Altaf Hussain for impartial reinvestigation of Safari Park shootout

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader, Altaf Hussain, Wednesday said that the whole of Pakistan was in dire need of durable peace in Karachi, Geo News reported.

Hussain in his telephonic address in response to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s press conference said: “All the impartial measures taken to bring about lasting peace in Karachi will, without a doubt, earn our support”

He strongly advised the government to launch an operation to restore the sense of security among the public in general and the business community in particular.

“An action to rid the residents of Karachi of their fears was the need of the hour, however, it should not be of the like of what Karachi reeled under in 1992”, said he in the telephonic broadcast.

He warned that any action targeting a particular group and leaving the others untouched would not bear any fruit.

“The 1992 Operation Clean-up, officially launched to purge Karachi of the so-called 72 big fish, was later aimed at victimizing MQM and a certain portion of population. Such a misadventure this time will only end up in a terrible fiasco”, Altaf added.

Such a move would never let the dream of peace materialize in Karachi, Hussain stressed.

MQM leader also demanded of the interior minister to get to the bottom of the August 15 controversial Safari Park shootout between the police and the alleged illegal squatters of land mafia which lasted for several hours.

He said that Nisar’s efforts to bring peace to Karachi would succeed if he exposed influential elements behind a move to declare Safari Park “terrorists” innocents.

The MQM chief said video footage released by some TV channels showed that the nine arrested accused were involved in firing on policemen. However, on August 27, CID DIG declared the accused as innocent during a press conference held at his office.

Altaf Hussain said that it would be a matter of great concern for the governmnet if trend of declaring terrorists as innocents continues.

Urging the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo moto notice of the doubtful police encounter, Hussain said that an honest as well as unprejudiced reinvestigation of Safari Park incident could prove a key to Karachi peace.