KARACHI (Reuters) – Pakistan’s biggest city Karachi shut down yesterday after a senior politician belonging to the city’s dominant Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was stabbed to death in London.
Imran Farooq, a founding member of the MQM party, the most influential in Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi, was killed on Thursday but it was not clear if it was politically motivated.
Farooq, inactive in politics for about two years, claimed asylum in Britain 11 years ago after more than seven years on the run from Pakistani police who accused him of involvement in murder and other serious crimes. He denied the charges.
Even though he is not an influential MQM figure, the killing could trigger more ethnic and political violence in Karachi.
Most shops and schools were closed and no public transport was available after the MQM announced 10 days of mourning.
A few vehicles were torched, police said.
“We are confident that the culprit will be arrested and will be given exemplary punishment,” Farooq Sattar, a senior member of the MQM and a minister in the government of President Asif Ali Zardari, told reporters in Karachi.
Sattar refused to speculate on the motives behind the killing, saying they were awaiting results of British investigations.
