Death of protesting MQM activist brings Centre, Sindh face to face

— Imran seeks report about police violence on ‘peaceful protest’

— Murad calls MQM-P minister, offers to discuss contentious LG laws

— Ghani says force used as last resort to save PSLĀ 

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan sought a report from the Federal Ministry of Interior and Sindh government after an overnight clash between police and protesting activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a member of the ruling coalition, killed one party worker in Karachi.

The violence erupted when police swung batons and fired tear gas to prevent rallygoers, who were demanding the repeal of the contentious local government laws to limit the powers of mayors, from marching towards the Chief Minister’s House, drawing condemnation across the political spectrum.

Leaders of the MQM-P told reporters that Mohammad Aslam died at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) after being injured in the ensuing crash with police. The injured included a party lawmaker Sadaqat Hussain and a policeman.

In a tweet, Khan took note of the violence employed by the police against the “peaceful protest”, seeking a report about the matter.

The government “will take necessary action against those responsible after receiving these reports”, he wrote.

PPP, MQM-P pledge to ā€˜not give ethnic colour to recent eventsā€™

SindhĀ Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Syed Aminul Haque agreed on Thursday to not give events that unfolded a day ago an ethnic colour.

An MQM-P worker died while scores were injured and taken into custody by the Sindh police after the latter used batons and tear gas to disperse the partyā€™s protestors against the recently passed amendments to the Sindh Local Government Act (SLGA) of 2013.

During a telephonic conversation, initiated by the Sindh CM, both leaders condemned bringing in the question of ethnicity into the incident.

They further aimed to resolve any political differences through dialogue and political means.

CM Murad Ali Shah expressed deep regret over the incident, adding that such incidents ā€œshould not happen under any circumstancesā€.

The lawmakers agreed to getting a postmortem examination done if someone had died as a cause of the police violence. Murad said an autopsy would reveal the cause of death.

He further stated that he would inquire into the incident and take action against anyone involved.

Haque also expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the government over the Tando Allahyar incident.

The two leaders agreed on not creating a similar situation in the future.

The Sindh chief minister said he will have the incident investigated and hold all officials responsible.

 

 

Murad further directed the home secretary to constitute a committee under him to inquire into the incident and fix responsibility so that necessary action could be taken.

The provincial chief executive also proposed further dialogue on the new Sindh local body law, to which the MQM-P minister replied that he would get back after having consulted with his party.

Furthermore, Murad called on the MQM-P MPA Sadaqat Hussain to inquire after his injuries. The lawmaker was injured during the clash.

MQM worker died of heart attack; says Ghani

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government of Sindh however disputed the claim. Addressing a press conference, Minister for Information Saeed Ghani said the actual cause of death “seems to be a heart attack”.

“The deceased was first taken to Karachi Institute of Heart Disease and then brought to National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases,” the minister said, recalling the events.

He said the security authorities used force as a last resort and only to ensure security for HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) participants, and not because the protesters had entered the red zone.

“The star-studded PSL is opening in the metropolis tonight and its players are staying in hotels located near the Chief Minister’s House. Therefore, the administration took action against the demonstrators.”

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