Pakistan: 1. Use of violence by the MQM or Mohajirs? 2. Existence of Mohajir army or weapons?
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | PAK4529 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Pakistan: 1. Use of violence by the MQM or Mohajirs? 2. Existence of Mohajir army or weapons?, 1 February 1990, PAK4529, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aacf9c.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Reports on the situation in Pakistan indicate that the Mohajirs have been engaged in the inter-ethnic violence which has engulfed all major ethnic groups in the country. With reference to a Mohajir army, please refer to the article by Barbara Crossette, "Pakistani Minority Becomes Political Powerhouse", (13 November 1988, The New York Times), which alludes to the Mohajir Quomi Movements' "fortified headquarters" in Karachi. Although Mohajirs are armed, there is no mention as to whether this is a formal "army" or "militia".
The inter-ethnic tensions in Karachi have resulted in mob violence against various groups, including Mohajirs. Another article, by Hafeez Siddiqui, ("Pakistan Rioters Burn Cars, Shops Death Toll Mounts to 170", Reuters, 1 October 1988), refers to an incident where hundreds of Mohajirs "took to the streets in poorer parts of Karachi and attacked police" in response to news of a massacre of at least 145 fellow Mohajirs in Hyderabad. It should be noted that violent actions by individual Mohajirs are not necessarily connected to the Mohajir Quomi Movement. However, in "Pakistan Unity on Kashmir Shaken by Karachi Riot Deaths", (Malcolm Davis, Reuters, 11 February 1990) the author alleges that "scores of people were shot and wounded as troops and police battled activists of the Mohajir Nationalist Movement (MQM), some of them armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles".
Please refer to the news reports on the Mohajir Quomi Movement which accompanied response #4191.
