Operation Clean-up

Operation Clean-up
Part of Sectarian violence in Pakistan
Date 19 June 1992 − 16 August 1994 Location Karachi Sindh Province, Pakistan
Belligerents
	PA Rangers  Pakistan Army Intelligence Bureau
Commanders and leaders
	LGen Naseer Akhtar MGen Safdar Ali Khan BGen Imtiaz Ahmed
Units involved
	25th Mechanized Division of V Corps Sindh Police Force

The Operation Clean-up (also known as Operation Blue Fox) was a military operation led by Pakistan Army and the Army Rangers under the command of Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmed in Karachi, Pakistan that lasted from 1992−1994. The claimed goal of the operation was to 'cleanse' the city of "anti-social" elements. The operation initiated on 19 June 1992 under the command of then-DG of Intelligence Bureau, Brigadier Imtiaz Ahmad. The main target of the operation was the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (now renamed Muttahida Qaumi Movement)^[1] on the drummed up charges of the Jinnahpur Conspiracy masterminded by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.^[2]

The operation took place during Nawaz Sharif's first term as the Prime Minister of Pakistan.^[3] The period is regarded as the bloodiest period in Karachi's history, with thousands killed or gone missing in the fighting. Although 14 years have passed since the alleged arrest or disappearance of MQM workers, families of the missing people are still hopeful after registering the cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.^[4]

On 19 May 1992, Prime minister Nawaz Sharif met Chief minister of Sindh Province Muzaffar Hussain Shah, Home Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chief of Army Staff General Asif Nawaz, Colonel Commandant of V Corps Lieutenant-General Naseer Akhtar, Director-General Army Rangers Major-General Safdar Ali Khan and other civilian and military officials at General Headquarters (GHQ) Rawalpindi, Punjab, to decide on the modalities of Operation Clean-up in Sindh; operation to be carried out by the Army Rangers with full backing by the Army.^[5]

Among the reasons given for the launching of the operation were the Jinnahpur affair (later revealed to be a fabricated affair) and the Major Kaleem Case.^[6]

See also

• Jinnahpur

References

1. ^ Qadir, Abdul. "Chronology of the Events (1991-2006)". Jang. http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/spedition/sp_news15/p32.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-08. 
2. ^ Jinnah Pur map was a drama, confesses ex-official thearynews.com
3. ^ "Pakistan: Human rights crisis in Karachi". Amnesty International. 1996-02-01. http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA330011996?open&of=ENG-PAK. Retrieved 2009-07-26. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ http://www.pakistanihistory.com/92.htm
6. ^ MQM shifts blame for 1992 operation from military to Nawaz, The News (Pakistan), 2 September 2009

External links

• Rise of the MQM in Pakistan: Politics of Ethnic Mobilization, Farhat Haq, Asian Survey, Vol. 35, No. 11 (Nov., 1995), pp. 990–1004, University of California Press
• Ethnicity and State Power in Pakistan: The Karachi Crisis, Moonis Ahmar, Asian Survey, Vol. 36, No. 10 (Oct., 1996), pp. 1031–1048, Published by: University of California Press
• A History of Pakistan and its Origins, pg 35, Christophe Jaffrelot
• Beyond this Battle of Karachi, Eqbal Ahmed, Dawn, 17 August 1995