Pakistan's MQM party demands justice for Karachi people

Pakistan's MQM party has urged the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to take notice of "injustice and harassment" taking place in Karachi, a media report said Monday.

Speaking to party supporters in Karachi via phone from London where he lives as a British citizen, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif and ISI chief Lt. Gen. Zaheer ul Islam should take notice of the "atrocities" being committed against workers of his party in the city, Dawn newspaper reported.

He said police, rangers and other law enforcing agencies were involved in the killing of party activists. Hussain said even during the 1992 operation in Karachi, when Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister, false allegations were levelled against his party and used as an excuse for conducting an operation against his party.

He said people who migrated to Pakistan are also patriotic. The MQM traditionally represents the interests of the Urdu-speaking Mohajirs who migrated to Pakistan from India after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 and is known for its mobilising power in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

Hussain also demanded Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari to do justice to the city's people, the report said.