Wasim Akhtar (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of the Muttahida Quami Movement (P). He served as the

Mayor of Karachi Mayor of Karachi (Urdu: ) is the executive of the Karachi metropolitan corporation and the Karachi local government system of the city of Karachi which is the third tier of governance in Pakistan after Federal and provincial governments. Pre ...

, Pakistan's largest city, from 2016 to 2020. Shortly after his nomination as Mayor, he was controversially arrested for what his supporters saw as political reasons. Akhtar worked as a telecommunication engineer for

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

in Saudi Arabia for ten years. After returning to Pakistan, he started radio sets and telephone sets assembly business which later expanded to pharmaceutical distribution.

Early life and career

After his early academic education, he finished his degree program in telecommunication engineering. He is also facing charges as the main culprit on the 12 May 2007 riots in which more than 50 citizens were killed.

Personal life

Akhtar belongs to an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Muslim Rajput Muslim Rajputs are the descendants of Rajputs of Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval India, medieval period in India onwards, retaining historically Hin ...

family. He is the son of Akhter Muhammad Khan. He runs a real estate business. He is married and has six children.

Political career

Mayor of Karachi

In 1987, he joined

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Muttahida Qaumi Movement (abbreviated MQM) is a name currently claimed by two competing Pakistani political factions: * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London, a political faction managed from the UK * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan Muttah ...

. He is currently a senior member of MQM. After the 2015 Karachi local government elections, Akhtar became the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

on August 24, 2016. He took oath as Karachi mayor on 30 August 2016.

Arrest

Waseem Akhtar was arrested based on a Joint Investigation Team report on Dr. Asim Hussain. These reports, according to legal experts, are inadmissible in courts. The Anti-Terror Court which would try him has also been declared as "unjust and ineffective" by the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...

. Waseem Akhter was arrested shortly after his nomination papers for the Mayor of Karachi were accepted by the

Election Commission of Pakistan The Election Commission of Pakistan ( ur, ; ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting elections to the national parliament, provincial legislatures, l ...

(which requires that a candidate have no criminal record). Since he was nominated mayor of Karachi, unknown persons registered FIR against him in the District of Malir, home of then Senior Superintendent of Police Rao Anwar, who would later be suspended by the government. The Anti-Terror Court ordered his arrest, which seems part of chain of political crackdown against MQM, which has blamed the law enforcement agencies for transgressing their authority and extrajudicially killing many MQM workers, including Aftab Ahmed, a former coordinator for

Farooq Sattar Muhammad Farooq Sattar (; born 9 April 1949) is a Pakistani politician who is the founder & former leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, who split it from MQM founder and leader Altaf Hussain, he announced separate faction after rel ...

. Waseem Akhtar also alleges that the court needlessly delayed his bail by not hearing his bail case.

Charges

Charges against Waseem Akhtar included that he listened to speeches by MQM founder Altaf Hussain and clapped. He is also accused of recommending people to Dr. Asim Hussain for medical treatment.

Fake confession reports

Pakistani media ran reported that Waseem Akhtar had confessed to murder, but his lawyers presented a signed letter from his jail declaring the reports to be false. Waseem Akhtar later himself appeared on the media and rejected the fake confession reports. MQM has also alleged that law enforcement agencies were pressuring Waseem Akhtar to withdraw as the mayor of Karachi. Some analysts opined that Waseem Akhtar was not being provided a fair trial.

Fake receipts in Dr. Asim case

Journalist Shahzaib Khanzada revealed that Rangers had submitted forged medical receipts intended to show that Waseem Akhtar had recommended alleged terrorists receive treatment from Dr. Asim. All of the receipts belonged to innocent residents (the receipts and addresses were authentic but names had been changed).

Amnesty International

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

published a report stating that the life of Waseem Akhtar while in detention might be in danger because of torture and ill treatment by the law enforcement agencies.

Release from jail

Waseem Akhtar was released from detention on November 16, 2016 after getting bail on all 39 cases.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhtar, Waseem Living people Mayors of Karachi 1955 births Muhajir people Muttahida Qaumi Movement politicians Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia Pakistani businesspeople Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013