Muhajirs proved their patriotism by celebrating August 14 with zeal, says Farooq Sattar

MQM-Pakistan convener reiterates party has no links with Altaf Hussain

KARACHI: By celebrating Independence Day with fervor and rejecting the call for a 'black day' by the London faction of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Muhajirs have proved that they are the most patriotic segment of Pakistani society.

MQM-Pakistan Convener Dr Farooq Sattar said this while addressing a press conference at his party's makeshift headquarters in Bahadurabad on Thursday.

The pro-MQM founder Altaf Hussain group, dubbed MQM-London, had asked its supporters to mark August 14 - the day country was created 70 years ago through a division of India - as a 'black day', apparently because of the virtual ban on its activities by the authorities.



Dr Sattar came down hard on MQM-London's call. "If someone still raises a doubtful eye towards the patriotism of Muhajirs, then we also question his or her patriotism. The credit for thwarting the [MQM-London's] scheme goes to MQM-Pakistan."

Reiterating that MQM-Pakistan was not linked with Altaf anymore, Dr Sattar said that the Coordination Committee , which is the decision-making body of the MQM, made changes in its constitution to strip the party founder of the powers he enjoyed.

Almost a year has passed since MQM split into the two factions of MQM-Pakistan and MQM-London, spearheaded by Dr Sattar and Nadeem Nusrat respectively. The division occurred after a controversial and incendiary speech of the MQM founder on August 22, 2016 in which he advocated the abolishment of the sovereignty of the country.



During the press conference, the MQM-Pakistan chief also made jibes about his rivals, the Pak Sarzameen Party led by former city nazim Mustafa Kamal and the Pakistan Peoples Party, which is ruling the province. Dr Sattar asked Kamal to focus on national politics and leave the issues of Muhajirs to him and MQM-Pakistan. Moreover, he welcomed the Sindh High Court decision that halted the process of repealing the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999. Dr Sattar also requested the Supreme Court to supervise proceedings into the 179 cases of mega corruption in Sindh.