Unfair policy? MQM slams ‘double standards’ on Altaf’s media ban

Party brings to light old interview given by PM criticising army

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) demanded on Friday that notice be taken of an old interview of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in which he accused the armed forces of breaking up the country in 1971.

Addressing a press conference at the Khursheed Begum Secretariat, MQM MNA and senior deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar said that the law and Constitution should be equal for everyone. "Except for Altaf Bhai, everyone has freedom of expression and the right to criticise. If no notice is taken of Nawaz Sharif's interview, then it would give us proof that the law is not equal for those who sacrificed their lives for the creation of the country and left everything behind to live here," he said.

The party is referring to an old interview given by PM Nawaz Sharif to Dr Shahid Masood during the time when General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was in power.

Referring to statements of other political leaders criticising the armed forces, Sattar questioned why only Altaf Hussain has been banned from the media. He said that Asif Ali Zardari had threatened the armed forces and took the names of Imran Khan, Asfandyar Wali, Khawaja Asif and Fazlur Rehman as political figures who have spoken against the Pakistan Army.

Sattar claimed that the PM had neither retracted, nor apologised for his interview. Despite Altaf's statements about the army being less provoking than the PM's, Altaf was banned, he lamented.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2016.