MQM CALLS FOR PEACEFUL STRIKE IN KARACHI TO PROTEST THE EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS OF ITS WORKERS BY THE POLICE

7 September 1999

MQM Central Co-ordination Committee has decided to call for a peaceful strike to protest against the extra-judicial killings of its workers Jamal Hussain and Mohammad Saleem in Orangi Town, Karachi, by the police on the instructions of the totalitarian regime of Nawaz Sharif. This peaceful strike will be observed throughout the province of Sindh on Thursday, 9 September 1999. The Members of MQM Co-ordination Committee made this announcement today in a crowded press conference held in Karachi. Furthermore, all the major opposition parties in Pakistan have also announced their full co-operation and support for the forthcoming peaceful strike.

In the early hours of 7 September 1999, Jamal Hussain and Mohammad Saleem were arrested during a raid conducted by a heavy contingent of police at their temporary residence in Orangi Town, Karachi and later extra-judicially executed after being subjected to most brutal torture.

More than 350 MQM workers and supporters have been ruthlessly murdered since the present Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came into power in 1997. Furthermore, this is the third case of extra-judicial killings in the month of September 1999, claiming the lives of 5 innocent MQM workers and supporters.