BRITISH MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT URGE NOT TO REPEAT ARMY OPERATION AGAINST MUTTAHIDA QUAMI MOVEMENT (MQM)

5 December 2001
Members of the British Parliament moved an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons urging Her Majesty’s Government to press the Government of Pakistan not to repeat any army operation similar to that undertaken on 19^th. June 1992 against Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM).

The EDM presented in the House of Commons on 3^rd. December 2001 read as follows: “That this House looks forward to the return of Pakistan to full membership of the Commonwealth; recalls the commitment made by the President, General Musharraf of a return of democratic government in Pakistan; and urges Her Majesty’s Government to press the Government of Pakistan not to repeat any army operation similar to that undertaken on 19^th. June 1992 which resulted in mass arrest, restriction including killing and movement of over 15,000 Mohajirs and supporters of Muttahida Quami Movement”. This appears in the Notices of Motions: 3rd December 2001 and the number of the item is 505.

House of Commons

Muttahida Quami Movement, having received the information of the launching of an “Army Operation”, more brutal then the one launched on 19^th. June 1992 informed the Members of the British Parliament to take pro-active measures to stop the blood shed of innocent Mohajirs (Urdu-speaking Sindhis) in general and the leaders, office bearers, workers supporters and their relatives in particular. The “Army Operation” that was launched on 19^th. June 1992 and continuing unabated in one form or the other resulted in the extra-judicial, summary and arbitrary executions of over 15,000 Mohajirs including the leaders, office bearers, workers, supporters and their relatives and Mr Nasir Hussain (66) and Mr Arif Hussain (28), brother and nephew of Mr Altaf Hussain, founder and leader of the MQM. During the Operation arbitrary arrests, torture in custody and custodial deaths were daily occurrences. “Disappearances” of Mohajirs in general and MQM workers and supporters was a daily routine. Siege and Search operations by the Army, Para-Military Rangers, Police, Frontier Constabulary and Intelligence Agencies were order of the day. Widespread rapes and gang rapes and extortion by the personnel of the Army, Para-Military Rangers, Police and other law enforcement agencies was committed and practiced. The “Army and State Operations” rendered millions of Mohajirs destitute and thousands of Mohajirs forcibly evicted and displaced from the “No-Go Areas” of Landhi, Lines Area, Malir, Korangi, Shah Faisal Colony and part of Liaquatabad in Karachi. Thousands of Mohajirs and MQM leaders, office bearers and workers were arbitrarily arrested and jailed without charges, concocted charges and without due process of law including the MQM parliamentarians, some of them are in arbitrary detention, even today. Thousands of Mohajirs and MQM leaders, office bearers and workers were and are forced to live in hiding or in exile for the fear of their life and liberty. Thousands have been maimed for life during torture in custody of the state.

MQM has always pressed on the demand to establish a genuine “Democratic Middle Class Order” and the end of the prevalent corrupt and kleptomaniac feudal-cum-military rule and manipulated “Democracy” in Pakistan. This rule and the system have repeatedly failed the people and the country during the testing hours of the nation. The creation and patronisation of Taliban, proliferation of terrorism in the name of Jihad, state terrorism inflicted on its ethno-linguistic and cultural nations of the smaller provinces particularly in Sindh and Balochistan provinces and the defeat of its foreign and military policy in Afghanistan are the glaring examples of the failings of the policymakers and the rulers of Pakistan.

The Members of the British Parliament who were already well informed about the brutalities and atrocities subjected to the Mohajirs and the MQM leaders and workers during the State terrorism committed since 19^th. June 1992 were petrified having learnt the news of the fresh “Army Operation” against the MQM. The Members of the Co-ordination Committee expressed their gratitude to the Members of the British Parliament over their concerns and efforts to stop Mohajirs and MQM being subjected to the state terrorism, once again.