Meeting in Karachi : MQM leaders resolve to save party, workers

Its delegations will meet other party leaders to clear its stance in current scenario

KARACHI: Some 20 elected representatives of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) on Friday attended a meeting at Farooq Sattar's residence and resolved to take all possible measures to save the party and the workers, The Express Tribune has learnt.

In the meeting, which lasted for about half an hour, the MQM leaders also decided to send delegations to meet other party leaders in a bid to clear their stance in current scenario, sources said.

The MQM is facing a severe crackdown after its chief Altaf Hussain on August 22 shouted anti-Pakistan slogans and incited his party workers to violence while addressing a hunger strike camp outside Karachi Press Club.

Later, the MQM workers attacked the office of a media house and clashed with police, resulting in the death of a person and injuries to a dozen people. After Altaf’s anti-Pakistan diatribe, the MQM’s Karachi leaders, headed by Dr Farooq Sattar, apparently dissociated themselves from the party’s London office and said the party would now take its decisions in Karachi.

Since the incident, the government has arrested a number of MQM workers while hundreds of its offices, including its headquarters Nine-Zero, have been sealed. A number of MQM offices built on illegal plots have also been razed to the ground.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2016.