Scuffle and chaos mar MQM-P meeting as two groups clash at party's Bahadurabad office

KARACHI: At least four individuals got injured when violence and disorder occurred during an MQM-P meeting held at the party’s headquarters in Bahadurabad, near Char Minar on Sunday evening.

As per the sources, the fight took place amongst the supporters of two rival factions of the party.

A policeman on condition of anonymity said that the police had already reached the spot to bring the situation under control and so far no complaints were made to the police station by any concerned person.

The policeman said that a contingent of police had reached the spot in order to avoid the deterioration of the situation further.

One more policeman informed Dawn that around 7:20pm, the MQM-P had held its meeting at the party’s temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad, where a number of leaders had also attended the meeting.

He said that the situation got worse when Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui left the meeting; workers of two rival factions had engaged themselves in a fight and these factions included followers of Anis Qaimkhani and Mustafa Kamal, and the followers of Dr Siddiqui and Aminul Haque. The source was not sure about what caused the brawl amongst the two factions.

According to the sources, followers of Qaimkhani faction had attacked followers of Siddiqui faction and had expelled them from the headquarters of the party. Later on, the latter had gathered in a nearby park.

The official said heavy firing was also reported from inside the party headquarters, causing fear and panic in the area.

One person, identified as Amir Ali, 40, sustained a bullet injury and was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Later, Farooq Sattar, Ali Khursheedi and Haque arrived at the park and asked the workers to come for a press conference, which did not take place, the police officer added.

At around 10pm, the leaders left the party headquarters and the workers also dispersed.

Police remained present at the site, but no arrests were made, the official added.

Meanwhile, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said one person with a firearm injury and three others injured by sticks and stones were brought to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital from Bahadurabad.

She added that the person with the firearm injury, who had wounds on his arm and chest, was later shifted to a private hospital.

In a post on X, Sindh government spokesperson Sadia Javed said: “They set out to divide Sindh, but failed to keep their own house in o