MQM to stage protests across Karachi to mark solidarity with Altaf

Party leaders say demonstrations will be staged at 18 different places in the city and will begin at 4 pm today

KARACHI: A day after former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal launched a blistering attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, the party on Friday announced to stage protests across the metropolis to express solidarity with its leader.

"Protests will be staged at 18 different places in the city and will begin at 4:00pm today," party leaders told The Express Tribune.



“Protests will be held in Clifton, Landhi, Korangi, Malir and Shah Faisal areas,” the leaders added.

Kamal had on Thursday challenged the ‘iron grip’ of the MQM on the city by forming a new political party. Kamal — who won wide support as mayor of Karachi from 2005 to 2010 for his efforts to ease traffic and improve public services — levelled blistering criticism at Altaf’s ‘strong-arm tactics’ and accused him of working for India’s premier spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Following Kamal's tirade against the MQM supremo, the MQM leadership came out with a calm response to Mustafa Kamal’s explosive news conference on Thursday, claiming the party had been bearing the same accusations for decades.



“These allegations are not new. Since 1992, we have been facing them. In every election, we have been getting the mandate and votes despite all these allegations. The mandate alone is the defence of Altaf,” said MQM convenor Nadeem Nusrat while addressing a press conference from London at the MQM headquarters Nine-Zero, where all the lawmakers and office-bearers had gathered.

Thursday’s press conference was the first time since the departure of Kamal and Anees Qaimkhani in 2013 that the two publicly announced their departure from the party. Later on, the MQM also announced cancelling the basic party membership of the two men.