Post date: May 20, 2013 4:32:27 PM
Activists and supporters of the influential Muttahida Qaumi Movement gather inKarachi to condemn allegations that their leader was responsible for the murder of a rival politician.
KARACHI, PAKISTAN (MAY 20, 2013) (REUTERS) - Supporters of an influential Pakistani political party took to the streets ofKarachi on Monday (May 20) to protest against cricket-hero-turned-politician Imran Khan, who has accused it of killing one of his senior staff a week after a general election.
Furious members of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) have denied responsibility for the killing of Zara Shahid Hussain on Saturday (May 18) outside her home in the upscale Defence area of Karachi, capping a bloody election in which about 150 people were killed nationwide.MQM leaders condemned the killing by unidentified gunmen and demanded a retraction from Khan.
The May 11 elections gave the MQM 18 of 19 national assembly seats in Karachi, which has long been the party's power base. Khan's party won a re-vote in part of one constituency of Karachi on Sunday (May 19), giving it one seat and also angering the MQM.
About 3,000 MQM joined the protest to denounce Khan, whose Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) party was to hold a rally later in the evening and elsewhere in the city.
During the demonstration, the protesters burned an effigy of Khan, shouting slogans against him.
One of the protesters, a senior MQM official, said the party would be taking legal action against Khan.
"The workers are gathered here to show their solidarity with Mr. Altaf Hussain. And without any investigation from the police or any law enforcement agencies, Mr.Imran Khan has levelled allegations on my leader Mr.Altaf Hussain, which is totally baseless and fake allegation, and definitely we are going to pursue on all legal forums and we have already filed a suit on the defamation on my party leader," said Wasay Jalil.
Khan, recovering in hospital from a fall during campaigning, said he held MQM leader Altaf Hussein responsible for the murder "as he openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts".
The MQM, a secular party, is locked in a battle with various rivals for influence inKarachi, including Pakistan's Taliban movement, which has sought to gain a foothold in various districts on the outskirts of the city in recent years.
The general election handed a landslide victory to opposition leader Nawaz Sharifand his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). But Khan's campaign electrified many Pakistanis, pushing the PTI from the margins to Pakistan's third-largest party.