SC names accused parties behind Karachi unrest

Pakistan

SC names accused parties behind Karachi unrest

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SC spoke of accused political parties in Karachi unrest and ordered removal of all no-go areas.

06 October,2011 02:54 pm

Announcing the reserved judgment in the suo motu case on Karachi target killing, Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Ch ordered the Sindh government to end no-go areas in Karachi, saying DG rangers and Sindh IG would be responsible if no-go areas were found.The court rejected the petition seeking imposition of emergency and calling army in Karachi. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Ch said banned outfits and political parties were involved in extortion. The court said 1992 operation against MQM worsened law and order situation in Karachi. The CJ said Sindh IG told the court that 40 per cent policemen were not cooperating to end unrest. The court said the Sindh governmet took no steps to stop target killing in Karachi. The court said political affiliation was the reason for police non-cooperation.A five-member special bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ghulam Rabbani had heard the case for three weeks in Karachi.In the verdict, the Supreme Court said that taking steps, including calling the Army, to restore peace is mandate of the federal government and not the job of courts.Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said: “Imposing emergency and calling Army is job of the federal government rather than courts.” He said the SC cannot decide about imposing ban on any political party.The CJP said that during the hearing of the case the court was informed that persons who claimed to be associated with MQM, ANP, JI, PPP, Sunni Tehrik and Jamat-e-Islami were involved in extortion, besides activities of organisations banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 are also indulging in these activities.According to the Supreme Court verdict, the federal government should send a reference regarding the allegations levelled by Zulfiqar Mirza against the MQM.As per DG Rangers, extorting money is a common practice in Karachi and Rs 10 million is collected daily through extortion. The graph of target killing and other crimes dropped dramatically due to intervention of SC, he observed.SC also ordered elimination of no-go areas from Karachi, saying the DG Rangers and the IG Police would be responsible if any no-go area was found in Karachi. Citing IG Police report, the verdict said 306 persons were killed in Karachi.The CJP remarked miscreants undermined the peace of Karachi. Land, drug mafia and extortion of money have become a common practice, he added.The CJP said the then government had held MQM responsible for all such incidents. Law and order situation was worse in Karachi for the last several months.He observed peace and economic development are co-related. “Murder of a single person is murder of entire humanity. Islam is religion of peace and it forbids killing. A severe punishment is prescribed for a person who kills a faithful deliberately. Quranic teachings are part of the constitution. Protecting fundamental rights is obligation of state. Constitution of 1973 provides protection to all the citizens irrespective of colour, race and religion. No one can be subjected to violence. All are equal in the eyes of law. Establishment of balanced society stands ruled out in state of lawlessness. Worsening law and order situation negatively impacts economy.”Iftikhar Gilani had presented a report prepared by ISI against Ajmal Pahari and Kamran Madhuri. The DG Rangers had told Karachi was divided on linguistic, political and religious basis and Rs 10 million is being extorted daily.The CJP said the media reports reflected that different groups were involved in target killings. Reference to Khutba Hujjat-ul-Widah was also given in the verdict.“Videos of torture cells and violence had been found from different areas of Karachi. Lawlessness in Karachi cannot be accepted as act of criminals. Ajmal Pahari and other accused persons are in political refuge and hardened criminals have joined political parties,” said the CJP.The SC had taken suo motu notice of Karachi violence on August, 24 and had conducted hearing of the case in its Karachi registry.The SC heard all stakeholders during the course of hearing and had reserved judgement on September 16.