WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Saturday said that it was ‘closely monitoring’ recent events in Karachi involving arrest of MQM leader Khawaja Izahrul Hasan and crackdown against the party’s illegal offices.
“We’re monitoring those events very closely. We’re aware that Pakistani security forces have arrested some MQM members allegedly involved in violent protests and that these operations have included the closure and the demolition of offices deemed to have been illegally constructed,” US state department spokesperson John Kirby said in a daily press briefing here.
To a question, Kirby said that Washington routinely communicates with Islamabad about such political issues.
The spokesman said Pakistan and India should resolve Kashmir issue through bilateral dialogue, saying that US policy on Kashmir has not changed.
On Friday, Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah suspended SSP Malir Rao Anwar after he raided the residence of MQM leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan and arrested him.
Following the action, Anwar had threatened to quit police department in a protest and said that he will resign if he will not be allowed to work freely.
“I am waiting to receive my suspension orders. I may resign from police department as a protest,” Anwar said while speaking to media in Karachi.
The police official defended his action of arresting opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, claiming that the MQM leader is wanted in a number of cases including those of hate speech and recent incidents of setting buses on fire.
Anwar further asserted that MQM Pakistan chief Dr Farooq Sattar should also be arrested.
He said that there is a no need to take permission from Speaker of the assembly before arresting any member of the provincial or national assembly.
“Days before today, Rangers arrested them but no such permission was taken from the speaker of the house,” said Anwar.
He also blamed Izhar and his party of planning more attacks in the city and warned that his suspension will not only hamper investigation in the cases against MQM leaders but will also have its other “side effects”.
Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar said that he had asked Rao Anwar to show arrest warrants of Khawaja Izahrul Hasan but he didn’t reply.
“If they [police] want to arrest MQM leaders, then we ‘all’ are ready,” he said, “It would be better to get arrested rather than being insulted like this.”
