Raising their voice: MQM decries restrictions on collecting donations

Nadeem Nusrat asks under which law KKF, a registered body, is stopped from collecting donations.

KARACHI: Despite the fact that Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF) is a legitimate and registered body, it is being stopped by the state from collecting donations, complained the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Tuesday.

“Under which law are there restrictions on the KKF regarding collecting donations?” asked MQM convener Nadeem Nusrat addressing a press conference via video link at the Khursheed Begum Secretariat. “There are banned outfits that are carrying out activities but no action is taken against them.”

Speaking from London, the convener said that there is no official ban on the KKF, yet there are hurdles in its way in the form of workers’ arrests and raids. He said that for the last three years, the organisation has been facing problems in its charity work.

He said that the families of thousands of deceased MQM workers were being supported by the charity organisation of the MQM but the KKF has been unable to support them for the last two months. “We used to have arrangements to provide food to the poor and needy but today the party is deprived of supplying food.”

Suppression of workers

The convener said that there were ‘no-go’ areas being formed for MQM workers and, in Korangi, Malir and Ranchore Line, workers were being victimised by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement - Haqiqi (MQM-H) and the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP). He said that both these parties enjoyed the patronage of the state. Regarding talks with MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmed, he said that the MQM does not want to hold any talks with ‘criminal parties’.

‘Agents of RAW’

Talking about the allegations of being ‘agents’ of Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Nusrat said not a single action of the party could prove that they were against Pakistan or that they had indulged in anti-state activities. Regarding MQM leaders Tariq Mir and Muhammad Anwar’s confessions to Scotland Yard, he said that the two had denied links with RAW and said that investigations were ongoing.

Missing workers and victimisation

Nusrat said that families were waiting for their loved ones who have gone missing and were in the custody of law enforcement agencies. He requested that they be released. “Under a conspiracy, MQM workers were criminalised and, today, these workers are told to join the PSP,” he said. “When they do [that], their sins are wiped and their cases are dismissed.”

Questioning if jails were established only to force workers to switch loyalties, Nusrat said this was a violation of human rights. The MQM leader said that false cases were being formed against the MQM to politically victimise and isolate the party.

He was of the view that the state should abandon the ‘might is right’ policy since it did not bear fruit even in the past.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.