LONDON – A senior official of Hashwani Hotels, who claims to have been kidnapped and tortured by a former leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in early ‘90s, has come forward to forgive the ex-lawmaker after his death from cancer.
“The MQM man who kidnapped and tortured me in 1991 has died of cancer. Although I still bear the scars, both mental and physical, I pray to Allah for his forgiveness,” Azam Jamil, the vice president (Learning & Development) at Hashwani Hotels, wrote on Twitter while referring to Saleem Shahzad.
https://twitter.com/AzamJamil53/status/1015854630994087936
Shahzad, a former founding member of the Karachi-based party, passed away at a West London hospital on Sunday. He had been suffering from liver and kidney cancer since 2015, according to his family.
When asked by a social media user how could he forgive someone who had harmed him in more than one way, Mr. Jamil said “Because we all need forgiveness.”
Beta. It’s a long story. Yes a case was filed. I had to leave for the threat to my little children. Best if its forgotten. I’ve tried to forgive and forget.
— Azam Jamil (@AzamJamil53) July 8, 2018
The MQM in 2014 suspended Shahzad’s party’s membership, extending a warning to all members to strictly adhere to its code of conduct.
The former member of the National Assembly had been living in London since 1992 — when an operation was launched against the party. He was wanted by the Karachi police in various cases, including the terrorists’ facilitation case against Dr Asim Hussain.
The self-exiled leader returned to the country on February 6, 2017 and was arrested upon his arrival at the Karachi airport from Dubai. He was later released from prison on June 2.
Last year, Shahzad — who was a close aide of the party’s founder — had announced that he was forming his own political party.
Soon coming Pakistan to strethen Frooq Bhai and RC in Pakistan
— Saleem Shahzad (@saleemshahzad6) August 23, 2016
He had also expressed his wish to contest the general elections from Karachi’s Orangi Town under the banner of his new political party, and that he would field candidates in different constituencies of the city.
This January, Shahzad had a meeting with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and the party “welcomed” him to its fold.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/former-mqm-leader-saleem-shehzad-dies-in-london/
Tracing its roots in the All Pakistan Mohajir Student Organisation that was founded on June 11, 1978, by Altaf Hussain at Karachi University, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has been accused of many serious offences since 1984 by various Army regimes, almost all political parties in the country, the United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Amnesty International and even by its dissidents like Afaq Ahmed MQM-Haqiqi, Ajmal Pahari, Saulat Mirza and Mustafa Kamal etc.
In one of the most shocking cases, the MQM founder and several other party leaders were convicted in Imran Farooq’s murder registered in December 2015 by the Federal Investigation Agency.
Farooq, 50, was murdered outside his house in London on September 16, 2010. A post-mortem examination of his body revealed that he was stabbed to death. According to the London police, a kitchen knife and a brick used in the attack were recovered from the crime site.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/mqm-leader-altaf-hussain-asks-modi-to-speak-out-for-muhajirs/
Altaf Hussain, believed to be a stooge of India, and the MQM are still blamed for killing nearly all police officers who had assisted the Pakistan Army in the 1992-1996 Operation.
However, the party denies all the charges.
