MQM says Altaf is ‘perfectly fine’

MQM convener Nadeem Nusrat appealed to people not to pay heed to these speculations and asked them to stay united

KARACHI: Dismissing widespread rumours on social media websites that Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain was in critical condition, the party said on Wednesday their leader was ‘perfectly fine’.

In a press release issued from London, MQM convener Nadeem Nusrat strongly denied the rumours as ‘false and baseless’.

“Altaf Hussain is perfectly fine and is dealing with his day-to-day personal affairs and organisational work. He is in constant contact with his workers, office-bearers, Rabita Committee, and different wings and zones of the party,” he said.

He said rumours about Altaf’s ill-health were being spread as part of an organised conspiracy to spread disappointment and unrest among workers and people. “These rumours are spread by the same elements that want to weaken, finish or create divisions [within] the MQM,” Nusrat added.

The convener appealed to people not to pay heed to these speculations and asked them to stay united.

Meanwhile, the MQM’s estranged leader Mustafa Kamal – who recently returned to the country and formed a separate and yet name-less party – told journalists at his residence on Wednesday that he would declare his agenda in a rally near Quaid’s mausoleum by end of March.

“We will hold a rally at Mazar-e-Quaid by the end of this month,” he said, adding that “dozens of men and women are joining my party.”


Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2016.