# Operation Clean-up > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Operation_Clean-up > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Operation_Clean-up.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Clean-up > Source revision: 1351799205 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Pakistani anti-crime operation}} {{EngvarB|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox operational plan | name = Operation Clean-up | partof = [MQM Militancy](/source/MQM_Militancy) | image = 300px | caption = Prime minister [Nawaz Sharif](/source/Nawaz_Sharif) along with Chief of Army Staff General [Asif Nawaz](/source/Asif_Nawaz_Janjua) and V Corps GOC-in-Chief Lieutenant General Naseer Akhtar visiting General Headquarters (GHQ) to get briefing on 19th June of 1992 Operation preparations. | scope = Cleansing of the city of "anti-social" elements. | type = [Military operation](/source/Military_operation), [Military intelligence](/source/Military_intelligence), [Counterinsurgency](/source/Counterinsurgency), [Counterterrorism](/source/Counterterrorism) | location = [Karachi](/source/Karachi), [Sindh](/source/Sindh), [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan) | coordinates = | planned = | planned_by = {{army|PAK}}, [Intelligence Bureau](/source/Intelligence_Bureau_(Pakistan)), and [FIA](/source/Federal_Investigation_Agency) | objective = Cleansing of the city of "anti-social" elements. | target = * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-London.png}} [MQM-A](/source/Muttahida_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_London)'s target killers, militants, and gangsters * {{flagicon image|Flag of MQM-Haqiqi.png}} [MQM-H](/source/Mohajir_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_Haqiqi)’s target killers, militants, and gangsters | date = 19 June 1992 − 16 August 1994
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=06|day1=19|year1=1992|month2=08|day2=16|year2=1994}}) | timezone = [UTC+05:00](/source/UTC%2B05%3A00) [PKT](/source/Pakistan_Standard_Time) | executed_by = {{tree list}} * [Pakistan Rangers](/source/Pakistan_Rangers) ** [Sindh Rangers](/source/Sindh_Rangers) * [Pakistan Police](/source/Pakistan_Police) ** [Sindh Police](/source/Sindh_Police) {{tree list/end}} | outcome = [Sindh government](/source/Sindh_government) victory. * [MQM-Altaf](/source/Muttahida_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_London) and [MQM-Haqiqi](/source/Mohajir_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_Haqiqi) weakened * Law and order restored * Crime rate of [Karachi](/source/Karachi) significantly reduced }} '''Operation Clean-up''', also known as '''Operation Blue Fox''', was an armed intelligence program and anti-crime operation led by the [Sindh Police](/source/Sindh_Police) and [Sindh Rangers](/source/Sindh_Rangers), with some support from the [Pakistan Army](/source/Pakistan_Army) and its related-[intelligence agencies](/source/Pakistani_Intelligence_community). It was planned by the [FIA](/source/Federal_Investigation_Agency), [Intelligence Bureau](/source/Intelligence_Bureau_(Pakistan)), army and launched the directives of Prime Minister [Nawaz Sharif](/source/Nawaz_Sharif) in 1992. The program was more strictly pursued by upcoming Prime Minister [Benazir Bhutto](/source/Benazir_Bhutto) in 1993–1994, as part of her internal policies. Its objective was to cleanse [Karachi](/source/Karachi) city of anti-social elements as well as reduce crime such as [street crime](/source/street_crime) and [gang warfare](/source/gang_warfare). The program targeted the [Muhajir Qaumi Movement (Altaf)](/source/Muttahida_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_London) and the [Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Haqiqi)](/source/Mohajir_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_Haqiqi) over the controversy regarding the alleged plan on having the cities of Karachi and Hyderabad break away from the province of Sindh and be a province itself known as [Jinnahpur](/source/Jinnahpur). {{Muhajirs}} ==Background== ===Political dynamics in 1980s=== The [Muttahida Qaumi Movement](/source/Muttahida_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_Pakistan) (denoted as ''MQM'') is a centre-left and liberal political party which was founded in 1984 by its activist leader, [Altaf Hussain](/source/Altaf_Hussain_(Pakistani_politician)) who was a student at the [University of Karachi](/source/University_of_Karachi) in the 1970s.{{cite news|last=Paracha|first=Nadeem|title=Born to run: The rise and leveling of the APMSO|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/743914/born-to-run-the-rise-and-leveling-of-the-apmso|access-date=29 May 2013|newspaper=Dawn Newspapers|date=23 August 2012}} According to the memoirs of General [Mirza Beg](/source/Mirza_Aslam_Beg), the MQM had its support from [President](/source/President_of_Pakistan) General [Zia-ul-Haq](/source/Muhammad_Zia-ul-Haq) since its very early foundation in 1984, in a view to sideline the [''Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan''](/source/Jamaat-e-Islami_Pakistan) in [Karachi](/source/Karachi) and [Pakistan Peoples Party](/source/Pakistan_People's_Party) in rural [Sindh](/source/Sindh). Such claims had been dismissed by MQM's former convener [Imran Farooq](/source/Imran_Farooq).{{cite news|last=Press Trust of India|title=Zia had founded MQM, says Beg|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/zia-had-founded-mqm-says-beg/32043/|access-date=29 May 2013|newspaper=Indian Express|date=28 May 2007}}{{cite news|last=Khalid Hasan|title=Zia formed the MQM: General Beg|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\05\27\story_27-5-2007_pg7_7|access-date=29 May 2013|newspaper=Daily Times Pakistan|date=27 May 2007}} MQM took part in [local government elections](/source/Local_government_in_Pakistan) and participated well in [1985 general elections](/source/1985_Pakistani_general_election), initially becoming part of [military](/source/Pakistan_military)–[technocratic](/source/Zia_regime) government of [President](/source/President_of_Pakistan) General [Zia-ul-Haq](/source/Muhammad_Zia-ul-Haq). After [death](/source/Death_of_Zia-ul-Haq) of President Zia-ul-Haq, MQM contested in [1988 general elections](/source/1988_Pakistani_general_election), acquiring considerable political leverage with 13 seats in [parliament](/source/Pakistan_Parliament).{{cite book|last=Lyon|first=Peter|title=Conflict between India and Pakistan : an encyclopedia|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|isbn=978-1576077122|pages=155–120{{clarify|date=August 2013}}|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLwOck15eboC&dq=operation+clean+up+PPP&pg=PA115}} MQM was part of [PPP](/source/Pakistan_Peoples_Party)-led government of [Benazir Bhutto](/source/Benazir_Bhutto) but its repressive persuasion of [repatriation](/source/repatriation) of [''Biharis''](/source/Stranded_Pakistanis) from [Bangladesh](/source/Bangladesh) camps soured the relations between each other. MQM went on to support the "[vote of no confidence](/source/vote_of_no_confidence)" against Benazir Bhutto which took the incumbency by surprise. As early as 1988–89, the political problems in Karachi began to arise and reached its climax in 1990 when the [Sindh Police](/source/Sindh_Police) [opened fire](/source/Pucca_Qila_Operation) on ''[Muhajir](/source/Muhajir_(Urdu-speaking_people))'' protesters (mostly women and children) outside [Hyderabad](/source/Hyderabad%2C_Pakistan) city in [Pakka Killa](/source/Pacco_Qillo). The ensuing violence led to the events dismissing Benazir Bhutto from the office. After coming in power as a result of [1990 general elections](/source/1990_Pakistani_general_election), the MQM re-demonstrated its political power in Sindh as part of the [IDA](/source/Islamic_Democratic_Alliance) government led by [Nawaz Sharif](/source/Nawaz_Sharif). During this time, violence arose with the disagreements between [one faction](/source/Muhajir_Qaumi_Movement_(Haqiqi)) led by [Afaq Ahmed](/source/Afaq_Ahmed) and [Altaf Hussain](/source/Altaf_Hussain_(Pakistani_politician)) of MQM. MQM was later subdued by Nawaz Sharif in 1991 due to a brief clash of ideology. Since its founding, the [Muhajir Qaumi Movement](/source/Muttahida_Qaumi_Movement_%E2%80%93_London) (MQM) and its student wing, the [All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organization](/source/All_Pakistan_Muhajir_Students_Organization) (APMSO), had engaged in a bitter rivalry with [Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan](/source/Jamaat-e-Islami_Pakistan) (JIP) and its student wing, [Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba](/source/Islami_Jamiat-e-Talaba) (IJT), with bloody confrontations on university campuses and [turf wars](/source/Turf_war_(conflict)) later on involving [street fighting](/source/street_fighting), [gang warfare](/source/gang_warfare) and [urban warfare](/source/urban_warfare). Additionally, MQM was accused of operating as a [mafia](/source/mafia) organization where its heavily armed militants used [extortion](/source/extortion) and [coercion](/source/coercion) to increase their influence.{{cite journal |author=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali |date=1996 |title=The Battlefields of Karachi: Ethnicity, Violence and the State |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0004.108/--battlefields-of-karachi-ethnicity-violence-and-the-state?rgn=main;view=fulltext |journal=The Journal of the International Institute |volume=4 |issue=1}} ==Planning an operation in Karachi== In 1992, a program's studies for an operation led by the Rangers in Karachi were concluded under the [Director-General](/source/Director-General) of the [Intelligence Bureau](/source/Intelligence_Bureau_(Pakistan)), [Brigadier](/source/Brigadier) (retired) [Imtiaz Ahmed](/source/Imtiaz_Ahmed_(brigadier)) as codename: Operation ''Clean-up'', recommending the protocol. On personal initiatives of Prime Minister [Nawaz Sharif](/source/Nawaz_Sharif), ''Clean-up'' protocol was initiated under Imtiaz Ahmed and the [Pakistan Rangers](/source/Pakistan_Army_Rangers), focusing on taking measures against the [decoits](/source/Dacoity) in rural [Sindh](/source/Sindh), not specific to political parties. According to the sources, the program's protocol was to last six months, deadline was until June 1992.Agence France Presse (AFP). 1 June 1992. "Pakistan Army Chief Discusses Sindh Operation." (IRBDC Indexed Media Review [Ottawa] 26 May-1 June 1992, Vol. 3, No. 22, p. 61) ==Operation== The program went in cold storage after Sharif was dismissed but again came in effect and revival after the [1993 general elections](/source/1993_Pakistani_general_election) which saw [Benazir Bhutto](/source/Benazir_Bhutto) [coming in power](/source/Second_Benazir_Bhutto_government) and [MQM](/source/Mohajir_Qaumi_Movement_Pakistan) winning the provisional elections decisively. The proposal was put forward and Benazir Bhutto renamed the program's protocol as "''Blue Fox"'' in 1993 and more aggressively persuade with the program.{{cite web|title=Timeline: A history of MQM|date=25 May 2013 |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1027569/timeline-a-history-of-mqm|publisher=Timeline of MQM by Dawn|access-date=29 May 2013}} Among the reasons given for the launching of the ''Blue Fox'' were the [Jinnahpur](/source/Jinnahpur) affair and the [Major Kaleem Case](/source/Major_Kaleem_Case) in Karachi that occurred in 1993.{{cite web|last=U.S. Gov.|title=Profile Series: Pakistan|url=http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/ins/pakistan.pdf|work=United States Government|publisher=United States Department of Justice|access-date=29 May 2013}} The street fighting with the [Pakistan People's Party](/source/Pakistan_People's_Party) continued in rural Karachi with the PPP's controversial decision of forming of [Malir District](/source/Malir_District) in 1994. ===Continuation of the operation=== After the Nawaz government fell, the anti-MQM operation continued into the [new Benazir Bhutto government](/source/Second_Benazir_Bhutto_government). The army recognised that the program's protocol actually took place during the [Government](/source/Second_Benazir_Bhutto_government) of Prime Minister [Benazir Bhutto](/source/Benazir_Bhutto).{{cite web|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA330011996?open&of=ENG-PAK |title=Pakistan: Human rights crisis in Karachi |date=1 February 1996 |publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=26 July 2006|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104073429/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA330011996?open&of=ENG-PAK |archive-date=4 November 2006 }} The diameter and focus of the program was widened to [Pakistan Armed Forces](/source/Pakistan_Armed_Forces) when the idea of the 25th Mechanized Division of [V Corps](/source/V_Corps_(Pakistan)) (for support) and the internal wing of the [ISI](/source/Inter-Services_Intelligence) (on intelligence) was invited by Benazir Bhutto. The Rangers' [search and destroy](/source/search_and_destroy) operation led to the discovery of arm caches and torture chambers in elsewhere in Karachi. The [gun battles](/source/Gun_battle), [urban warefare](/source/Urban_warfare) and [street fighting](/source/street_fighting) in Karachi increased the Muhajir-Sindhi violence. [Lieutenant-General](/source/Lieutenant_general_(Pakistan)) Naseer Akhtar and [Major-General](/source/Major_general_(Pakistan)) Safdar Ali Khan, assisting [Brigadier](/source/Brigadier) [Imtiaz Ahmed](/source/Imtiaz_Ahmed_(brigadier)), directly reported to the government on the course of actions. In December 1993, Defence minister [Aftab Mirani](/source/Aftab_Shaban_Mirani) maintained that the [Ranger](/source/Pakistan_Rangers) operation in Sindh "will continue as long as it is needed."{{cite news|last=Govt. of Canada|title=Pakistan: Information on whether the army is still present in Sindh following "Operation Clean-Up" and on the effect of this operation on the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM)|url=http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=topic&tocid=463af2212&toid=469f2eb02&docid=3ae6aab898&skip=0|access-date=29 May 2013|newspaper=UNHR|date=1 March 1994}} In a press release in January 1994, [Interior Minister](/source/Interior_Minister_of_Pakistan), [Naseerullah Babar](/source/Naseerullah_Babar), added in that "Operation ''Clean-Up''" was likely to continue until June.The News [Islamabad, in English]. 13 January 1994. "Army Likely to Stay in Sindh Until June." (FBIS-NES-94-009 13 January 1994, pp. 43–44) During its final phases on 19 May 1994, Prime minister [Benazir Bhutto](/source/Benazir_Bhutto) chaired a meeting with [Chief minister](/source/Chief_Minister_of_Sindh) of [Sindh](/source/Sindh_Province) [Abdullah Shah](/source/Abdullah_Ali_Shah), Interior minister [Naseerullah Babar](/source/Naseerullah_Babar), [chief of army staff](/source/Chief_of_Army_Staff_(Pakistan)) [General](/source/General_(Pakistan)) [Waheed Kakar](/source/Abdul_Waheed_Kakar) and other key civilian and military officials at [General Headquarters](/source/General_Headquarters_(Pakistan_Army)) ([GHQ](/source/GHQ_(Pakistan_Army))), to decide on the modalities of [Operation Clean-up](/source/Operation_Clean-up) in Sindh; the operation was to be carried out by the [Pakistan Rangers](/source/Pakistan_Rangers), more specifically, the [Sindh Rangers](/source/Sindh_Rangers) with some support from the Army.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pakistanihistory.com/92.htm |title=1992 |access-date=10 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629080621/http://www.pakistanihistory.com/92.htm |archive-date=29 June 2008 |url-status=dead }} == Halt and Aftermath == Ending in 1994, the period is regarded as the bloodiest period in Karachi's history, with thousands killed or gone missing in the fighting. In May 1995, arm clashes again broke out between the [MQM](/source/Mohajir_Qaumi_Movement_Pakistan) and the [Sindh Police](/source/Sindh_Police), who was managed by the [PPP](/source/Pakistan_People's_Party). Benazir Bhutto's steps towards the [counterinsurgency](/source/counterinsurgency) did, however, bring some calm in Karachi by the spring of 1996. Over this issue, [Murtaza Bhutto](/source/Murtaza_Bhutto) was notably gunned down in a [police encounter](/source/police_encounter) with the Sindh Police. Within seven-weeks, President [Farooq Leghari](/source/Farooq_Leghari) dismissed the government of [Benazir Bhutto](/source/Benazir_Bhutto), primarily charging the issue of [Murtaza Bhutto](/source/Murtaza_Bhutto) and the killings of [MQM](/source/Mohajir_Qaumi_Movement_Pakistan) workers. Furthermore, the program came to its final halt in end years of 1996 after the dismissal of Benazir Bhutto's government. MQM again participated well in [1997 general elections](/source/1997_Pakistani_general_elections) and re-demonstrated its political leverage in the parliament. == Legacy == Although {{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1994}} to {{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1992}} have passed since the arrests or disappearance of MQM workers, families of the missing people have registered cases in the [Supreme Court of Pakistan](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Pakistan) and are still searching for their loved ones.{{Cite web |date=2010-04-23 |title=KARACHI: Families of 'missing' MQM workers still hopeful |url=https://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/karachi-families-of-missing-mqm-workers-still-hopeful-220 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423193101/https://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/local/karachi-families-of-missing-mqm-workers-still-hopeful-220 |archive-date=2010-04-23 |access-date=2021-02-24 |website=dawn.com}} ==See also== *[MQM Militancy](/source/MQM_Militancy) *[MQM insurrection (1994-2016)](/source/MQM_violence_(1994%E2%80%932016)) *[Jinnahpur](/source/Jinnahpur) *[Insurgency in Sindh](/source/Insurgency_in_Sindh) *[Operation Lyari](/source/Operation_Lyari) *[Pucca Qila Massacre](/source/Pucca_Qila_Massacre) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [https://www.scribd.com/doc/16399946/Rise-of-the-MQM-in-Pakistan-Politics-of-Ethnic-Mobilization Rise of the MQM in Pakistan: Politics of Ethnic Mobilization] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630123632/http://www.scribd.com/doc/16399946/Rise-of-the-MQM-in-Pakistan-Politics-of-Ethnic-Mobilization |date=30 June 2013 }}, Farhat Haq, [Asian Survey](/source/Asian_Survey), Vol. 35, No. 11 (Nov. 1995), pp. 990–1004, [University of California Press](/source/University_of_California_Press) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130518121049/http://www.scribd.com/doc/16400153/Ethnicity-and-State-Power-in-Pakistan-The-Karachi-Crisis Ethnicity and State Power in Pakistan: The Karachi Crisis], Moonis Ahmar, [Asian Survey](/source/Asian_Survey), Vol. 36, No. 10 (Oct. 1996), pp. 1031–1048, Published by: [University of California Press](/source/University_of_California_Press) * [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9sI_Y2CKAcC&pg=PA35 A History of Pakistan and its Origins], pg 35, Christophe Jaffrelot * [http://tribune.com.pk/story/268323/what-happened-to-the-92-cops-who-disappeared-after-1992/ "What happened to the 92 cops who disappeared after 1992?"] {{Inter-Services Intelligence}} Category:History of Sindh (1947–present) Category:Muhajir history Category:Political repression in Pakistan Category:Politics of Karachi Clean-up Category:Law enforcement operations in Pakistan Clean-up Clean-up Category:Nawaz Sharif administration Clean-up Category:Government of Benazir Bhutto Category:Muttahida Qaumi Movement --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Operation Clean-up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Clean-up) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Clean-up?action=history)). 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