HYDERABAD: Recent actions against close associates and supporters of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, a Badin-based former firebrand leader of Pakistan Peoples Party and now a major figure in Grand Democratic Alliance, and her spouse Dr Fehmida indicate decision has been taken to turn up heat on the ruling party’s dissidents again.
The fresh wave of actions, which Mirza’s men see as strong arm tactics of the Sindh government, started on July 30 when two of his team members, Ghulam Mohammad Khawaja alias Dilbar Sindhi and Khawaja’s friend Faisal Cheema were picked up by plainclothes men in Tando Bago and held incommunicado. The two now face charges of possession of illicit weapons, narcotics and issuing threats of dire consequences.
Khawaja, Mirza’s trusted man, has served as chairman of Tando Bago union council. “He is our active team member and it [his arrest] is blatant kidnapping, nothing else,” reacted Zulfiqar’s spouse, Dr Fehmida Mirza, while taking to Dawn over phone after Khawaja’s arrest.
Dr Zulfiqar Mirza termed the recent arrests of his close friends as another attempt by the ruling PPP to make renewed attempts to ‘zero’ and silence him politically. “In fact, they [PPP] wonder why I am not tendering apology over how I’ve reacted since 2011. PPP wants to push me around like others. Everyone knows how elections’ results were manipulated on Feb 8 in Badin and my sons were made to lose in final results,” he told Dawn over phone.
“There remain only a few [persons] who are still opposing PPP [in Sindh]. Jatois of Naushahro Feroz have faced a situation similar to his own when they were booked in bogus cases,” he said.
Whisked away in Badin, Khawaja and Faisal surfaced in Qambar-Shahdadkot where they were booked under Section 9-C of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act, 2021, but were subsequently granted bail by Qambar district’s sessions judge on Aug 5.
“We were first taken to Mirpurkhas and then brought to CIA Centre, Hyderabad. We were subjected to beatings in custody before we were handed over to Qambar-Shahdadkot police,” said Khawaja while speaking to Dawn over phone from an undisclosed location on Friday evening.
Khawaja said that 13 of his relatives and friends who came to Qambar to receive them after they obtained bail. “…were all picked up when they left for Badin while we stayed as guest at the residence of GDA leader Moazzam Abbasi,” he said.
They were; Amanat Cheema, father of Faisal; Jawad Cheema, Nabeel Cheema, Shahzad Cheema, Khurram Cheema, Altaf Khawaja, his sons Wahid Khawaja (BS-18 officer in home department) and Zohaib Khawaja; Rizwan Memon, Zulfikar Leghari, Irfan Leghari, Zubair Leghari (all real brothers) and Haroon Mallah, he said.
Police had implicated all of them in [fabricated] cases of possession of narcotics or illicit weapons, claiming that they had been arrested in separate actions in the districts of Naushahro Feroz, Tando Mohammad Khan and Khairpur, said family sources.
Out of the 13, Khawaja said, six including Rizwan Memon, Irfan Leghari, Zubair Leghari, Haroon Mallah, Altaf Hussain Khawaja and Wahid Khawaja had been released in last 48 hours while seven were still in jail. “I and Faisal Cheema are safe for the time being,” he said.
Khawaja community leaders, Noor Shakir Khawaja, Musaddiq Khawaja, Dr Zafar Khawaja, Madad Jafri advocate and Tasadduq Jafri advocate lambasted Sindh government for victimising the community at a joint news conference at local press club the other day.
“Ghulam Mohammad Khawaja is a landowner in Badin district but he is shown ‘arrested’ in bogus cases in Qambar-Shahdadkot. Isn’t it ridiculous?” asked Noor.
He said that Khawaja’s daughters were studying medicine. “I am at a loss to understand such a person who is endeavouring to see her daughters becoming doctors will be involved in narcotics trade as per police’s claim,” he said.
He slammed the government for implicating Khawaja and Faisal Cheema in narcotics cases. Khawaja was being victimised only because he was associated with Dr Zulfiqar, he said.
Mirzas and their associates had contested polls in Badin district but lost to PPP unlike 2018 polls when Dr Fehmida won a National Assembly seat and her son bagged Sindh Assembly constituency. Dr Fehmida’s son Hassam Mirza contested one of two NA seats of Badin and lost to PPP in the wake of controversy over electoral symbol allotted to his mother.
Mirzas had practically parted company with PPP in 2015 when they contested local government election against PPP after having served as the party’s elected parliamentarians in 2013 general elections.
Dr Fehmida believed that the vindictive actions against her supporters proved PPP had indeed lost polls on Feb 8 in Badin. “Winners don’t behave like this. Khawaja has five daughters, two of them are studying medicine,” she said and added all the arrested men were now made to face narcotics cases.
“This is blatant victimisation [which they are being made to suffer only] because they are associated with us and working as our team members,” Dr Fehmida said.
She said that PPP leadership must rethink over whether it was fair to deal with political opponents in this fashion when it had itself been facing such victimisation in the past.
Initially, said lamented, police did not admit to having picked up Khawaja and Faisal Cheema. “It was only after some eyewitnesses came forward and confirmed they had seen the two being whisked away by police in Tando Bago [that they were later produced in court]. The SHO concerned feigned ignorance and said he was only recently posted there and expressed his inability to do anything,” she said.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2024