.
 
I drove Obaid for the interview, dropped him opposite the HQ, and went on to Aab para,  giving him the telephone contact of the travel agent where I would await his call, to pick him up. I was expecting his call in about an hour’s time, but he called a good three hours later.
 
When I picked him up he explained that there were about four officers who were interviewed ahead of him, about ten minutes each. But his interview went on for nearly an hour, after which the General informed him that he will be assigning him to an important slot. ” And sir,” Obaid confided in me, ” the General told me that I should henceforth consider myself promoted to Lt Col ! ”  I advised him not to set hopes too high on the issue of promotion, because that was not about to happen.
 
A week or so later he called to inform me that his promotion had indeed come through, specifically for appointments in the intelligence set-up.
 
One day a couple of months later, he asked me if I would like to interview three MQM operatives who were on the run from Altaf Hussain, but whom he had squirreled away in an organisation safe house. Those days I was writing for the papers, but I told him I was not interested. 
He insisted that I should not give up this opportunity. I replied that I would be interested if only he could give me one good reason to take time out to talk to these three unknowns.
 
Obaid thought for a while, and then said, “sir, you must interview them because Altaf Hussain is sh-t scared of them.” 
” And you would have me believe this–Altaf Hussain who makes the whole of Karachi tremble, is himself “sh-t” scared of these three chaps whom no one has ever heard of, and who have no roof over their heads?? OK you first give me proof of this and I will go along with you.”
 
Obaid twiddled his thumbs for a while and then asked to use my phone. “……and tell him on the special line that you will be in Karachi tomorrow,” he ended his instructions to the person on the other end. And then he explained to me that he had instructed the leader of the “three unknowns” to give the message I had heard, to a person who was a  known double agent, which would ensure that it would get to Altaf.
 
” And what will happen then?” I asked.
Tomorrow you will hear, sir, that Altaf has got admitted to Abassi Shaheed Hospital.” said Obaid. He then explained that whenever Altaf feels threatened he holes out in a room in this  hospital, which has only one access, and so is very easy to guard.
Before leaving, he advised me to be certain to hear the news on the TV the next day. And sure enough, one of the headlines informed the audience that Altaf Hussain had been unexpectedly taken ill, and was thus shifted to Abassi Shaheed.
I called Obaid and told him I would like him to schedule an interview with his Johnnies that evening.
 
That is the first time I met Afaq,Amir, and Wasim. They were mere lads like all others, in jeans, T-shirts and joggers. I found them very polite, but with Obaid they were absolutely reverential.
 
I had gone prepared with a lot of questions, and asked them all. My only interlocutor was Afaq. The other two just stayed out of the conversation. It has been many years now, and I remember little about this interview, but the following I have never forgotten:
a. Afaq was very adamant that they had broken ranks with Altaf on account of his corruption. He explained that MQM members were making tons of donations to Altaf, but he was misappropriating the money and building a personal fortune, and property for his family. He gave the example of property bought for his sister in Chicago.
b. He never acceded to my suggestion that a fat portion of the funds collected by them, were in fact the fruit of extortion.
c. He informed me that the real leader of MQM was Azim Tariq, whom Altaf had arranged to be murdered. Azim, he insisted was a natural leader, cool under pressure, graceful, patriotic, and clean as a whistle, compared to Altaf, who was corrupt to the hilt, and basically a coward, whose frayed nerves showed when there was pressure on him.
d. I told him that I knew that he [Afaq] could put real fright into Altaf,  and suggested that this could only be so if Afaq was a ruthless hitman of the party, of whose efficacy Altaf needed no proof. I tried to have him confess to this suggestion. I tried a myriad angles, but he parried me each time and vehemently denied it.
 
It took me six months of trying to get my interview published, hawking it from one paper to the other, till at last Frontier Post picked up the courage to publish a heavily edited version of it—talk of being “sh-t” scared!
 
Some time later Obaid informed me that he had been transferred to take up an undercover appointment in Bangkok, but that he had requested Gen Asad Durrani to have this cancelled, and to have him sent to Karachi instead, as the ISI detachment commander there. I had served with General Durrani in the Academy, and knew him to be one of our better officers. I was certain he would appreciate the spirit of Obaid’s request and get the needful done. It was no surprise therefore when he packed his bags for Karachi. On his request Capt Zia Shah [ later Lt Col] was posted as his number two.
 
A month later I got a call from Tubby…….sorry, I forgot to tell you that we all referred to Obaid as Tubby. And this because he was all of 5 foot 4 1/2 inches, though he always insisted that he was “at least” 5 foot 6, and had a little paunch which he tried manfully to hide all his life, but sadly, never quite succeeded in doing so.
 
Tubby informed me that he was coming to Islamabad the next day and would be staying with me. I could feel that he was excited. When he arrived he told me that he had called his D.G and told him that he had information which he was only  willing  to divulge to him personally, and that it was this what he had come for. By this time General Javed Nasir had taken over and the next day Obaid was to give him a presentation.
 
It was then that Tubby informed me that things in Karachi were much worse than he ever suspected, and that the MQM was a potential fifth column thoroughly infiltrated by RAW, and was getting a Mafia-style hold on Karachi, through organized terror, murder, torture, and extortion. He said that he had evidence of this which was irrefutable, and that Altaf Hussain was a primary enemy agent. Although I always suspected this, but when my suspicions were authenticated by a man whose job it was to know, and whose integrity and ability I could swear on,  I was stunned.
 
Similarly stunned was General Javed Nasir the next day after Obaid had got through his presentation, and the display of the evidence he had gathered. The General told him that he better stick on in Islamabad, and be prepared to give the same presentation to Asif Nawaz Janjua, the Army Chief, and Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister.
 
A couple of days later this follow-up presentation took place in GHQ with both these gentlemen present, with a whole panopoly of lesser beings. For the Army Chief, who had commanded the Karachi Corps, this presentation was merely a confirmation of what he already knew, or strongly suspected. Caught between him and the D.G ISI, Nawaz Sharif could merely nod an assent, the poker face not betraying any conviction or lack thereof. And thus the green light for Operation Karachi clean-up was given.
 
A couple of weeks later I got a call from Tubby to come over to Karachi. When I met him he told me that he had asked me to come over because the operation was going in the day after, and he wanted me to play the role of a sounding board.
 
The next morning a Maj Gen from the ISI, a very close friend of mine, came over. Not known to be an officer who took pressure badly, he seemed distinctly uncomfortable. Over a cup of tea he confessed–” I am sorry Tubby, of the thousand AK-47s you asked for, I have only been able to get hold of about 80.” 
Tubby fixed him with a long look of concern, and slowly shaking his head, told him that this was not good news, but that luckily he had managed to get hold of a good number 12 gauge shotguns, and operation being an urban area one, perhaps the shotguns would prove to be a better choice. The General asked him if he  was absolutely certain, and when Tubby said ” absolutely, sir,” I beheld a most relieved General.
 
After he left, I could not hide my concern: ” but Tubby how can you plan on a thousand Kalashnikovs, and settle for just 80 of them, and hope that shotguns will do the trick. How can you allow the operation to go ahead with such a great shortfall in resources??” I was appalled, and showed it.
” Its O.K sir ,” he said most non-chalantly, ” actually, I dont need any weapons.” 
” But then why did you ask for them and put my friend up to procuring them?”
” Well sir, if I had not got him busy on that front he would be here 24 hours a day, breathing down my neck, and micro-managing me!”
Having served in such a rank conscious organisation, I could only wonder at Obaid’s presumtuousness and effrontery, but had to grant him wit.
 
Next to turn up was Capt Zia Shah. Tubby plied him with some routine questions about the preparations for the operation, got his answers, and nodded with great seriousness  at each one. 
 
I had known Zia very well over the years. He was some years junior to my youngest brother at Lawrence College. I had grown to like him, but if I was to give him marks for grey matter, and been honest about it, I would have to be niggardly. So when Zia left, I could not help asking Tubby, if Zia had the stuff to be number two in an operation which could have vital consequences for the whole country?
By this time Tubby had started looking considerably taller. By the time he informed me that for this operation he needed no great brilliance in his subordinate, but total trust, he seemed to grow at least another inch. He was looking more and more like a man in total control who knew exactly what he was doing.
 
And then it was evening, and the Corps Commander called. Tubby put on the speaker phone.
” So youngster, I hope all is in place for the operation.” General Nasir Akhtar’s voice came through crisply, but not I suspected, entirely free of some concern. Tubby assured him that all was in order.
” I hope,” said the General, ” the casualty count will be no more than the 750 you promised.”
” Dont worry a bit about this sir. I am very certain about this one. Hopefully they will be about a hundred shy of this figue.”  Tubby was at his most assuring best.
 
When the General hung up, I could not help asking Tubby how could he be so certain about the expected casualties.
” I am not sir,” he said. ” As a matter of fact I dont have a clue.”
 
 
“But then, how could you give such a cast iron figure to the General?” I asked.
 
” Well sir, he asked me if I expected the casualties to be any more than 750. I thought long and hard, and assured him that this would just be about it. And this put the General at ease, so that I could move on to more important things.”
 
“But still,” I said, ” how could you give him such an off-the-cuff assurance on a figure, you dont have clue about?”
 
“Well sir, it is he who gave the figure, and I merely agreed with it,and reduced it by an acceptable number. Look sir, asking me about the number of expected casualties was a stupid question in the first place, and if I had given any figure higher than that which was considered ‘acceptable’ in the commander’s mind, we would not have been going in for the operation tonight. We would still be arguing about numbers. I know perfectly well though, that if they consider the operation a success, they will take all the credit for it, and if it fails in any dimension, the blame will be heaped upon me, and I would have to bear the consequences. I could not care less. This operation is very important for Karachi, and for Pakistan. We have a very well organized fifth column here, and we have to demolish it. That is the only thing that matters.”
 
I had great respect for may of Tubby’s individual qualities, but this was the first time, I was in a “working” environment with him. I was seeing a man I had never seen before. “”Tubby” was a nickname about which there was an inherent facetiousness. But what I was seeing now was a pocket dynamo. He was so clear about what he wanted to achieve, and how he would go about doing so, even if he should fall in the process. And if I needed any further confirmation of this, I got it when Afaq came over late evening.
 
Obaid was on the phone in the bedroom, when I went over and met Afaq. When Obaid came in, Afaq promptly got off the sofa, and sat down on the carpet. Not all our joint entreaties could cajole him off the rug and on to the sofa. He told me he had recognized  the Colonel early for one who was worth giving one’s life for, and after that day he  had vowed never to sit on par with him, as the students used to do with the “ustads” of old. He said he was never treated by the colonel in any manner short of respect, and that he was merely reciprocating.  I could not trace any hint of a “put on” in this exchange.
 
After Obaid and Afaq had discussed matters, and Afaq left about 10 p.m, I finally got the full briefing on the operation:
Not a single soldier or policeman was to be used. All the men were Afaq’s.
Not a single government weapon was to be used. All the weapons needed, Afaq’s men already had.
No reconnaissance was to be done, because Afaq’s men knew the den of every Altaf thug.
The only thing needed from the government was transport. No army or police vehicles were to be asked for,except a few from the municipal corporation of Karachi.
The operation would start at midnight, and the only help needed from the government was that strict instructions be given to all police stations, that post-midnight, they were not to respond to ANY emergency call, till instructed otherwise.
 
And then we waited, and midnight came and went. Calls started to com in. First few and far between. But as minutes ticked by, their  frequency increased, all reporting success.
 
At about 7 a.m Obaid thought it was about time we had a round of the “no-go” areas. Thus we drove through broken barriers where none but the chosen few were allowed to venture just a few hours earlier.
 
We inspected their torture chambers, with hooks on walls, and splashes of blood about them, which told a grisly tale.
 
At about 9 a.m we got home for breakfast.
 
At about 10 a.m Obaid got a call from the D.G. The operation was to be immediately halted. Obaid was no longer in command of the ISI Karachi detachment, could not go to the office, nor give any orders to his subordinates, not remove any documents, nor move out of his house.
He was to pack up his family and move them “home”.
He was then to report for attachment to a unit in Quetta, from where he could only move out on leave by special permission form GHQ, but would not be allowed to come to Karachi under any circumstances!!
 
So, what happened??
What happened was that everyone and his aunt was on board for this operation. All except Ghulam Ishaque Khan, the President of Pakistan. Altaf Hussain’s SOS calls from London all missed their mark.None except  Chaudhary Shujaat, who was then Interior Minister, and probably a little more intelligible than he now is, took his call. Baffled at what Altaf Hussain broke to him, he honestly [perhaps for the first time in his life ] told him that he had no idea what was going on.
 
And then Altaf hit the right button. He called the President’s son in law, Irfanullah Marwat.  Altaf, Marwat, and Jam Sadiq had fed heartily at the same trough, and each had done wonderfully well for themselves in this partnership of thieves.
 And Marwat came good. He called the President. And this “honest’ President folded to the entreaties of the man whose sole discernible credit was that he was married to his daughter, and the President called the Prime Minister, whose backbone’s prime employment thus far had been to hold his belly up. At the first real call of duty, it dutifully folded. And with it folded an operation for Karachi’s life Pakistan’s health. But the mere six hours for which the operation had run unimpeded, it broke half of MQM’s back, with just about 20 casualties instead of the “allowed” 750, and a large exodus of MQM thugs to India and Dubai via launches run by smugglers.
 
 

 

By Saeed Akhtar Malik
 
 
The short answer is: Yes.
How certain am I of this: Absolutely.
On what is my certainty based: On material uncovered before and after Operation Clean-up, Karachi, 1992.
And how do I know this: I had a ring-side seat at this operation.
 
Before going further, I need to introduce Lt Col Obaidullah [ late] who,concieved and executed the operation and was the moving spirit behind it.
Obaid was an officer of high intelligence, completely free of the taint of prejudice, both ethnic and religious. He was one of those rare birds who either had no fear, or could mask it to perfection. And in his personality, what competed with his patriotism as a defining trait, were his flights of emotion, which often tended to fly him off the handle.
 
It was one such emotional outburst which got him superseded as a major, and he got posted to Headquarters ISI, for the last leg of his service. Gen Hamid Gul was D.G ISI at the time. He had introduced the the practice of personally interviewing all freshly posted officers to the organization.
 
I drove Obaid for the interview, dropped him opposite the HQ, and went on to Aab para,  giving him the telephone contact of the travel agent where I would await his call, to pick him up. I was expecting his call in about an hour’s time, but he called a good three hours later.
 
When I picked him up he explained that there were about four officers who were interviewed ahead of him, about ten minutes each. But his interview went on for nearly an hour, after which the General informed him that he will be assigning him to an important slot. ” And sir,” Obaid confided in me, ” the General told me that I should henceforth consider myself promoted to Lt Col ! ”  I advised him not to set hopes too high on the issue of promotion, because that was not about to happen.
 
A week or so later he called to inform me that his promotion had indeed come through, specifically for appointments in the intelligence set-up.
 
One day a couple of months later, he asked me if I would like to interview three MQM operatives who were on the run from Altaf Hussain, but whom he had squirreled away in an organisation safe house. Those days I was writing for the papers, but I told him I was not interested. 
He insisted that I should not give up this opportunity. I replied that I would be interested if only he could give me one good reason to take time out to talk to these three unknowns.
 
Obaid thought for a while, and then said, “sir, you must interview them because Altaf Hussain is sh-t scared of them.” 
” And you would have me believe this–Altaf Hussain who makes the whole of Karachi tremble, is himself “sh-t” scared of these three chaps whom no one has ever heard of, and who have no roof over their heads?? OK you first give me proof of this and I will go along with you.”
 
Obaid twiddled his thumbs for a while and then asked to use my phone. “……and tell him on the special line that you will be in Karachi tomorrow,” he ended his instructions to the person on the other end. And then he explained to me that he had instructed the leader of the “three unknowns” to give the message I had heard, to a person who was a  known double agent, which would ensure that it would get to Altaf.
 
” And what will happen then?” I asked.
Tomorrow you will hear, sir, that Altaf has got admitted to Abassi Shaheed Hospital.” said Obaid. He then explained that whenever Altaf feels threatened he holes out in a room in this  hospital, which has only one access, and so is very easy to guard.
Before leaving, he advised me to be certain to hear the news on the TV the next day. And sure enough, one of the headlines informed the audience that Altaf Hussain had been unexpectedly taken ill, and was thus shifted to Abassi Shaheed.
I called Obaid and told him I would like him to schedule an interview with his Johnnies that evening.
 
That is the first time I met Afaq,Amir, and Wasim. They were mere lads like all others, in jeans, T-shirts and joggers. I found them very polite, but with Obaid they were absolutely reverential.
 
I had gone prepared with a lot of questions, and asked them all. My only interlocutor was Afaq. The other two just stayed out of the conversation. It has been many years now, and I remember little about this interview, but the following I have never forgotten:
a. Afaq was very adamant that they had broken ranks with Altaf on account of his corruption. He explained that MQM members were making tons of donations to Altaf, but he was misappropriating the money and building a personal fortune, and property for his family. He gave the example of property bought for his sister in Chicago.
b. He never acceded to my suggestion that a fat portion of the funds collected by them, were in fact the fruit of extortion.
c. He informed me that the real leader of MQM was Azim Tariq, whom Altaf had arranged to be murdered. Azim, he insisted was a natural leader, cool under pressure, graceful, patriotic, and clean as a whistle, compared to Altaf, who was corrupt to the hilt, and basically a coward, whose frayed nerves showed when there was pressure on him.
d. I told him that I knew that he [Afaq] could put real fright into Altaf,  and suggested that this could only be so if Afaq was a ruthless hitman of the party, of whose efficacy Altaf needed no proof. I tried to have him confess to this suggestion. I tried a myriad angles, but he parried me each time and vehemently denied it.
 
It took me six months of trying to get my interview published, hawking it from one paper to the other, till at last Frontier Post picked up the courage to publish a heavily edited version of it—talk of being “sh-t” scared!
 
Some time later Obaid informed me that he had been transferred to take up an undercover appointment in Bangkok, but that he had requested Gen Asad Durrani to have this cancelled, and to have him sent to Karachi instead, as the ISI detachment commander there. I had served with General Durrani in the Academy, and knew him to be one of our better officers. I was certain he would appreciate the spirit of Obaid’s request and get the needful done. It was no surprise therefore when he packed his bags for Karachi. On his request Capt Zia Shah [ later Lt Col] was posted as his number two.
 
A month later I got a call from Tubby…….sorry, I forgot to tell you that we all referred to Obaid as Tubby. And this because he was all of 5 foot 4 1/2 inches, though he always insisted that he was “at least” 5 foot 6, and had a little paunch which he tried manfully to hide all his life, but sadly, never quite succeeded in doing so.
 
Tubby informed me that he was coming to Islamabad the next day and would be staying with me. I could feel that he was excited. When he arrived he told me that he had called his D.G and told him that he had information which he was only  willing  to divulge to him personally, and that it was this what he had come for. By this time General Javed Nasir had taken over and the next day Obaid was to give him a presentation.
 
It was then that Tubby informed me that things in Karachi were much worse than he ever suspected, and that the MQM was a potential fifth column thoroughly infiltrated by RAW, and was getting a Mafia-style hold on Karachi, through organized terror, murder, torture, and extortion. He said that he had evidence of this which was irrefutable, and that Altaf Hussain was a primary enemy agent. Although I always suspected this, but when my suspicions were authenticated by a man whose job it was to know, and whose integrity and ability I could swear on,  I was stunned.
 
Similarly stunned was General Javed Nasir the next day after Obaid had got through his presentation, and the display of the evidence he had gathered. The General told him that he better stick on in Islamabad, and be prepared to give the same presentation to Asif Nawaz Janjua, the Army Chief, and Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister.
 
A couple of days later this follow-up presentation took place in GHQ with both these gentlemen present, with a whole panopoly of lesser beings. For the Army Chief, who had commanded the Karachi Corps, this presentation was merely a confirmation of what he already knew, or strongly suspected. Caught between him and the D.G ISI, Nawaz Sharif could merely nod an assent, the poker face not betraying any conviction or lack thereof. And thus the green light for Operation Karachi clean-up was given.
 
A couple of weeks later I got a call from Tubby to come over to Karachi. When I met him he told me that he had asked me to come over because the operation was going in the day after, and he wanted me to play the role of a sounding board.
 
The next morning a Maj Gen from the ISI, a very close friend of mine, came over. Not known to be an officer who took pressure badly, he seemed distinctly uncomfortable. Over a cup of tea he confessed–” I am sorry Tubby, of the thousand AK-47s you asked for, I have only been able to get hold of about 80.” 
Tubby fixed him with a long look of concern, and slowly shaking his head, told him that this was not good news, but that luckily he had managed to get hold of a good number 12 gauge shotguns, and operation being an urban area one, perhaps the shotguns would prove to be a better choice. The General asked him if he  was absolutely certain, and when Tubby said ” absolutely, sir,” I beheld a most relieved General.
 
After he left, I could not hide my concern: ” but Tubby how can you plan on a thousand Kalashnikovs, and settle for just 80 of them, and hope that shotguns will do the trick. How can you allow the operation to go ahead with such a great shortfall in resources??” I was appalled, and showed it.
” Its O.K sir ,” he said most non-chalantly, ” actually, I dont need any weapons.” 
” But then why did you ask for them and put my friend up to procuring them?”
” Well sir, if I had not got him busy on that front he would be here 24 hours a day, breathing down my neck, and micro-managing me!”
Having served in such a rank conscious organisation, I could only wonder at Obaid’s presumtuousness and effrontery, but had to grant him wit.
 
Next to turn up was Capt Zia Shah. Tubby plied him with some routine questions about the preparations for the operation, got his answers, and nodded with great seriousness  at each one. 
 
I had known Zia very well over the years. He was some years junior to my youngest brother at Lawrence College. I had grown to like him, but if I was to give him marks for grey matter, and been honest about it, I would have to be niggardly. So when Zia left, I could not help asking Tubby, if Zia had the stuff to be number two in an operation which could have vital consequences for the whole country?
By this time Tubby had started looking considerably taller. By the time he informed me that for this operation he needed no great brilliance in his subordinate, but total trust, he seemed to grow at least another inch. He was looking more and more like a man in total control who knew exactly what he was doing.
 
And then it was evening, and the Corps Commander called. Tubby put on the speaker phone.
” So youngster, I hope all is in place for the operation.” General Nasir Akhtar’s voice came through crisply, but not I suspected, entirely free of some concern. Tubby assured him that all was in order.
” I hope,” said the General, ” the casualty count will be no more than the 750 you promised.”
” Dont worry a bit about this sir. I am very certain about this one. Hopefully they will be about a hundred shy of this figue.”  Tubby was at his most assuring best.
 
When the General hung up, I could not help asking Tubby how could he be so certain about the expected casualties.
” I am not sir,” he said. ” As a matter of fact I dont have a clue.”
 
 
“But then, how could you give such a cast iron figure to the General?” I asked.
 
” Well sir, he asked me if I expected the casualties to be any more than 750. I thought long and hard, and assured him that this would just be about it. And this put the General at ease, so that I could move on to more important things.”
 
“But still,” I said, ” how could you give him such an off-the-cuff assurance on a figure, you dont have clue about?”
 
“Well sir, it is he who gave the figure, and I merely agreed with it,and reduced it by an acceptable number. Look sir, asking me about the number of expected casualties was a stupid question in the first place, and if I had given any figure higher than that which was considered ‘acceptable’ in the commander’s mind, we would not have been going in for the operation tonight. We would still be arguing about numbers. I know perfectly well though, that if they consider the operation a success, they will take all the credit for it, and if it fails in any dimension, the blame will be heaped upon me, and I would have to bear the consequences. I could not care less. This operation is very important for Karachi, and for Pakistan. We have a very well organized fifth column here, and we have to demolish it. That is the only thing that matters.”
 
I had great respect for may of Tubby’s individual qualities, but this was the first time, I was in a “working” environment with him. I was seeing a man I had never seen before. “”Tubby” was a nickname about which there was an inherent facetiousness. But what I was seeing now was a pocket dynamo. He was so clear about what he wanted to achieve, and how he would go about doing so, even if he should fall in the process. And if I needed any further confirmation of this, I got it when Afaq came over late evening.
 
Obaid was on the phone in the bedroom, when I went over and met Afaq. When Obaid came in, Afaq promptly got off the sofa, and sat down on the carpet. Not all our joint entreaties could cajole him off the rug and on to the sofa. He told me he had recognized  the Colonel early for one who was worth giving one’s life for, and after that day he  had vowed never to sit on par with him, as the students used to do with the “ustads” of old. He said he was never treated by the colonel in any manner short of respect, and that he was merely reciprocating.  I could not trace any hint of a “put on” in this exchange.
 
After Obaid and Afaq had discussed matters, and Afaq left about 10 p.m, I finally got the full briefing on the operation:
Not a single soldier or policeman was to be used. All the men were Afaq’s.
Not a single government weapon was to be used. All the weapons needed, Afaq’s men already had.
No reconnaissance was to be done, because Afaq’s men knew the den of every Altaf thug.
The only thing needed from the government was transport. No army or police vehicles were to be asked for,except a few from the municipal corporation of Karachi.
The operation would start at midnight, and the only help needed from the government was that strict instructions be given to all police stations, that post-midnight, they were not to respond to ANY emergency call, till instructed otherwise.
 
And then we waited, and midnight came and went. Calls started to com in. First few and far between. But as minutes ticked by, their  frequency increased, all reporting success.
 
At about 7 a.m Obaid thought it was about time we had a round of the “no-go” areas. Thus we drove through broken barriers where none but the chosen few were allowed to venture just a few hours earlier.
 
We inspected their torture chambers, with hooks on walls, and splashes of blood about them, which told a grisly tale.
 
At about 9 a.m we got home for breakfast.
 
At about 10 a.m Obaid got a call from the D.G. The operation was to be immediately halted. Obaid was no longer in command of the ISI Karachi detachment, could not go to the office, nor give any orders to his subordinates, not remove any documents, nor move out of his house.
He was to pack up his family and move them “home”.
He was then to report for attachment to a unit in Quetta, from where he could only move out on leave by special permission form GHQ, but would not be allowed to come to Karachi under any circumstances!!
 
So, what happened??
What happened was that everyone and his aunt was on board for this operation. All except Ghulam Ishaque Khan, the President of Pakistan. Altaf Hussain’s SOS calls from London all missed their mark.None except  Chaudhary Shujaat, who was then Interior Minister, and probably a little more intelligible than he now is, took his call. Baffled at what Altaf Hussain broke to him, he honestly [perhaps for the first time in his life ] told him that he had no idea what was going on.
 
And then Altaf hit the right button. He called the President’s son in law, Irfanullah Marwat.  Altaf, Marwat, and Jam Sadiq had fed heartily at the same trough, and each had done wonderfully well for themselves in this partnership of thieves.
 And Marwat came good. He called the President. And this “honest’ President folded to the entreaties of the man whose sole discernible credit was that he was married to his daughter, and the President called the Prime Minister, whose backbone’s prime employment thus far had been to hold his belly up. At the first real call of duty, it dutifully folded. And with it folded an operation for Karachi’s life Pakistan’s health. But the mere six hours for which the operation had run unimpeded, it broke half of MQM’s back, with just about 20 casualties instead of the “allowed” 750, and a large exodus of MQM thugs to India and Dubai via launches run by smugglers.
 
Three quarters of this criminal enterprise would still have lain broken but for Musharraf of the NRO fame, who validated everything nefarious to stay in power. He resurrected MQM, and put in place governor Ishrat ul Ibad, the extremely soft-spoken but ruthless torturer and MQM killer, now in office for over 12 years. And Musharraf,[ to whose credit go the resurrection of MQM, exoneration of Asif Zardari and his gang of thugs, and these hoodlums raping the country today ] has come back to be President again! This is not so much a commentary on Musharraf’s addled brain, as it is on the hopes this broken country still arouses among the witless aspirants to power. 
 
When I was taking leave of Obaid, I thought I would be seeing someone crushed. But I did not. I saw just someone immensely sad whose idealism had for the first time received a blow from reality which it would not be able to survive. He told me that whether he ever came back to Karachi or not, he was certain that all the material he had collected would survive in the archives of the ISI.  But that if they had left him in place just another two weeks or so, he was going to get proof of the money trail from RAW to MQM, but now that would never happen–the agent he had taken months to cultivate, would never trust the ”   “organisation” again.
 
There was just a meek sliver of saving grace in all this. The unit to which Tubby was going to be attached in Quetta was being commanded by Gen Asif Riaz Bukhari-a friend and a brother with a heart bigger than a house. Ironically, he was a “mohajir” officer, and like most of the mohajir officers with whom it had been my privilege to serve, he well transcended the national average. I called and told him that Obaid was coming to him, the circumstances in which this transition had taken place, and I requested him to make his landing as soft as possible.
 
At Quetta airport, Tubby was received by the General’s ADC, and driven to his mess in his staff car. And so the fall was broken. But MQM survived to extort, murder, kidnap, and sell Pakistan out in partnership with one political party or the other.
 
P.S As the Rangers have started the current operation clean-up of Karachi, their task is much more arduous than was Obaid’s in 1992. Though this is an across the board operation against the criminals and hoodlums of all political parties, it appears to be directed primarily against the MQM, because most of the high value targets picked up, or disposed off belong to this party. The reason for this is simple. It is quite apparent that the Rangers make their moves on the basis of inside information, and most of these insiders seem to belong to MQM. And when the smoke finally lifts, it will become clear that much of this information is being given by Afaq’s men, who suffered much at the hands of Altaf’s muscle men. It should already be quite apparent that the most important raid which the Rangers conducted against 90 was the result of a tip-off by Amir Khan, the same I had interviewed with Afaq so many years back.
This operation has ignited a glimmer of hope among the people of Pakistan, in that, that the last functioning institution of the country has finally risen to its defense, instead of abandoning it. The worst that could now happen is if the generals allowed the pace of this operation to slacken, instead of expanding it to other dens of miscreants spread all over the country. They should also realize that this operation is attacking the lesser arm of the pincer gripping our country. The more vicious arm, which is the existential threat to Pakistan, is mega corruption and the total immunity of the perpetrators that goes with this. This is what this country cannot survive.
The army, being responsible for national security, should formally cite mega corruption as a national security imperative, push to have the national security council reformed and resuscitated, and openly discuss mega corruption cases at this forum, and confront the perpetrators, so that there is no need to get into intrigue, and use such cases as an alibi to strangle the political process. Instead they should use their considerable heft to clean this process up.
The start should be made with the looting of land in Karachi, and the LNG deal. But this will not be easy to do, unless the army’s own house is first subject to cleaning. So let the guilty among generals, all very well known, be the first to hear the sound of the gavel, and then the party can start.

 

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Karachi in darkness and soaked in blood by Brig(Retd) Asif Haroon Raja

Karachi in darkness and soaked in blood

Asif Haroon Raja

 

 

 

 

Altaf Hussain, founder of MQM in 1984, and its chief was given political asylum in London after he fled from Karachi hospital in May 1992 because of life threats from his colleagues in his party. He was later awarded British nationality in 2002 and allowed to establish MQM International Secretariat in London. All the runaway MQM leaders involved in dozens of criminal cases in Pakistan were allowed to hire houses in posh area of London and are leading an affluent life. For the upkeep of their high lifestyle, MQM Rabita Committee with its HQ at Nine Zero in Karachi channelizes the needed funds. It is alleged that biggest source of earning is extortion money. MQM ministers have always vied for Port & Shipping Ministry and for Home Ministry. The then DG Rangers Sindh and now DG ISI Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar had deposed before the Supreme Court in 2013 that during Babar Khan Ghauri’s prolonged tenure, 19000 NATO containers carrying arms went missing.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Since 1992, Altaf has been remote controlling his party from London and giving regular sermons on telephone to his party workers. The MQM’s militancy was first jolted during 1992 military operation, but it couldn’t achieve much progress since the entire leadership went underground and arms dumps couldn’t be recovered. Moreover, the judicial and socio-economic prongs as well as the political will could not keep in step with the military prong. MQM’s militancy was contained to quite an extent in the 1995-1996 Police-Rangers operation headed by retired Gen Naseerullah Babar.

In that operation, 250-300 hardcore MQM militants were killed by the police, which broke the back of MQM militancy. MQM was forced to make South Africa as base of operation for its target killers. They were provided multiple passports and were called to Karachi for short-term specific ventures. MQM target killer Saulat Mirza confessed that 80-1000 target killers reside in South Africa. He also disclosed that MQM activists received training in India. The MQM also made Dubai as its economic hub centre.

The MQM once again ran into trouble after the murder of revered philanthropist Hakim Said on October 17, 1998. Nine MQM workers involved in his murder were arrested by DIG Farooq Amin Qureshi and the court sentenced them to death. Sindh government was sacked and Governor Rule imposed. However, once the MQM rebounded back to power in 2001, Sindh High Court acquitted all the accused and later the Supreme Court also upheld the acquittal.  

After Gen Musharraf took over power in October 1999, sagging fortunes of the MQM started swinging upwards. When Musharraf submitted to all the demands of Washington after 9/11, Altaf Hussain hastened to write a letter to the then British PM Tony Blair offering him ‘limitless resources’ for human intelligence to monitor activities of Madrassas, fundamentalists and Taliban in Pakistan. He also sought disbandment of ISI, cautioning Blair that the spy agency will produce many Osama bin Laden’s and Taliban in future. The MQM became stronger during Gen Musharraf’s nine-year rule. MQM Haqiqui under Amer Khan and Afaq Ahmad was pulverized and the two leaders jailed in 2004. Local government system suited MQM the most which enabled the MQM to gain control over almost 95% of port city. Ishrat ul Abad installed as Governor in 2001 is still in chair and is of great advantage to the party.

MQM and PPP were the biggest beneficiaries of infamous NRO issued by Gen Musharraf on October 5, 2007, which pardoned thousands of MQM leaders and activists involved in heinous crimes and dozens of PPP leaders involved in mega corruption. MQM shared power with PPP from 2008 till February 2013 and further bolstered its financial as well as its political strength in urban Sindh.

During MQM’s hey days, the MQM goons went on a killing spree against police officers involved in two operations in the 1990s. 300 police officers who had taken part in operation cleanup in Karachi in 1992 were eliminated one by one. Only SP Ch Aslam, later promoted DIG, was spared after he sought pardon, but was killed in 2013 since he had arrested Saulat Mirza. Likewise, over 100 police officers who had taken part in 1995-96 operation in Karachi were also killed by MQM thugs. Other than the police, thousands of innocent people were gunned down by unknown target killers between 2002 and 2013, but not a single culprit was arrested and convicted. The families of martyred have been abandoned by the State and the killers allowed to roam about freely.

The MQM has been in good books of USA, UK and India since its birth. Altaf and other MQM leaders based in London came on the wrong side of British government after London Metropolitan Police and Scotland Yard suspected them of being involved in the murder of senior MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq and subjected them to interrogation. They were also accused of money laundering worth millions of pound sterling. MQM Secretariat in Edgware and Altaf’s mansion in Mill Hill were raided which led to recovery of bags of unaccounted foreign currency.

For the first time after May 2013 elections, the party lost its blackmailing tactics since the PML-N didn’t require its political support in the Centre; so was the case with the PPP in Sindh. There on it has been on a downhill journey. As a result of PTI’s political activism in Karachi, which again was seen as a threat to MQM’s vote bank, Altaf delivered an inflammatory speech on phone. He exhorted his workers to cut the fingers of burger type supporters of PTI. Imran Khan held MQM responsible for the murder of PTI senior worker Zahra Shahid, who was targeted in front of her house in DHA-4 on May 18, 2013. Her murderers Kaleem and Rashid belonging to MQM have been arrested and are being tried.

London Metropolitan Police received unprecedented numbers of complaints from Pakistan, Britain and elsewhere asking it as to why it was not taking notice of incitement of violence by British national Altaf Hussain? He was accordingly charged and cautioned to control his reckless behavior and not to incite violence in future. Once the noose tightened, he and other party leaders cried out that the London Police and British government were conspiring to kill him. Unlike in Karachi where the MQM has the power to paralyse the city, it couldn’t carry out any sort of violent act in UK except for propaganda war which also boomeranged.

Reportedly, mystery of Dr Imran Farooq murder case will soon be solved since hired killers have been traced to be in the custody of Pakistani security agencies. Of late, the government is seriously contemplating to provide full details of the two prime suspects to Scotland Yard who killed Dr Imran. Other players are MQM MNA in Karachi who received orders from MQM International Secretariat in 2010 to arrange murder of Dr Imran. He had deputed Khalid Shamim, who in turn tasked Hammad Siddiqui. The latter picked up professional killers Mohsin Ali and Kashif Khan and sent them to London on student visa. The pair was briefed by an MQM official Haroon in London about the daily routine of Dr Imran, who was stabbed to death in front of his house on September 16, 2010.

Soon after committing the murder, the killers spoke to Khalid Shamim on phone saying that they had accomplished the mission. They were told to board a flight to Colombo to mislead the investigators. After two days, Shamim having planned to kill them phoned them to return to Karachi. This conversation was taped by Pak intelligence Agency. Once they arrived at Karachi airport, they were whisked away from the tarmac by the agencies. Ongoing probe is giving nightmares to Altaf. The dilemma is that the party cannot survive without Altaf, and the latter can neither return to Pakistan, nor can live safely in London.            

On one hand MQM’s hold over the city is weakening, and on the other its Supremo’s credibility has been dented because of charges of Dr Imran’s murder, money laundering and accusations made by his former wife Faiza Gabol in her divorce case. There are reports of cracks within the party, which had become the principal cause of Dr Imran’s murder. Mounting internal and external pressure has upset Altaf so immensely that he seems to have lost his sense of coherence. Feeling increasingly insecure, he keeps changing his goalposts in each of his telephonic address and goes reckless. He is past master in theatrics, but other than his diehard followers, who also get embarrassed by his cheap histrionics, great majority loathe his lengthy and mind-numbing jumbled speeches.

Terrorised media can dare not cut short his long-winded telephonic addresses. Altaf calls the TV newsroom directly asking them to give him live airtime. Any media house defying his orders is attacked by MQM goons. Dozens of journalists and media persons have been killed in Karachi. Religious and political opponents and police officials also remain on the hit list. Worst affected have been Urdu speaking community opposing Altaf’s policies.        

In the wake of high spate of target killings and kidnappings in Karachi and Sindh government’s inability to rein in the criminals, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar had taken suo moto action and established Supreme Court Bench in 2013 to take stock of the situation. The JIT presented a report to him, stating that the MQM, PPP, ANP and Sunni Tehriq had militant wings and were patronizing the criminals. Chief Justice directed the concerned parties to abolish the armed wings, but no action was taken and criminal acts continued unabated.

In September 2013, in a meeting chaired by PM Nawaz Sharif and attended by Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif and heads of all Sindh political parties, it was mutually decided to restore peace in Karachi by launching intelligence driven Rangers-Police operation against all criminal elements and giving enhanced powers to the Rangers. Owing to politicization of Sindh police and dysfunctional administrative machinery, the progress has been slow but gradually the law and order situation improved. Besides getting hold of criminals of PPP, TTP and others, law enforcers also tightened the noose around MQM’s militant wing involved in target killings and other crimes. However, whenever any action is directed against MQM workers, MQM leaders raise hue and cry saying that Muhajirs are being victimized. They threaten to go their way if pushed against the wall.

Rauf Rajput, sector in-charge Mehmoodabad after his arrest by the police on February 8, 2015 revealed that he and his accomplices were involved in May 12, 2007 killings of 166 persons in Karachi on the occasion of arrival of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. He disclosed the secret places in the city where arms were dumped for target killing. Rizwan Qureshi, an MQM worker, arrested by Rangers on June 22, 2013, confessed before the JIT that fire in Baldia town garment factory on September 11, 2012 was not accidental but deliberate. He disclosed that fire in factory was lit by sector in-charge of Baldia Town Rehman Bhola and his accomplices on the instructions of Hammad Siddiqui, in-charge Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, after the factory owners refused to pay Rs 200 million extortion money. As a consequence, 289 people were burnt to death.

The matter had been put in cold freezer by the then PPP-MQM coalition government in Sindh on the plea that fire occurred due to short circuiting. The case was presented before Sindh Court in February 6, 2015, but Rizwan disappeared mysteriously one month later. The case has once again been opened on March 16, 2015 and JIT is reinvestigating it on the basis of fresh evidence collected. It will submit the report within one month.  

This revelation of Bhola’s involvement in factory fire was also made by Umair Siddiqui after his arrest on February 20, 2015. He also disclosed that he had constituted a death squad comprising 23 target killers on instructions of Karachi Tanzeemi Committee in-charge Hammad Siddiqui. He confessed that his squad killed 120 MQM opponents. Umair confessed purchasing weapons for MQM militant wing from an arms dealer in Quetta. He unveiled that 250-300 target killers were hiding in shelters around Nine Zero.

It was being widely contemplated that MQM’s mandate in urban Sindh has been gained through manipulation and under the barrel of the gun. Some TV channels had aired footages of armed MQM thugs inside polling stations in Karachi stuffing ballot boxes during 2008 elections. This perception has now been reaffirmed by Umair Siddiqui. He divulged in the interrogation that during May 2013 elections, 60-70% workers of Gulshan-e-Jauhar sector cast fake votes in favor of Faisal Sabzwari in Maymar sector on his orders. He said that he had summoned the presiding officers and gave them 15-20 ballot boxes for each polling station in the constituency. He also revealed that Rabita Committee deputy convener Anees Qaimkhani had convened a meeting at Khurshid Begum Memorial Hall (adjacent to Nine Zero) in 2008, which was attended by Hammad Siddiqui and all sector and joint sector in-charges; and they were directed by Anees to expedite killings on ethnic basis.        

The real bombshell fell when the Rangers on the basis of intelligence carried out search operation of Nine Zero at 6AM on March 11, 2015 and arrested criminals against whom criminal cases of grave nature had already been registered and among them were most wanted criminals like Faisal Mahmood, nickname Mota, killer of journalist Babar Wali who had been convicted and given death sentence by the court. MQM Rabita Committee leader Amer Khan (former Haqiqi leader) was also detained since he was sitting besides the criminals. He has a close connection with militant wing of MQM. In addition, 130 prohibited bore weapons ex NATO stock, 3000 live ammunition and explosives were also seized. 29 persons were produced before the court and have been remanded for 90 days for further interrogation by Rangers.

Journalist Babar Wali employed by Geo TV had come in bad books of MQM because of his negative reporting about its activities. He was gunned down by unknown assassins on January 13, 2011. The JIT comprising five top agencies investigated the case and concluded that Faisal Mota belonging to MQM was the mastermind behind the murder. 23 witnesses were listed but only six agreed to testify for fear of being killed. They all were killed one by one between January 2011 and November 2012. Eight accused were arrested who confessed before the JIT that they had been ordered by their boss Adeel alias Agha Murtaza based in South Africa. He had directed Faisal Mota to kill Babar. Mota and Zeeshan were awarded death sentence in absentia while other 8 accused given life sentences. Mota was finally arrested on March 11, 2015 from Nine Zero. Zeeshan is still a fugitive.     

Finding no excuse to justify presence of convicted and most wanted criminals and target killers and prohibited weapons in Nine Zero and adjacent houses, and failing to deny or dissociate from them, Altaf and other MQM leaders besides giving strike call, embarked upon a calculated vilification campaign against the Rangers and Army to play up the old theme of political victimization and also to distract attention. While making uproar over the killing of MQM worker Faisal Shah by Rangers, they came out with bizarre story that the Rangers had brought weapons hidden in blankets to discredit MQM. Altaf used highly abhorrent and derogatory language against the Rangers and Army, threatening Rangers officers that they had become history. Col Tahir of Rangers who had led the raid has registered FIR against Altaf.                

The day Nine Zero was raided; ATC in Karachi issued black warrants for convicted Saulat Mirza involved in murder of Shahid Hamid, MD KESC, his driver Ashraf Brohi and guard Akbar Khan on July 5, 1997 in DHA Karachi. Hamid’s widow had to flee Pakistan because of threats to her life. Mirza was tried in a court and sentenced to death on May 24, 1999. He was released on parole in 2004, but was again arrested by deceased DIG Aslam. He dodged the gallows because of his patrons and later due to the moratorium imposed in 2008 which remained enforced till December 2014.

During his internment, Mirza masterminded and ordered killings of 40 police officers and jail officials interfering in his work. To detach him from his network, he was shifted to Mach jail in April 2014, much to the chagrin of MQM high command. When his death warrants were issued and he was to be hanged on January 7, 2015, the federal government wilted under MQM pressure and halted the execution. Like many, Balqis Ashraf, widow of slain driver Ashraf Brohi is also apprehensive that Mirza may again dodge the gallows on March 19 because of MQM pressure.     

Hours before his hanging, Saulat Mirza gave out bone chilling details about the criminal activities of MQM leadership and its agenda, which were aired by media channels. He categorically stated that he, deceased Rashid Akhtar, Asad and Athar had been ordered by Altaf Hussain and Babar Ghauri to murder Shahid Hamid. He said Altaf and senior MQM leadership use MQM workers and then ditches them after achieving their purpose; and also gets rid of MQM leaders like Azeem Tariq and Mustafa Kamal getting popular. He stated that hidden agenda was to destroy industry of Karachi and break up Pakistan. These startling revelations impelled the government to halt Mirza’s execution for another 72 hours so that more information could be gathered from him. Eight MQM senior leaders have been put on ECL.

The APDM had pledged in London in 2007 that because of fascist policy of MQM, no winning party will share power with MQM in future. This rule was broken when PPP came to power in 2008. Karachi went from bad to worse when coalition government of PPP-MQM-ANP was ruling the roost from 2008 till March 2013. Whole efforts were devoted towards keeping MQM appeased than in sorting out the affairs of the province. On the average, 10-15 target killing took place daily and the same phenomenon is continuing. 10,000 people have been killed in last five years and not a single target killer punished. One of the nabbed offenders Ajmal Pahari confessed to have target killed over 100 people, but was let off by courts. Jailed target killers were patronized and facilitated to maintain their network to kill persons on hit list. In addition, street crimes like purse/mobile snatching, kidnapping and bank robberies had peaked.

PPP less MQM is still in the driving seat and with the same captain who had miserably failed to control lawlessness and target killings in Karachi. Incumbent government in Sindh is part of the problem and not the solution. The former President Zardari, Chief Minister, Governor Sindh, Police, Bureaucracy and three ruling political parties were responsible for making Karachi anarchic and for the loss of so many lives. Former President and Army Chief Gen Musharraf, now being projected as the next MQM Chief, is also part of the problem for having patronized and protected MQM and issuing black NRO.

Out of the 450 target killers and extortionists identified by the JIT in 2013, majority was from the MQM. Taliban entered the fray in 2009 after operations in Swat and South Waziristan. Besides, there are land and drug mafias patronized by politicians and police and the latter is heavily politicized. Karachi has been plundered with both hands. Rs 10 million is earned from extortion daily, Rs 50 million from kidnapping for ransom, 2.4 million from parking mafia, Rs 100 million by water mafia, Rs 150 million by narcotics/gambling dens. Roadside stalls pay Rs 8.25 million bhatta daily, while public transport, containers, oil tankers, trucks pay Rs 14.8 million goonda tax daily. Rs 15 million is lost in power theft while hospitals collect Rs 3 million for medical slips daily. 40-50 motorcycles and 20-25 cars are stolen daily accounting for loss of Rs 2.5 million. Police has its share in the loot and so has other government departments whose palms are greased to get petty works done. Total loss each day comes to Rs 830 million.    

MQM and JUI-F are a load on any government since both believe in blackmailing tactics to acquire prized ministries and perks and privileges. The two remain friendly as long as their demands are met. The only difference between the two is that the MQM resorts to violence, strikes and wailing when its demands are not met. It also threatens to breakaway when it finds itself cornered.

Karachi is in darkness and soaked in blood. The Army under Gen Raheel Sharif has vowed to rid Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism and to make Karachi peaceful and the city of lights. Sindh Rangers have also vowed to take the operation to its logical end. Nawaz Sharif had wilted under pressure of the MQM in the past and he preferred political expediency over national interests and people’s security. He is once again under test and it is to be seen how he behaves this time. He has so far shown guts, but history will never excuse him if he fails the nation again. Governor Sindh must be immediately removed as demanded by PTI and Altaf’s telephonic addresses banned.

Those espousing the cause of MQM and expressing dreadful scenarios in case a ban is imposed on MQM as in the case of 38 terrorist groups must explain how MQM’s fascism will be reined in and how the people of Karachi protected from its terrorism? They must take into consideration the sentiments of jubilating people in Karachi feeling relieved and expressing high hopes that they will be able to breathe freely.

The writer is a retired Brig, defence analyst/columnist/book writer, Director Measac Research Centre. [email protected]

 

 

 

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