First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) supremo Altaf Hussain at police stations in various parts of Sindh on late on Monday and Tuesday for making "inflammatory remarks" against the military. During his speech on Sunday, Hussain called upon the army chief to take notice of the alleged violation of the army's code of conduct by director general of Sindh Rangers and other officials and urged him to do justice in the matter. The MQM chief had also accused Sindh Rangers of torturing and murdering party workers.
The speech was an apparent response to media reports quoting Rangers sources as saying that the paramilitary force was going to release a fact sheet about the March 11 raid on MQM's Nine Zero headquarters in Azizabad. FIRs filed in cities across Sindh came as an apparent backlash to the MQM leader's speech. In Badin, police registered an FIR 218/2015 under sections of 153 - "promoting enmity" - and 505 - "conducting public mischief" - of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of Wahid Bux Chandio. The complainant in his FIR registered at Model Police Station Badin stated that the MQM chief through his speech on Sunday not only hurt the sentiments of patriotic Pakistanis but spoke against the armed forces of Pakistan.
The complainant further stated that through his speeches from London, Hussain was spreading hatred against the military and wanted to destabilise the country under a conspiracy. Two more FIRs 167/2015 and 168/2015 were registered at Section A police station in Dadu by complainants Mohammad Rajib and Shahid Alvi Haider under Section 153A of the PPC. The complainants in their applications accused the MQM chief of speaking against the state and the Rangers.
Furthermore, at least three FIRs were registered in Jacobabad where Complainants Qari Abul Khaliq Soomro and Khadim Hussain registered FIRs 41/2015 and 69/2015 at Saddar and Airport police stations. In District Khairpur, an FIR was registered at the Faiz Gunj police station and another at Mirwah police station. Moreover, in District Larkana, a first information report was registered by complainant Arsalan Habib against Altaf Hussain.
AFP adds: "Cases have been registered against MQM leader Altaf Hussain under section six of anti-terrorism act and other clauses of the Pakistan Penal Code," a spokesman of the provincial Sindh police told AFP. Pakistan has broad anti-terrorism laws that can encompass a wide range of offences which do not all have an obvious link to violence.
The paramilitary Rangers have been carrying out an operation aimed at stopping the wave of political, religious, ethnic and criminal violence that has swamped the city in recent years. The MQM, often accused by its critics of using extortion and murder to cement its power, has complained its workers have been unfairly targeted by security forces in a bid to curb its power.
In his speech Hussain accused the Rangers of torturing MQM workers and dumping their mutilated bodies on roadsides and said bad elements in the army had brought it into disrepute. The speech also angered the government, with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan vowing to complain to the British government. The Metropolitan Police are currently investigating the MQM over money-laundering after a huge quantity of cash was reportedly found at party offices and Hussain's home in London. As well as the money-laundering case, British police are also probing the murder of MQM politician Imran Farooq in London in 2010.