KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Friday expressed its concerns "over the way the operation against the encroachments is being carried out" on the orders of the Supreme Court (SC).

"We have all the respect for the apex judiciary, but the operation against encroachments is so far targeted against one community, and areas dominated by Mohajirs are being chosen for the demolition drive," the leaders of the MQM-P alleged at a press conference here.

They alleged that "the people of Karachi have been pushed up against the wall" and that the anti-encroachment operations underway in what they called "selective" parts of the city raised questions.

Speaking on the occasion, MQM-P convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said it was strange that those very people who had allowed these settlements to grow were now demolishing them.

"First of all those who allowed these encroachments should be arrested," he said.

He demanded constitution of a commission to investigate into occupation of lands in the city.

He said that the MQM-P supported the Chief Justice of Pakistan's orders against encroachments, but the action should be based on justice. Another MQM-P leader, Amir Khan, asked why the authorities were "so much focused on bulldozing the encroachments in Mohajir-dominated areas? Why don't they swing into action against encroachments in Sharae Faisal and Sohrab Goth?"

Wasim Akhtar, former Karachi mayor and senior party leader, said that a conspiracy was at work against the city of the Quaid.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021