Nine Zero

Nine (نائن زیرو) was the name given to the headquarters of Pakistan's political party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, in the National Assembly of Pakistan. It was located in Azizabad, a sub-division of Federal B. Area, Karachi. The house was constructed on a 120 square yards (1080 sq ft.) plot, belonged to the family of the MQM founder, Altaf Hussain, as he lived in house #90/8, Block 8 in Azizabad Karachi-75950 (near "Liaqut Ali Khan Chowk").[1] It has now become the center of MQM's political and social activities. Altaf Hussain frequently delivers his speeches there by video or tele-conferencing in order to communicate with the workers of the political party. It is also the main centre of MQM in Karachi and is an important location for political meetings & discussions.[2]

MQM Headquarter "90" is named "90" given by the last two digits of the phone number, not the plot or house number.

Controversies

On 11 March 2015, Rangers carried out a raid at Nine Zero, the headquarters of MQM in Karachi as well as the party’s public secretariat Khursheed Begum Memorial Hall and arrested dozens of activists.[3] At least 27 suspects were presented before an anti-terrorism court. Rangers claimed that they apprehended nearly half a dozen target killers – including Faisal Mehmood, aka Faisal Moto, who was sentenced to death in the murder case of Geo News journalist Wali Khan Babar and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition, walkie talkies, binoculars and other military gear used by Nato forces in Afghanistan were also seized during the raid.[4]

Nine Zero was sealed on 23 August 2016 by the Rangers following a hate speech delivered by MQM's leader, Altaf Hussain, which resulted in rioting and one death.[5] Now many leaders of MQM have been arrested by rangers for investigation.

References
  1. www.mqm.org
  2. "MQM invites PML-N to Nine Zero". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  3. "27 MQM workers arrested in Nine Zero raid presented in ATC". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  4. "27 MQM workers arrested in Nine Zero raid presented in ATC". Geo TV. 12 March 2015.
  5. http://tribune.com.pk/story/1168911/nisar-seeks-uk-action-altaf/
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