The military rulers of Pakistan are setting fresh standards of inflicting brutalities upon MQM leaders and workers whom they have kept in confinement without any charge or on fabricated charges but without bringing them to trial.
The case in
point is Dr Farooq Sattar, an elected member of Sindh Assembly,
parliamentary leader of MQM in Sindh Assembly, former Mayor of
Karachi and Member of MQM Co-ordination Committee. The military
authorities and police raided his house on 17 November 1999. He
offered his arrest on 26 November 1999, after informing the news
media that allegations of corruption against him are baseless and
a continuation of State policy of criminalisation of MQM. He has
not been charged formally to date despite the High Court’s
direction to the Anti Terrorist Court to either bring a formal
charge or let him go free.Dr Farooq Sattar was first kept in confinement in the Cantonment area of Malir under heavy security. On 7 February 2000, he was shifted to a makeshift room (8ft x 4ft) in a neglected part of a government building. After the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) formally announced that he will be charged for corruption sometime in the future. The Authorities do not even allow visits by his relatives and legal representatives on a regular basis. They have denied basic necessities such as soap, water and tea. Dr Farooq Sattar is a heart patient but he has been denied access to his medications and proper food. He has missed his several hospital appointments despite appeals to the authorities.
Apparently Dr Sattar’s life is in danger. Having carried out extra-judicial murders the State has adopted a novel method to eliminate the MQM cadre. Hundreds of MQM elected representatives and workers are languishing in prisons without any trial.
We appeal to the world community to take immediate steps and warn the military government of Pakistan to desist from committing atrocities upon innocent civilians.