In a statement issued this evening, MQM Rabita Committee (RC) strongly condemned the arrest of its 11 workers and a sympathizer from different areas of the metropolis on Thursday by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs).
The committee stated that a by-election is about to be held in FB Area, which falls in the constituency NA-246, yet the law enforcers are conducting raids at the houses of MQM activists and sympathizers in the same area and the party affiliates are being harassed.
It was stated that dozens of innocent MQM workers have been arrested in Karachi during past several months and fake cases registered against majority of them.
The committee accused that the workers are being subjected to ‘torture under custody’, whereas most of the arrested workers have not been produced before any court.
The statement added that these workers have gone missing due to which their families are in extreme anguish.
The MQM RC lamented that the party is being prevented from carrying out political activities, while members of banned organizations are freely operating in the city and it seems there is no one to catch them.
The committee demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah to stop the arrests of MQM affiliates, release the arrested ones and halt the process of barring the party from continuing its political activities.
The RC also appealed rights groups to take notice of the undue arrests, raids and disappearances of MQM affiliates.
