The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan has condemned the incidents of arson in Bahria Town, calling it a “loss of Karachiites”.
Hundreds of protesters attacked on Sunday Bahria Town Karachi and set fire to several shops and vehicles in the housing society.
They were protesting what they say their forceful eviction from their ancestral lands in the vicinity.
“The people of Karachi had rendered sacrifices for peace,” MQM-P Khawaja Izharul Hassan said at a press conference in the city.
He said everyone has the right to protest but this violence happened under a conspiracy and on the watch of the Sindh government.
“When the people were allegedly being evicted, the government acted as a facilitator then,” Hassan said, questioning, “Where were the protesters in this whole affair?”
Pointing out heavy investment of overseas Pakistanis in Bahria Town, he said the gated community was attacked instead of a protest outside the offices of the chief minister and revenue officials.
The MQM-P leader criticised the Sindh government for failing to protect the lives and properties of people.
“A commoner living in Karachi had their properties robbed and set ablaze there,” he said. “The MQM-P will not remain silent on the issue.”
Hassan called it violence under the guise of protest. “The MQM-P has nothing to do with Bahria Town, but this was a loss of Karachiites,” he added.
Related: Protesters set several shops, vehicles ablaze in Bahria Town Karachi
Who would now invest from abroad, the MQM-P leader asked, criticising the Sindh government for keeping mum on the issue.
He said the ones involved in Bahria Town violence were the same unidentified people who set Karachi ablaze on December 27, 2007.
The comment was a reference to terrifying incidents of violence in Karachi soon after the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi.
“No matter what language does an arsonist speak or which group they are affiliated with, they are a terrorist,” Hassan said.
“The DG Rangers did take measures, but it was too late,” he said, calling Bahria Town violence an “attack on the homes, businesses and investment of our people”.
The MQM-P leader said the Sindh government was patronising the miscreants by staying silent on the issue.
“If this incident was not investigated, then the Peoples Party would be considered a patron of terrorists,” he added.
IT Minister Aminul Haque said all political parties have the right to peaceful protest.
“The government was sleeping while the nationalist parties had been planning an attack for the last three days,” he said.
“The police were witnessing all this from several kilometres away.”
The minister said thousands of people marched on Karachi today, demanding the federal government provide protection to urban Sindh.
“We support all the residents of Karachi, no matter which language they speak,” he added.
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