In a shocking disclosure, a report submitted by the rangers to Sindh High Court holds MQM, one of the leading political parties of Pakistan to be responsible for setting fire to Baldia factory in 2012, after the factory’s owners refused to pay extortion money to the party’s armed thugs.
Though MQM as a party has always been shrouded in mystery and throughout its existence been branded as a group of traitors, extortionists, fascists, killers and products of Army dictatorship etc. but never has a controversy relating to MQM ever reached as high proportions as that of Baldia factory fire today.
MQM was initially formed in 1984 by Mohajir student organization to protect the rights of Mohajir community in Pakistan; though even then many viewed the party as means through which a military dictator wanted to finish off a rival Jamaat-e-Islami in Karachi.
In 1988 it first participated in elections but even than many claimed the party forced them to vote at gunpoint.
From the very beginning of MQM’s existence, the party’s armed gangs began ruling the city and extortion became a norm for Karachites. Many businesses even began writing down extortion money in their costs of business and extortion money was mostly siphoned off to Altaf Hussein in London.
Before MQM’s emergence, Karachi was a hub of peaceful co-existence. Sindhis, Balochis, Punjabis, Pathans and Mohajirs never found any reason to oppose each other on the basis of ethnicity.
Yet thanks to MQM’s divisive politics within two decades Karachi had become a hotbed of ethnic rivalry.
In the early 90’s MQM was accused of being the brainchild behind the idea of a break-away state called “Jinnahpur.” As expected Operation Blue Fox was launched in 1992 to clear the city of armed gangs that had come to characterize the once peaceful Karachi ever since MQM’s arrival.
Yet the operation failed and subsequent needs of MQM’s political support by both political and military leadership ensured that MQM became more powerful than ever.
Thus when almost three years ago, the owners of Baldia factory refused to pay extortion money to MQM’s thugs, as the Joint Investigation report reveals, they were not only made an example of but over 200 of their factory workers were burnt to death as a warning to others.
Now as the contents of joint investigation report are becoming public, it’s shocking to see that we had left our commercial capital in the hands of an armed gang whose chief hides in London to save himself from his eventual conviction.
Mohammed Rizwan Qureshi the person who set fire to the factory is not only an alleged member of MQM but also claims to have committed other crimes including murder and election rigging at the behest of his party seniors’.
Family members of the deceased factory workers have already claimed to know that MQM was involved in the incident yet out of fear kept quiet.
Though MQM claims to be innocent of this and Altaf Hussain has even asked for a foreign investigation yet no one can deny about what MQM has been upto in Karachi and it’s high time the government of Nawaz Sharif which won elections on the slogan of creating a Roshan Pakistan bring the culprits to justice.
If MQM is indeed involved than not only should it be banned but also all those in the party involved in crimes should be brought to justice! Needless to say Altaf bhai should be brought back from London and punished.
Nawaz Sharif and other political leadership of the country should know that the interests of Pakistani people should precede their political interests and if they fail to act now than history might never forgive. Baldia factory has alas revealed the true face of MQM and it has nowhere to hide.
One can only hope that at least this time justice is served to the people of this country and an exemplary justice it is!
