KARACHI: Rangers on Saturday took MQM-London interim Rabita Committee members, Professor Hasan Zafar Arif and Kunwar Khalid Younus into custody from outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC).
According to reports, Professor Hasan who was sitting on a motorcycle was trying to enter the press club when he was approached by Rangers and taken into custody.Video footage showed Rangers escorting the MQM leader and placing him in a mobile outside the KPC.
MQM-London interim Rabita Committee members were scheduled to hold a news conference at the KPC which has now been postponed. A large contingent of Rangers was deployed outside the KPC ahead of the MQM-London Rabita Committee news conference.
According to sources, Hasan Zafar and Kunwar Khalid have been moved to Meetha Ram Hostel. However, there has been no officials confirmation from Rangers as to where the MQM-London leaders have been shifted.
Efforts underway to pressurise MQM-London
MQM-London leader Amjadullah Khan spoke to Geo News and said the purpose of the news conference was to announce the inclusion of new members.
The MQM-London leader stressed that the party was being pressurised. “It is our basic right to conduct political activities in the city. By doing this the Mohajir community is being persecuted,†Amjudullah Khan said.
The MQM-London leader said he had left the KPC. Earlier, he had stated that there was no legal basis for Professor Hasan and Kunwar Khalid to be taken into custody.
In a statement from London, senior party leader Nadeem Nusrat called for the immediate release of the two.
“This series of arrests of MQM workers should be stopped. Hasan Zafar Arif and Kunwar Khalid Younis should be immediately released,” he said.
‘A positive step’
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Ismail said it was a positive step that MQM-London leaders had been taken into custody.
The PTI leader added that MQM should not be allowed to carry out political activities in Pakistan.
MQM-London Rabita Committee dismisses minus-one formulaÂ
Earlier this month, MQM-London announced formation of a 12-member interim Rabita Committee comprising Nadeem Ehsaan, Wasay Jalil, Mustafa Azizabadi, Professor Hassan Zafar Arif, Ishaq Advocate, Amjadullah Khan, Kunwar Khalid Younus, Ashraf Noor, Akram Rajpoot, Ismail Sitara, Idrees Alvi Advocate and Momin Khan Momin.
On October 15, during a MQM-London interim Rabita Committee news conference, a large contingent of Rangers was deployed outside the KPC. The news conference was held in which the minus-one formula was rejected. MQM-London leaders also dismissed the MQM-Pakistan, saying there was no such party. “MQM is one and will remain as one. Designs to break the party will not be successful,†Professor Hasan said on October 15.
