Unjustified Raid at Nine Zero (?)

Written By: Miza Haque

As claimed by residents in the Azizabad area, Nine Zero, MQM’s headquarters, had been raided by the Rangers at around 4am in the night. Residents claim to have been woken up by loud noises of firing, abusing and chaotic screams. Rangers had taken the whole area into their account. They seized the area so that no one could enter or leave the premises.

The Rangers captured many of the party’s workers without warrants, however they did capture five workers who they say have been wanted for a long time and are assassins, this includes:

1. Nadir

2. Faisal Moto

3. Amir

4. Ubaid  K2

5. Farhan Shabbir

One of the party’s old leaders, Amir Khan, member of the Coordination Committee in MQM, who was performing his weekly night shift at Nine Zero, has also been captured under the claim that he had been helping the wanted assassins to stay in hiding. If he is not found guilty of it, he will be let go, as the Rangers have declared on being asked about it.

During this chaotic time, a young man, Waqas Ali Shah, a student of Karachi University and a recent member of the Central Information Committee, in APMSO, who was to be engaged in the next 3 days, had been killed for no reason. As the footage clearly shows, he was progressing towards the entrance to Nine Zero along with several other MQM activists and had been shot in the head by a member of the Rangers. The man who had shot Waqas was wearing a face-cover and is now being searched for, as this was an unjust action done by the Rangers, as legally, it is forbidden to kill someone who is not approaching to kill you. This is why later, Altaf Hussain had declared a day of mourning.

In this whole event, one person had been killed, leaving many others injured. Altaf Hussain, the founder and leader of MQM, had a press conference, where he pointed as this raid to be a conspiracy done by other political parties to bash the dignity of MQM. Indirectly, Altaf Hussain pointed towards PML-N. Another MQM Senator, Tahir Mashhadi, alleged that PML-N was taking revenge from his party over supporting the PPP.

Altaf Hussain despised the fact that only MQM was being targeted in the city, whereas all other parties should be searched for such a reason as well. He said that he himself has not, cannot and will not tolerate any terrorist activity in his party and those who will be found guilty of it will be taken care of.

The Rangers state that they had been doing their ‘homework’ on MQM and their doings for quite a long time now and finally decided to interrupt them. They say that unusual criminal activity was found amongst the party and that a lot of weaponry was being brought into the area.

MQM now have to watch their backs, because a lot of questions about the political party and their motives are being raised. This indeed, has changed the perception about the party in the minds of everybody. What is true and what is not cannot be said, as we  all know what has been shown to us, what is real can only be known to those on the inside.