MQM-Pakistan, PSP requests for public meeting at same venue rejected

PSP postpones meeting while MQM-Pakistan seeks another venue

HYDERABAD: After the rejection of the applications of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - Pakistan and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) for holding public meetings in Hyderabad on the same date and place, one of the two offshoots of the MQM has apparently postponed its plan while the other has filed another application with a different venue.

MQM-Pakistan and PSP wanted to organise their public meetings on December 8 at Bagh-i-Mustafa Park in Latifabad. The MQM had held its last public meeting in the park in January 2014.

However, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Saleem Rajput rejected applications of both the parties, citing a court order which barred political parties from organising political activities at public parks. The DC told the two parties to change the venue and file another application for the permission.

Going ahead with its plan, MQM-Pakistan changed the venue to Akbari Ground in Latifabad and applied for the permission. However, the PSP postponed its event. "The district administration refused to give us permission," said PSP Hyderabad General Secretary Rizwan Gaddi while talking to The Express Tribune.



The PSP leader, however, did not explain why the party did not file another application to hold its meeting at an alternative venue. The PSP will be carrying out membership campaign from December 6 to December 8 instead of the public meeting, he said.

The MQM-Pakistan Hyderabad organiser, MPA Rashid Khilji, said the party was awaiting the administration's approval for the ground. He added that the administration should stagger the two events with a gap of a day or two if the PSP was also planning for the event.

"The administration should give us permission first because we applied for the public meeting on November 20 and they [PSP] applied on November 23," Khilji told The Express Tribune. "We don't object to their [PSP] political activities. They have the right to hold a public meeting," he added.

With two MNAs and four MPAs elected from Hyderabad and 76 chairmen of union committees in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, MQM-Pakistan believes it has greater stakes in Hyderabad than the PSP.

MQM-Pakistan Convener Dr Farooq Sattar was scheduled to address a press conference about December 8 public meeting in Hyderabad on November 25. The press conference was, however, cancelled due to protests and sit-ins of Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah. It has now been rescheduled on December 3.



PSP membership campaign

At a press conference on Thursday in Hyderabad, PSP President Anis Kaimkhani said PSP Chairperson Mustafa Kamal will inaugurate the three-day membership campaign in Hyderabad on December 6. Camps would be set up for the campaign in all areas of Hyderabad, he added.

"The door for negotiations with MQM-Pakistan hasn't been shut," said Kaimkhani. He advised Dr Sattar to diffuse negative sentiments in the MQM-Pakistan regarding the PSP and continue the dialogue on the agreed points.