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Movement of internally displaced persons in Sindh
MQM announces support to nationalist parties
By Irfan Ali
KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has announced its
unanimous and unconditional support to the Sindh-based parties
against the accommodation of outsiders in the province.
“We assure MQM’s support and cooperation to Sindh-based parties who
are protesting against the camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs),”
MQM Rabita Committee Deputy Convener and Federal Minister for
Overseas Pakistani’s Dr Farooq Sattar announced at a press
conference on Friday. He vowed that MQM believes in the sovereignty
and stability of the country and therefore would not allow the
conspiracy of Talibanisation of Sindh to succeed.
“We shall meet Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to discuss these
issues today and later we shall bring the concerns of the people of
Sindh to the notice of President Asif Zardari and Federal Interior
Minister Rehman Malik on their visit to Sindh,” he announced.
To a question about the exchange of firing between Pakistan Rangers
and the IDPs, he said that the MQM has proposed to the government to
stop the entry of the migrants from other provinces in view of these
incidents. He said that the residents of a province should live
within their province and must be provided with all the civic
facilities there.
He demanded that the president, prime minister, federal interior
minister and the high-ups of the national security institutions
ensure the registration of IDPs who are migrating to other provinces
and restrict their presence in the camp areas only. He added that
the Taliban have entered the settled areas along with the IDPs and
have setup their operational points in Karachi and others cities of
Sindh for suicide attacks and other terrorist activities.
MQM’s official said that the police has arrested several groups of
terrorists affiliated with Taliban and Al-Qaeda and recovered
explosives, suicide jackets and ammunition. Their confessional
statements proved that the concerns of MQM chief Altaf Hussain were
based on reality, he added. Sattar urged the government to take
action against Taliban in Karachi and other cities of Sindh and also
in Lahore, Islamabad and Quetta so as to save these cities before a
Swat-like situation.
Answering a question, he admitted that thousands of the IDPs were
settled in Karachi and others cities and districts of Sindh but the
government was not maintaining any record.
Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) Chairman Bashir Khan Qureshi had
earlier appealed to the masses to observe a strike on May 23 to
express their opposition to the government’s policy for setting IDPs
camps in Sindh including Karachi. JSQM (Aresar Group) has also
called for complete shutdown strike on May 23 and May 25 against the
IDPs’ camps in Sindh.(Daily Times:Saturday ,May 23,2009) |
