US won't support Free Karachi campaigns: Pak envoy

Washington DC [United States], Jan 20 (ANI): Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary has said that Washington has assured that it will not support to any campaign against Pakistan.

The Dawn quoted Chaudhary, as saying, "We took it up with the State Department, and they assured us that they continue to support Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity as strongly as they always have."

Chaudhary made this remark after taxis lined up with #FreeKarachi banners to participate in the Dr. Martin Luther King Day parade earlier this week in Washington and similar demonstrations were held in New York.

The Ambassador Chaudhary further said anti-Pakistan posters and billboards have been removed from New York and Washington.

He also mentioned that US Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells had given a similar assurance during her recent visit to Islamabad.

Contrary to the Pakistan Ambassador's statement, U.S. Congressman Tom Garrett has expressed his concern over the gross human rights abuses taking place against ethnic Mohajirs in Karachi.

In his comments published in a special Washington Times supplement, the Republican lawmaker said "President Trump's decision to suspend aid to Pakistan is a clear choice for its leadership on being an ally to the U.S., commitment to dismantle terrorist networks and importantly stop oppression and human rights abuse on Mohajirs in Karachi, Baloch, Pashtuns and their minority communities through its military, paramilitary and intelligence assets."

Garrett has acquired a reputation for being vocal on global human rights issues and raising his voice against state atrocities committed by Pakistan against Mohajirs.

The paramilitary Rangers have been conducting a brutal operation in Karachi since 2013 during which hundreds of Mohajirs have been extra-judicially killed and hundreds have gone missing since being taken into custody by security forces.

The operation has particularly aimed at the country's most secular political party in Pakistan, MQM. The party's deputy Convener, Harvard-educated Professor Zafar-Hasan Arif was also killed last Sunday after being taken into unlawful custody. His bruised, bleeding body was found on the outskirts of Karachi.

The Washington Times published an exclusive news supplement titled 'Free Karachi Campaign.' The supplement highlights the strategic importance of Karachi in South Asia region and growing extremism under the patronage of Pakistan's powerful military and its even more powerful intelligence agency, ISI. The supplement features reports and articles on the persecution of Mohajirs in Karachi and the other urban centers of Sindh Province.

Digital Ads of 'Free Karachi' are running on the Washington Times website, urging the U.S. administration and world community to save Mohajirs in Pakistan.

Earlier this week, the first phase of Free Karachi Campaign was launched in Washington D.C. on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Taxis with the banners of #FreeKarachi took part in the parade to raise awareness on the plight of Mohajirs in Pakistan. (ANI)