national news
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violence claims fourteen lives this week
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fourteen people, including two mqm activist fell victim to violence.
Terrorists kidnapped and killed four men and arsonists burnt at least
seven public and private vehicles in the city and also set ablaze
several dozen telephone cables in orangi, rendering thousands of
telephones unworkable. Some incidents are cited below
karachi, dec. 1 an mqm activist, who was going on a motorcycle with
another friend, was shot dead by the police when they did not stop
their motorcycle on the orders of a police party. The victim was
identified as naseeruddin babu his companion fled the scene.
The orangi town police described naseeruddin as a terrorist and
claimed he was killed in an encounter . Ssp west was not available
for his comments.
Two arrested police claimed it arrested two mqm activists after an
encounter in paposhnagar and found two kalashnikov rifles from their
possession. They were identified as arshad and wahid.
The police claimed that arshad had set ablaze a larkana-bound bus on
january 27, 1995 at al karam square in which seven passengers were
burnt to death. About wahidullah, the city police claimed that he is
an mqm unit chief and had allegedly committed 15 murders.
Karachi, nov. 2 orangi, where the police shot dead mqm worker
naseeruddin babu, remained tense with sporadic incidents of shooting.
Mqm women activists on saturday brought out the funeral procession of
naseeruddin babu claiming that the rangers are not allowing men to
attend it.
An unidentified bullet-riddled body was found in defence phase-vii.
The victim could not be identified. This was the second body found in
defence during the last two days.
The police suspect both the victims were killed somewhere else in the
city and later their bodies were thrown at the qayyumabad drain in
defence.
Public and private vehicles were set ablaze in liquatabad, orangi,
korangi, arambagh and at nishtar road.
Karachi, dec. 4 the worst incident occurred in orangi town where
three men, who had gone out in search of a missing relative were
kidnapped and killed.
Police said mohammad boota, mian khan and bashir ahmed, left their
data nagar house to search for noor mohammad who had not returned
home.
All three relatives were kidnapped and their bullet-riddled bodies
were found stuffed in gunny bags in orangi. Their missing relative
noor mohammad was also found dead.
The charred body of an unidentified man, with his hands tied behind
the back, was found stuffed in a gunny bag in gulshan-i-iqbal. The
victim, according to doctors, was probably killed and later his body
was set ablaze.
Karachi, dec. 5 wajid ali safdar, mqm orangi town unit chief, died in
a shootout with the police in orangi his other companions escaped,
police claimed.
Father of syed mazahir hussain, claimed that wajid ali was arrested
during a raid on his residence in north karachi at 1 am on tuesday and
was taken away by rangers and police in front of all the family
members.
The family claimed that the raiding party had given wajid ali a severe
beating before taking him away. Relatives claimed that his body had
marks of torture, and both legs were broken.
Party chief altaf hussain severely criticised wajid s murder and
demanded an immediate action against those who were responsible for
it.
Mqm leaders told dawn that the family of wajid ali safdar was forced
to abandon their orangi house by a ppp activist who allegedly enjoyed
the backing of rangers and police.
They said two police constables, murad and ismail, had been frequently
visiting the family in north karachi to know wajid s whereabouts. On
monday night when wajid came to meet his family, the rangers
surrounded the apartment and arrested him, the mqm claimed.
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951202
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concern expressed at carnage forecast
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staff reporter
karachi, dec 1 the mqm coordination committee has expressed its
concern over predictions which appeared in a section of press on
friday regarding a planned carnage on dec 16 in the city.
Horrifying news are part of disinformation unleashed by the
government to arrest and kill more people in the name of violence and
terrorism, the committee claimed.
It said interior minister naseerullah babar was on record having
predicted in a statement that the month of december would be very
important.
The committee alleged the sindh government had embarked on a plan to
crush the urban population in the name of killing by indian agents and
terrorists. It said deployment of thousands of law enforcers in the
city had exposed the government plan.
In another statement, coordination committee convenor senator ishtiaq
azhar condemned the killing of naeem ahmad, an mqm activist, who was
buried by women in korangi as men were not allowed to offer his
funeral prayer and bury him .
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951202
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mqm leader s brothers arrested
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staff reporter
karachi, dec. 1 the mqm fact-finding committee claimed on friday that
a heavy contingent of rangers and police raided the house of rauf
siddiqui, mohibban-i-pakistan chief organiser, in federal b area on
thursday night and arrested his brothers.
In a statement, the committee said abdur rahim siddiqui, 54, abdul
aziz siddiqui, 51, and abdul basit siddiqui, 39, had nothing to do
with politics. They are federal government officials, it added.
The committee said the raiding party had come to arrest zafar
siddiqui, the younger brother of rauf siddiqui who was out of the
country for the last one-and-a-half-year.
The committee said the three were subjected to torture at the gulberg
police station.
In a statement, mqm chief altaf hussain condemned the arrest of rauf s
brothers and asked the president to intervene.
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951204
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mqm s strike disrupts city life
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staff reporter
karachi, dec. 3 the mqm strike to protest the alleged high-handedness
of the security forces widely disrupted life in the city on sunday.
The mqm gave a strike call against an incident in korangi in which it
claimed rangers and police created such a situation which forced the
women mourners to bring out the funeral procession of party worker
mohammad naeem.
The sindh government denied this and said men were also present in
large numbers.
The second similar funeral was brought out in orangi on saturday. A
spokesman for the sindh police described both the incidents as a
publicity stunt by the mqm.
Sunday s strike remained peaceful except for a stray incident of
violence in which a man was shot and killed in orangi while a private
car was set ablaze in federal b area.
The troubled localities of the city, where mqm supporters are in a
majority, remained shut throughout the day. Elsewhere in the city, the
strike was either partial or there were no signs of strike at all.
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951205
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dehlavi for confidence building measures
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staff reporter
karachi, dec. 4 leader of the mqm negotiation team ajmal dehlavi, who
returned from london after having consultations with party chief altaf
hussain, said that confidence-building measures were must for holding
successful talks.
Asked whether mr hussain was satisfied with the pace of the talks, mr
dehlavi said when i am not convinced with the talks, how altaf bhai
can be satisfied. Before resumption of talks the government ought to
take such measures as can improve law and order situation and create
an atmosphere of confidence only then a political solution to the
karachi crisis is possible.
His attention was drawn to mr n.d. Khan s reported statement in which
he had said if the government s 21 points were accepted, it would lead
to restoration of peace and tranquillity in karachi and the situation
of political deadlock would be overcome, the mqm team chief said this
statement was nothing but a repeated joke as nowhere in the world a
government had asked a political party to accept demands as it was
always the government which was at the giving end and not the
political party.
However, he said, he would be sending the reply of mr khan letter
tomorrow or day after tomorrow with the hope that the government would
take confidence-building measures before resumption of the talks.
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951205
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mqm fears for worker s life
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staff reporter
karachi, dec. 4 the mqm feared that one of its workers, who was
arrested along with his two brothers in kharadhar last month, will be
killed in a fake encounter by the korangi police.
The mqm said javed raza, a member of korangi sector committee, his
brothers, khalid raza and arif raza, were arrested on nov. 1. Despite
the fact that the three were not wanted in any case they were kept in
various police stations. Finally, they were taken to the korangi
police station, where javed was booked in 17 cases and his brothers
were booked in two cases each, they said.
The mqm claimed that on monday javed was produced in a special
terrorist court by the korangi police and after the hearing took him
with them. But the party claimed that till late monday night javed was
not brought back to the korangi police station and feared that he
might be killed during a fake attack on a police party as had
happened earlier in the case of faheem farouqi and three other mqm
workers.
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951206
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mqm seeks assurance on end to extra-judicial killings
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staff correspondent
london, dec. 5 the mohajir qaumi movement has asked for an
undertaking that extra judicial killings and other form of
brutalities of its supporters will be immediately stopped and the
diverse promises made to them during talks by the official negotiating
team would be actually implemented before they can agree to restart
the talks with the government.
In a letter addressed to the leader of the government negotiating
team, mr n.d. Khan, the mqm chief negotiator, ajmal dehlavi, has also
pressed for a meaningful response to the points raised in his letter
of cot 9 and for an environment of trust to be created to enable us
to feel that the administration is genuinely in search of a lasting
solution to the problems we have been discussing.
The mqm released the text of its letter sent today in reply to mr
khan s communication of nov. 15, with copies of the previous
correspondence.
Reference: Daily dawn
week ending 07 december 1995 issue 01/48