Emeute à Karachi – 13 juillet 2011

Speech sparks deadly riots in Karachi

aljazeera.net

14 Jul 2011

Up to 14 people dead in latest outbreak of violence in Pakistani city as minister criticises locally powerful rival.

Deadly violence has erupted in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, amid a continuing war of words between members of the country’s ruling party and a locally powerful rival movement.

Up to 14 people were killed in riots which began on Wednesday, following a speech by Zulfiqar Mirza, Pakistan’s provincial minister, in which he criticised Altaf Hussain, the founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

The MQM is the biggest party in Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, representing the families of Urdu speakers who left India for Pakistan in 1947.

In the speech, Mirza said Hussain was a bigger criminal than the leader of the breakaway Haqiqi party, who split from the MQM in the late 1980s, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported. Afaq Ahmed, the leader of Haqiqi, was arrested in 2003 and remains in prison.

« In my view, the real leader of the Mohajir nation is Afaq Ahmed who has been in prison for eight years and not a single case against him has been proved.

« In fact next to President Asif Ali Zardari he is the biggest political prisoner of the country, » Dawn quoted Mirza as saying while speaking at the residence of Awami National Party leader, Shahi Syed.

Mirza, who is affiliated to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), said the people of Karachi and Hyderabad should rise up and rid themselves of what he called the « kambakht » – the damned ones – Dawn said.

Live ammunition was reportedly fired and vehicles were set on fire shortly after a local news channel aired Mirza’s statement. It is unclear if those killed in the riots died of gunshot wounds or other types of injuries. Read more …