Re: Tension in Karachi
So this guy is going to step into politics now? tu abhi kia yeh politics nahi ker rehe!:mad:
**KARACHI: Relaxing in his luxurious four-storey home, Uzair Baloch has high hopes of breaking into Pakistani politics despite the 63 warrants out for his arrest.
**People will give me votes, God willing,” said Baloch, as his muscular bodyguards eyed the surrounding slum streets.
Murder, torture and extortion allegations would bar most people around the world from seeking public office.
Not in Pakistan’s commercial capital, Karachi, where men like Baloch thrive amid gang wars and ethnic, sectarian and political violence. He’s confident of winning a legislative seat in a general election due early next year.
Last month, thousands of officers attempted to seize control of his stronghold in the Lyari slum but were ambushed by gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades and armour-piercing bullets.
Five policemen and about 20 civilians were killed, police say. A legislator’s house was set on fire. But no fugitives were arrested.
Chaudhry Aslam, a policeman, journalists have dubbed “Pakistan’s toughest cop,” is charged with going after figures like Baloch.
He denies the arrest attempt was politically motivated, and says Baloch’s tactics made it impossible to nab him.
“He used human shields. That is why we could not arrest him before,” said Aslam at a police barracks, where armoured vehicles sit in the parking lot and rocket-propelled grenades are stacked in a bathroom.
Baloch denies any link to violence. Residents disagree.
In one notorious incident, his supporters showed up at the giant Sher Shah scrap yard, witnesses said.
Baloch, who says all cases against him are politically motivated, is confident he will never end up behind bars.
“They made cases against me so they can stop me. They know in the coming election people are with me. People say whatever Uzair Baloch says, we will do this,” Baloch said, as a visiting government official looked on.