KARACHI, 21 April — Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain has warned that his party would intensify agitation if the government continued with mass arrests. “We will call for another strike” he said in a message from London, regretting that the administration had resorted to use of force against protesters who were peaceful and wanted to highlight the water crisis in Sindh.
By asking the people to stay indoors, the party asserted its authority on Wednesday, but then had to face the administration’s wrath when hundreds of its activists were arrested and charged with criminal offences. One of its important leaders, Aftab Sheikh, a member of the suspended Senate, courted arrest yesterday. He was wanted by the police who had picked up his son Dr. Atif in Karachi on the day of the strike.
Aftab knew that the son had been held hostage. He, therefore, decided to surrender. Before surrendering to the senior superintendent of police, Aftab told journalists that the movement for the rights of Sindh would continue. He addressed a press conference at the Sindh High Court premises before being whisked away by police to unknown destination.
