The Real Facilitators of Uzair Baloch!

Though the on-going strike from PIA employees against the corporation`s privatization and also the killings of two employees has, to some extent, diverted the attention of the media, yet the importance Uzair Baloch`s arrest as well as the “leaked” series of revelations have more attraction for those interested in the Pakistani politics.

The continuously coming revelations from inside the custody easily expose on what scale Uzair Baloch was running his gang in Karachi with the full political backing. The revelations endorsed the MQM`s stand not only about the involvement of Uzair Baloch and his People`s Amn Committee (PAC) in crimes, but also about their patronage by Pakistan People`s Party (PPP).

Question is how the hell did Uzair Baloch turn Liyari into a gangsters` cantonment area and also control it like an army chief for so many years despite the presence of Rangers (the sub-militia of Pakistani army)?

It is interesting to notice that as soon as the Sindh Rangers announced the official arrest of Uzair Baloch, anchorpersons of news channels and the representatives of political and religious parties adding to the revelations about Uzair and his crimes as if all of them were already well-informed about them. Not a single politician or a political analyst claimed that he/she was somehow unaware of how the head of Liyari gangsters had been running his gang in Karachi.

Factually speaking, this was the Urdu speaking community and MQM which became the biggest victims of Liyari gangsters` cruelty in which hundreds of people were cold bloodedly murdered after recognizing that they were Muhajirs. Uzair, through his gang (named as PAC), practically made Karachi a hell for MQM`s voters and supporters. Importantly, when MQM protested over the genocide of Karachi-ites, no one endorsed its stand. Instead of expressing solidarity with the Urdu speaking community over the oppressions on them, from Jamat-e-Islami to PTI and from PML-N to PML-F, all the political and religious parties as well as other ethnic groups stood with Uzair Baloch against MQM on all the political issues of the city. That was nothing, but the height of political and ethnic rivalry with MQM and its voters.

Just like the political rivals, Pakistani media too no stone unturned in projecting Uzair and his gang (PAC) as a new stake holder of Karachi against MQM. News channels did not give so much coverage to the biggest and most popular political party MQM and did not air so many exclusively interviews of its leaders as they did of Uzair Baloch, the head of Liyari gangsters. During the police operation (launched after PPP developed differences with Uzair) when police commandos were facing tough resistance on the borders of Liyari from the PAC`s militants, these were only the TV anchorpersons who were able to interview Uzair Baloch and his other allies at the main chowk of the same no-go area. This shows that there was no restriction on their entry into and exit from Liyari and that they were aware of the hideouts of gangsters.

It is also on record that when MQM protested on the news with the footage showing disgruntled Zulfiqar Mirza (the guardian of Liyari gangsters) and PPP`s provincial minister Sharjeel Inam Memon traveling together and moving around in Dubai, the anchorpersons rejected MQM`s plea saying that merely travelling and moving around together of two friends cannot be a proof of PPP`s secret links with Liyari gangsters. “If the speaker of the national assembly Dr. FahmidaMirza (who was elected as the PPP`s member) is seen moving around with her husband (Zulfiqar Mirza), will MQM term that husband-wife relationship as secret link of PPP with Uzair Baloch???”, asking this, anchor persons mocked MQM`s objections. However, very interestingly, now-a-days the same media-men can be watched asking very tough questions to PPP leaders regarding their links with the Uzair Baloch on the basis of the footages in which they were seen with him. How irony!

Similarly, when the biggest supporter of Liyari gangsters Zulfiqar Mirza put so serious allegations on MQM by holding the holy Quran in his hands and also on his head, almost all the political & religious rivals believed him saying, “It is our integral part of our Iman (faith) to believe the words of a Muslim who swears in the holly Quran”. But, now all these media-men who kept on bashing MQM on the basis of his charges, are now themselves asking also to bring Zulfiqar Mirza to justice over having patronized Uzair Baloch.

It is an open secret that Pakistan People Party (PPP) used Liyari gangsters under the umbrella of People`s Amn Committee (PAC) to by force sideline MQM in Karachi. Uzair Jan Baloch, as the DG of PAC army, went on committing even war crimes against MQM and Muhajirs. But, none of the law-enforcement agencies, including the Sindh Rangers, came up to provide protection to the people. The records indicate that these were the officials of police and Rangers which submitted quite “fair” reports to the Supreme Court of Pakistan claiming that the law & order situation was quite satisfactory in Liyari and that there was no No-Go area there. To prove their reports true, these officials even visited Liyari without any protocol, met common people, had tea and even hosted the games there.  What should be construed from such deliberate acts of the Police & Rangers?

Further, when PPP government developed differences with the PAC gangsters and sent police force to teach him a lesson, it was the time when Uzair Baloch, in order to avoid being killed extra-judicially by PPP`s Sindh government, offered to surrender before the DG Rangers Sindh and the Army Chief. Neutrally speaking, it was a golden opportunity for the state authorities to easily bring a violent story of severe crimes to an end without any bloodshed. But, surprisingly, neither the DG Rangers nor the Corp Commander Karachi came up to de-weaponize Uzair Baloch and his militant wing. Question is, why did they not do that? Who should be held responsible for the crimes committed and the human lives taken by PAC after that? 

Just like the law-enforcement agencies, so-called “Independent” judiciary too remained quite silent over the patronized mass killings of Karachi-ites despite so many SOS`s from MQM over the matter. Even, the “hero” of lawyers` movement, Iftekhar Choudhry, did not take any suo-moto notice of the gross violation of fundamental rights of Urdu speaking community.

However, the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan did honored Sania Naz (a prominent member of PAC and a close ally of the mass murderer Uzair Baloch) by allowing her have a meeting with him, not his chamber, but at a house. What was that if not a rape of justice? 

Taking into account all these bitter facts, it becomes quite clear that almost everyone made their contributions in projecting Uzair Baloch and his militant group for countering MQM. Question is, when even the political and military establishments facilitated the Liyari gangsters in carrying out the planned ethnic killings of Muhajirs, who the hell will take actions against the terrorists` real facilitators?     Some Karachi-ites think that after the arrest of Uzair Baloch, they, as the biggest victims of PAC`s viciousness, will get justice. However, they should not make any good expectations in this regard. It does not seem true at all that Uzair Baloch was arrested and produced NOW to provide justice to them. Had the authorities really aimed so, they would have caught Uzair Baloch and Zulfiqar Mirza red handed when they were getting Muhajirs slaughtered in Liyari under their patronage. In fact, it has been very clear that the military establishment produced Uzair Baloch before the media now just to pressurize the PPP`s Sindh government to go on back foot over the Rangers` extension issue (and of course, it has worked as per plan). 

The history tells that in 1996, PPP`s government was dissolved putting several allegations including of the extra-judicial killings. When challenged in the court, even the Supreme Court endorsed it. Yet from the personnel to their heads, no one of the perpetrators of law-enforcement agencies has yet been brought to justice.

Therefore, Uzair Baloch will keep being used against PPP and Asif Zardari unless and until establishment achieves its already planned objectives. After that, he can be thrown away like a tissue paper. Of course when the military establishment can now use the word “Bastards” for its own created and well-projected “Strategic Assets” as leaders of Muslims, what the hell Uzair Baloch is for it!