The Daily Dawn

Altaf demands murder cases against Nawaz

By Our Staff Correspondent

LONDON, Oct 15: MQM chief Altaf Hussain has demanded of Pakistan's new Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf to register murder cases against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, inspector general and deputy inspector general of Sindh police for extra-judicial killings of MQM workers in the cover of Hakim Said murder case.

Speaking to party workers in Karachi over telephone from London, the MQM chief said that the former prime minister took law into his own hands by ordering the murder of MQM workers after accusing them of involvement in the murder of Hakim Said. "He should also be charged for high treason for violating the Constitution," he said.

The MQM chief also called upon the Western countries not to rush in support of the former prime minister as he had committed grave human rights violations by ordering extra-judicial killings of hundreds of political opponents, arresting political workers and violating the constitution.

Mr Altaf Hussain directed the Legal Action Committees of the MQM to file petitions in relevant courts against extra-judicial killings that took place during the tenure of prime minister Nawaz Sharif and before.

He said that it has now been established beyond doubt that Nawaz Sharif himself planned to murder Hakim Said so as to exploit this murder for achieving his political objectives i.e. crushing MQM, dismissing the Sindh government, suspending the Sindh assembly and imposing his own people in Sindh.

The MQM Chief said that the MQM workers and their families were harassed, tortured and hounded by the police throughout Nawaz Sharif's tenure.

Referring to the sacking of army chief by the former prime minister, the MQM Chief said that the decision was not against any individual but a conspiracy against the army as an institution.

He said after destroying every democratic institution in the country, the former prime minister tried to demolish the institution of army.

"The dictatorial attitude of the former prime minister can be judged from the fact that he ordered the PIA pilot to divert the plane, which was carrying General Musharraf, and land it somewhere else so that he could fulfil his evil designs," he said. "The pilot refused to take these orders only because there was not enough fuel to divert the plane to some other destination."

Mr Altaf Hussain said that Nawaz Sharif did not think about the safety of 300 passengers who were travelling on that flight and imperilled the safety of these passengers by ordering the pilot not to land at Karachi and to divert it to some other destination.

"This order tantamounts to a wilful attempt to murder 300 people, therefore I am directing the (MQM) lawyers to get a case registered against the former prime minister for hatching a conspiracy to kill these people," he said.

Mr Altaf Hussain also directed Senators Aftab Sheikh, Nasreen Jalil, Dr Farooq Sattar and other MQM MNAs and MPAs to individually register cases against Nawaz Sharif for harassing them and for detaining them illegally as well as for hindering them from performing their constitutional duties as elected representatives of the people.

He asked the United Kingdom, the United States, Commonwealth and other European countries to keep in mind the grave human rights violations committed by Nawaz Sharif during his tenure before taking any action against the present set up in Pakistan.