MQM politicians top list of NRO beneficiaries

[LahoreEstate]

By Hussain Kashif

LAHORE: As many as 182 criminal cases have been withdrawn under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) against 11 mainstream politicians of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, in addition to dozens of cases against politicians of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), National Accountability Bureau sources told Daily Times on Friday.

Former president Pervez Musharraf had promulgated the NRO on October 5, 2007 and given political relief to a total of 8,041 people against any cases registered against them between January 01, 1986 and October 12, 1999. The move came after a reported “under-hand deal” with mainstream politicians. The ordinance is set to lapse today (Saturday). According to the NAB sources, MQM politicians including Altaf Hussain, Farooq Sattar, Ishratul Ibad, Imran Farooq, Babar Ghauri, Shoaib Bukhari, Saleem Shahzad, Waseem Akhtar, Safdar Baqri and Kanwar Khalid Younus, among others, had been charged with cases of 68 murders, 30 attempted murders, 10 kidnappings and 70 balwa (rioting) cases.

There were 31 cases of murders, 11 of attempted murders, three kidnappings and 25 rioting cases against Altaf alone, while Imran Farooq had been accused in seven cases of murder, two attempted murders, three kidnappings and six rioting cases.

Three murders, an attempted murder, two kidnappings and 10 rioting cases had been registered against MQM leader Safdar Baqri, while Farooq Sattar had been accused of involvement in five murders, four attempted murders and 13 rioting cases. There were 13 cases of murder, three attempted murders and five rioting cases registered against Shoaib Bukhari. Kanwar Khalid Younus had been charged with four murders, five attempted murders and three rioting cases, while a murder case, an attempted murder and five rioting cases were registered against Waseem Akhtar. Babar Ghauri was accused of four murders, rioting and two counts of attempted murder. Two kidnappings and two rioting cases were registered against Saleem Shahzad.

MQM’s governor in Sindh, Ishratul Ibad, along with some other accused had been charged with attempted murder, while a case had also been registered against MNA Noman Sehgel. Altaf had reportedly been sentenced to 27 years imprisonment, in one of the cases against him by a special anti-terrorism court two years after he left Pakistan. Although, the Sindh High Court later acquitted him of those charges in 1998, he had taken benefit of the NRO in three kidnapping cases registered against him. According to the list of the NRO beneficiaries, PPP leaders, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Malik Mushtaq Awan, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Agha Siraj Durrani, Jehangir Badar and Mir Baz Khetran had all benefited from the ordinance. PML-N member, Saeed Mehdi, until recently working as the adviser to the Punjab chief minister, has already resigned after his name was mentioned in the NRO beneficiaries list.

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