KARACHI, May 5: The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the Pakistan Peoples Party in separate press conferences on Friday strongly condemned the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for demolishing katchi abadies and ancient villages in the city and the alleged killing of three persons in police action during the demolition of Sikandar Goth.
In a news conference at the Karachi Press Club, the Naib Amir of Jamaat-i-Islami and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, MNA Asadullah Bhutto, alleged that the demolition of katchi abadies and ancient villages had nothing to do with Karachi’s development, but the MQM by doing so was just pressurizing builders for extorting money.
“We have summoned a meeting of all opposition political parties to start a ‘Goth Bachao Tehreek’ and a future course of action would be announced after that meeting,” he said.
MPAs Nasrullah Shajji, Younus Barai and several other JI and MMA leaders were also present on the occasion.
Strongly condemning the demolition of Sikandar Goth and the inhuman violence that men, women and children were subjected to there, Mr Bhutto said that the demolition of ancient villages and katchi abadies was an act of political victimization by the MQM.
He said the case of the Sikandar Goth was in court since 1980 but the city government had attacked the goth in the same manner as the Indian and Israeli armies attack Palestinian and Kashmiri people.
“Instead of demolishing katchi abadies, the MQM should demolish its unit- and sector-offices established on amenity plots and parks through out the city,” he said and announced to take the issues to assemblies.
To a query, he said the former city government led by Niamatullah Khan had surveyed all katchi abadies in Karachi and had sent a summary for their regularization but the Sindh government did not approve it.
Now, the MQM, instead of resolving problems of the masses, was busy in making people homeless.
MMA MPA Nasrullah Shajji said the MQM was trying to divert the attention of people from the current electricity crisis, as it being in the federal, provincial and city governments had failed to resolve the issue despite strong public protests.
He alleged that the MQM’s terrorists were also part of the action against the demolition of katchi abadies in the city and harassing people, who were resisting evacuation of their homes in which they and their children had been living for decades.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Peoples Party on Friday alleged that at least three persons including two children and a man had died in police action during the demolition of Sikandar Goth in Karachi.
Addressing a hurriedly-called press conference at the KPC, PPP leaders MPA Makhdoom Jamil, Sassi Palejo and others said that those claiming to be actual representatives of the Sindhi people were giving them gifts of dead bodies and homelessness.
According to them, during the demolition of Sikandar Goth, at least three persons including two children and a man died due to police torture while the police had snatched mobile phones, cash and other documents from PPP leaders during a protest on the occasion.
They also claimed that plain-clothed terrorists and police personnel had snatched cameras from media persons besides subjecting them to inhuman torture.
The PPP’s leaders demanded of the government to regularize all ancient villages and katchi abadies in Karachi.—PPI
