Unanimous resolution: MQM joins NA in condemning Altaf’s incendiary speech

Another resolution moved by Farooq Sattar not taken up .

ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers in the National Assembly (NA) unanimously passed a resolution, condemning MQM founder Altaf Hussain’s anti-Pakistan slogans of August 22 and terming the incendiary speech an attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Altaf’s vitriolic speech had triggered a wave of unrest in Karachi, leading to attacks against a television channel and policemen. The violence left one person dead and six others injured.

“This house demands strict action under the law against the people [involved in the violence],” stated the resolution tabled by Barjees Tahir, the Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan affairs minister.

“This House also condemns all kinds of crime, violence, terrorism, anti-Pakistan sloganeering or activities and demands immediate and strict action against those responsible. This House expresses solidarity with the armed forces, media, judiciary and all democratic institutions working under the Constitution,” it added.

In an unprecedented move, the lawmakers belonging to the MQM supported the government’s resolution against their own party’s founder.

The MQM-Pakistan, which announced its separation from the London leadership on August 23, had earlier submitted its own resolution against Altaf with the assembly secretariat. However, the resolution signed by 22 MQM leaders was not taken by the lower parliament house.

Speaking in the NA, MQM-Pakistan chief Dr Farooq Sattar said he should have also been given the opportunity to introduce the similar resolution. “We denounced and disowned the August 22 incident and have disassociated ourselves from the MQM’s founder and the London office,” he said.

After giving a detailed account of events and the sacrifices leading to the creation of Pakistan, the veteran MQM leader claimed the Mohajirs were still not accepted as patriots. “The question is not of rejecting those who raise anti-Pakistan slogans but of accepting those who raise pro-Pakistan slogans,” he said.

While he reiterated having no links with Altaf, he also called for giving the MQM founder an opportunity to clarify his position. Highlighting a long list of problems being faced by the residents of Karachi, Sattar said: “We should not wait for another Mujeebur Rehman to be born.”



Safron Minister Qadir Baloch took exception to the MQM leader’s claim of being the only community to have sacrificed for Pakistan, saying the MQM was presenting itself as the founder of Pakistan.

“It is inappropriate to give all the credit to one community based on language,” he said, claiming around two million people lost their lives for Pakistan but around 90% to 95% of them were from Punjab. “Don’t hurt us by saying only you are the founders of Pakistan.”

Earlier, speaking to the media after submitting the resolution, Sattar had termed Altaf’s August 22 speech “suicidal” and said the MQM in Pakistan had made a huge sacrifice by distancing itself from the party founder in its decisions and policies.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2016.