The Saulat Mirza case after the Nine Zero raid has unleashed a slew of accusations from the political parties against each other and the military. Most recently, the Leader of the Opposition, Syed Khursheed Shah of the PPP has insisted in Lahore the other day that Saulat Mirza should be executed and his sentence should not be lessened to life imprisonment. Khursheed Shah has claimed, “Delaying his (Mirza’s) punishment has benefited MQM politically.” He also asserted that the information that Mirza has supplied the authorities is “doubtful” and will become even more doubtful if Mirza’s sentence is lightened. The opposition leader’s statements seem strange because Mirza’s testimony has exposed the top leaders of the MQM for the criminal activities that the party has been suspected of for decades. Both Babar Ghauri and even Altaf Hussain himself have been accused of issuing direct orders to party workers to assassinate the former director of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, Shahid Hamid. Contrary to what Khursheed Shah believes, these revelations have caused the MQM to fall out of favour with the public and other politicians, even if they are not enough to incriminate the party members. Altaf Hussain has insisted that his party does not have a militant wing and has also denied the allegations of Umair Siddiqui, an MQM worker whose confessions suggested the involvement of his party in the 2012 Baldia factory fire. Perhaps Altaf Hussain’s attempts to distance himself from these alleged crimes and throwing his party workers and henchmen under the bus will lead to further dissent within the ranks and the surfacing of more evidence. Twenty-seven workers were also arrested by the Rangers after the raid and the government should ensure their security to gather more illuminating confessions. Now that the establishment is finally paying attention to the possible role of the MQM in propagating violence in Karachi, the quest for evidence and justice should not be thwarted by unnecessary political propaganda. It has puzzled many why the Rangers raided the Nine Zero headquarters now, when intelligence reports about the illicit activities of the MQM’s covert militant wing have been circulating for years and been ignored by successive governments. Nonetheless, justice delayed is still better than justice denied. Now that the government has finally turned its attention to the increasing frequency of criminal activities in Karachi, their attempts to gather evidence should lead to the trials of MQM members accused of these crimes. The deliverance of justice should be facilitated and not be derailed by the opposition political parties. *