MQM leader Imran Farooq killed in London: reports

ajtr

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MQM leader Imran Farooq killed in London: reports

LONDON: British media reports say a Pakistani politician has been killed outside his home in London.

BBC and Sky News quote a police spokesman as saying that Imran Farooq, a member of Pakistan's MQM party, was stabbed to death Thursday.

Sky quoted police as saying that officers found the 50-year-old with multiple stab wounds. He was confirmed dead at the scene.

Metropolitan Police could not be immediately reached to comment on the reports. – AP
 

ajtr

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Imran Farooq assassinated in London; MQM stunned




KARACHI: Dr Imran Farooq, a founding leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the organisation's first secretary general, was assassinated in London on Thursday evening. Dr Farooq also served as the party's only convener.

Television reports, quoting party and family sources, said Dr Farooq was attacked by some unidentified men with daggers near his London residence. He died of multiple wounds.

But according to one source, a lone assailant had been lying in wait inside the apartment block where Dr Farooq lived on the first floor. He was attacked with a knife when he was climbing the stairs. He died on the spot.

At first the MQM leadership tried to keep the murder under wraps. Meetings in different cities to mark the 57th birthday of the party's founding leader, Altaf Hussain, were suddenly cancelled for "unavoidable reasons" and supporters were told by senior leader Dr Farooq Sattar to go home.

Tens of thousands of people had assembled in different places in Karachi, Hyderabad and other towns in Sindh to celebrate their leader's birthday.

At the same time, the MQM leadership in Karachi and London went into closed-door sessions to discuss the situation arising out of the development. Reports from London said the police had cordoned off the apartment block and preliminary investigations had begun.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far and no arrests have been made.

Dr Imran Farooq is remembered by Muttahida loyalists as one of the key figures who laid the foundation for the All Pakistan Mohajir Students' Organisation (APMSO), which eventually turned out to be a forerunner of the MQM.

During the early 1980s, the APMSO was converted into a fully fledged political party to advocate the cause of the Urdu-speaking popuce, mainly in Karachi and other parts of urban Sindh.

With Altaf Hussain as its leader, the bespectacled Dr Farooq was appointed secretary general of the party. He was also regarded as one of the main ideologues and the brain behind education of the party cadre.

When in 1992 Altaf Hussain went into self-imposed exile in the wake of a military crackdown, Dr Farooq went underground in Karachi, running the party from hiding. Although he was declared absconder by the then government, he continued to dodge the authorities.

Eventually he managed to slip out of the country on a fake passport and under an assumed name. After arriving in London, he applied for political asylum.

In the initial years he was one of the main players who helped Altaf Hussain oversee the party's restructuring from London.

However, a couple of years ago differences emerged, sending Dr Farooq into

obscurity. Since then he had been living the life of a recluse, with no role in party affairs.

Even then his brutal killing sent the Muttahida rank and file into a daze,
 

ajtr

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Karachi shuts down after Imran Farooq's killing

KARACHI: Karachi shut down on Friday after a senior politician belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was stabbed to death in London.

Imran Farooq was killed on Thursday but it was not clear if it was politically motivated.

Most shops and schools were closed and no public transport was available after the MQM announced 10 days of mourning. A few vehicles were torched, police said.

All petrol pumps and CNG stations had been shut down after the incident.

"We are confident that the culprit will be arrested and will be given exemplary punishment," Farooq Sattar, a senior member of the MQM and a federal minister, told reporters in Karachi.

Sattar refused to speculate on the motives behind the killing, saying they were awaiting results of British investigations.
 

Ray

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This will lead to reprisal in Karachi since the Mohajirs, who are still ostracised in Pakistan, are concentrated here and the MQM is their party.
 

neo29

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Lets hope the Mohajirs and MQM start creating unrest in the country accusing ISI and the army in this assasination. Its no doubt Army and ISI hands are dirty in this matter.
 

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Lets hope the Mohajirs and MQM start creating unrest in the country accusing ISI and the army in this assasination. Its no doubt Army and ISI hands are dirty in this matter.
MQM was created by the establishment, and has always supported the Army. Recently MQM had called for an Army takeover, despite the fact that it is part of the govt. at the centre.

The assassination could've been orchestrated by the ANP or Taliban Pashtuns, Muhajirs sworn enemy or more likely by those opposed to the MQM's recent attempts in instrumenting a regime change.
 

ejazr

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Well MQM has only recently been part of the establishment only after Musharraf (a Muhajir himself) in power was able to lift its fortunes.Otherwise lets not forget the Army operation that was launched against MQM in Karachi in the 92-95 that resulted in deaths of about 2000+ people.

There was a small MQM split faction called MQM-Haqiqi (real) that is said to be a creation of the establishment to weaken MQM itself. However, Altaf Hussain's MQM pretty much seems tobe pro-Army at the moment. Wether it is posturing or its real--only time will tell. Pakistani politics is murky to say the least.
 

Singh

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Well MQM has only recently been part of the establishment only after Musharraf (a Muhajir himself) in power was able to lift its fortunes.Otherwise lets not forget the Army operation that was launched against MQM in Karachi in the 92-95 that resulted in deaths of about 2000+ people.

There was a small MQM split faction called MQM-Haqiqi (real) that is said to be a creation of the establishment to weaken MQM itself. However, Altaf Hussain's MQM pretty much seems tobe pro-Army at the moment. Wether it is posturing or its real--only time will tell. Pakistani politics is murky to say the least.
You are right barring the Jinnah conpiracy period. But Musharraf was also Nawaz Sharif's man, and Nawaz Sharif is the one who ordered Jinnahpur Cleanup.
MQM Haqiqi is now allied with the radical Sunni groups for protection. Ultra-violent turf battles.

MQM is afraid that its hold over Karachi is weakening, and it is trying to push and probe to somehow force a regime change.
 

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