On
6 November 2000, a bomb blast occurred at the offices of Nawa-i-Waqt (Urdu
Daily newspaper) in Karachi. The police and the other law enforcement agencies
have not yet reached the conclusion as to who was responsible for the blast.
There are varying reports as to how this blast was carried out, some of the
police official claim that it was a “suicidal attempt”, others do not
agree. However, without reaching to any
conclusion, the Karachi Police have started mass arrests of innocent people,
falsely implicating mainly Mohajirs to extort money in bribes for their
release.
It
has been a normal practice of the Punjabi Police in Karachi to arrest innocent
people on false and fabricated charges and extort money for their release. Hundreds of Mohajirs have been forced to pay
millions of rupees in bribes to these corrupt policemen to avoid false arrest
and torture. It is estimated that in
the last three days since the blast occurred, the Punjabi Police of Karachi has
extorted millions of rupees from innocent Karachiites.
Since
the bomb blast in Karachi on 6 November 2000, the Karachi Police has been
raiding the houses of hundreds of MQM leaders, workers and supporters and
arresting them indiscriminately. The
extent of discriminatory policies against the MQM can be gauged by the fact
that Mr Mohammad Raza Haroon, who has been living in exile in London since
1994, and working in the MQM International Secretariat as a joint incharge and
a Member of MQM Central Coordination Committee, his house was raided again on
the night of 6 November 2000.
Similarly, the house of Sarfraz Ahmed, who has also been living in exile
in London since 1995 and is a personal assistant of Mr Altaf Hussain, Founder
and Leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), was also raided. Furthermore, dozens of raids were made on
the houses of Mohammad Raza Haroon and Sarfraz Ahmed during absence from Karachi.