KARACHI: Paramilitary forces raided the headquarters of a powerful Karachi political party and arrested two members on Friday, officials said, in a sign of deepening tensions between the army and politicians controlling the biggest and richest city.
Many fear the showdown may threaten the stability of the financial hub that generates half of government revenue and is home to 20 million people, or upset the delicate balance between the fledgling civilian government and the powerful military, which has a history of coups.
The paramilitary Sindh Rangers, which fall under military command, said they raided the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) because the party had been making hate speech.
The MQM, Pakistan’s fourth largest party, traditionally represents the descendents of Urdu-speakers who migrated from India after the creation of Pakistan in 1947. It was involved in bloody factional battles in Karachi in the 1990s and now holds the majority of the city’s legislative seats.
“Those apprehended tonight ... have been arranging and facilitating hate speeches against peace of Karachi,” Director General Sindh Rangers, Major General Bilal Akbar tweeted.
MQM’s leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, has repeatedly accused the military of targeting his party in long, rambling speeches. Hundreds of party workers have been arrested in a crackdown aimed at criminals and militants.
“Workers should be mentally prepared for more such raids; we will see how many workers are arrested,” Hussain said in a broadcasted telephone address after the raid.
British authorities are currently investigating Hussain for money laundering. They are also seeking to question MQM members over the murder of a dissident MQM activist in London.
Two MQM members — a former provincial legislator and the chair of the decision-making central committee in Karachi — were detained in Friday’s raid for “hate speech.”
“More arrests will be made in the near future,” Rangers spokesman Major Sibtain Rizvi said in a statement.
Party spokesman Farooq Sattar condemned the raid to party members who gathered to protest afterward.
“MQM is the only political party whose head office is being raided by Rangers,” he told the crowd.
Friday’s arrests follow a raid on the same address on March 11, when authorities said dozens of weapons were recovered and a suspect wanted for the murder of a journalist detained. The MQM said the weapons were planted and the suspect smuggled in.
Police officials privately accuse the MQM of operating like a mafia to maintain its tight control on power. But the party has always strongly denied being involved in violence.
MQM headquarters raided in Karachi
MQM headquarters raided in Karachi
Greek coast guard search for 15 after migrant boat found adrift
- The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were on Monday searching for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
The 17 fatalities, all of them men, were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died but Greek public television channel ERT suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
At the time, Crete and much of the rest of Greece was battered by heavy rain and storms.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
It was initially spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship on Saturday, triggering a search that included ships and aircraft from the Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
In Brussels, the EU’s 27 members on Monday backed a significant tightening of immigration policy, including the concept of returning failed asylum-seekers to “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s conservative government has also toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly those coming to Crete from Libya.
