MQM workers arrested in crackdown on Martyrs Day in Karach

Police, para-military rangers and other security forces on Sunday arrested dozens of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers including women in Karachi to subdue the Martyrs' Day organised by the party.

MQM observes Martyrs' Day on December 9 every year, wherein MQM workers and supporters go to the monument of martyrs situated at the Jinnah Ground in Karachi's Azizabad for offering 'fateha' and pay tribute to those who lost their lives during the state operations.

Thousands of Mohajir men, women, and children gathered on Sunday morning in Azizabad but the police and rangers had blockaded all the routes leading to the monument, forcefully shut businesses, and illegally made hundreds of arrests.

The Mohajir men, women, children and the elderly were not spared as the police and para-military rangers tear gassed, brutally tortured, and indiscriminately abducted hundreds of peaceful men, women, and children, who were shifted to unknown locations.

MQM founding leader Altaf Hussain strongly condemned the large-scale arrests, calling the move 'naked terrorism' by the state. He said that in Pakistan, banned outfits are free to hold violent demonstrations but the Mohajir in general and MQM workers in particular, have been completely banned from carrying out their peaceful activities.

"They are not even allowed to pay tribute and offer 'fateha' for their martyrs, a right which is guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan and recognised under international conventions," the MQM chief further said.

Altaf Hussain said that Mohajirs till date have not been recognised as equal class citizens, adding that Pakistan has resorted to state-led operations to ensure that his voice, the only 'liberal voice' is silenced. He demanded the immediate release of all workers and a halt on the ongoing brutal state operations against the Mohajirs.