Rebirth: PSP launches youth council with former MQM student leaders

Have realised my sins after being led astray, says Mustafa Kamal

KARACHI: At the launch of his party's 'youth council' on Monday evening, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief Mustafa Kamal explained that many members of the new body had been led astray in the past but have now realised their sins, just like he has.

The former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader admitted that not all of their youth council members 'have a clean chit and past'. Kamal blamed his former party chief, Altaf Hussain, for any wrongdoings he had been a part of.

However, he stated that the "purpose of PSP is not to preach to those who had not committed any wrongdoings and instead try to bring to the correct path those who were on the wrong side before."

We should hate the crime and not the perpetrator, he said while explaining that he was not defending criminals.

Addressing the gathering at the party's secretariat, the PSP chief said the youth council has a crucial role to play in spreading the party's message and helping those who have been misguided.

He lamented that for most political parties, the youth are just a group that can be used and then discarded, and urged the youth to play an active part in the growth of PSP.

The party's youth council comprises 31 members, including students, under the age of 28.

PSP's senior vice-chairperson Dr Sagheer Ahmed, while addressing the convention, questioned how old politicians could claim to represent the youth [hinting at the presence of relatively elderly persons in youth wings of other political parties].

He announced the names and introduced the members of the newly formed council. While some members had no previous political association, many were earlier associated with the student wings of the MQM, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Ahmed claimed that this council will not establish a physical presence in colleges and universities in the form of student wings. Instead, it will function as a group of likeminded people contributing positively to address issues of the youth.

He explained that the council would report directly to PSP's central executive council and its chapters would be launched in every district of the country.

Raza Haroon, secretary-general of the party, remarked that PSP did not want students to engage in politics in educational institutes and instead 'wants them to work for Pakistan'.

Engineer Tauseef Ejaz, a former senior leader of MQM's youth wing, the All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation, who has now joined PSP's youth council, told The Express Tribune that this group would be different from the previous student wing which he was heading.

He said they will not launch specific chapters for universities or colleges and instead their organisational structure would be divided into districts and the relevant members would work for the youth in the assigned districts.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2016.