MQM chief invites political parties’ teams to Karachi
Altaf asks 5-member delegations to visit city for peace.
KARACHI:
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has proposed a new prescription for restoring stability in Karachi. On the occasion of the 14th foundation day of the party, he addressed a large assembly of the MQM office-bearers and workers at the Lal Qila Ground in Azizabad.
“All the religious and political parties in the country should send a 5-member delegation to Karachi for the sake of restoring peace,” he said. “If a single bullet is fired anywhere in the city, these delegations should be sent to the area concerned to see for themselves as to who is firing,” he added.
He invited retired army officers and judges to become part of the delegation in order to ascertain the identity of those who are creating trouble. He also said that the leaders of all the religious and political parties should know that the elements behind the tragic incidents occurring in Karachi are working at the behest of foreign powers. Hussain appealed to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mian Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League Functional chief Pir Saheb Pagara, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan, Jamiat Ulema Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and leaders of all other political and religious parties to send their delegations to the city.
He asked the local and national leaders of the PPP and the Awami National Party (ANP) to invite Asfandyar Wali and Asif Ali Zardari to Karachi for ameliorating the situation. Hussain said that he was holding out the hand of friendship in all sincerity. He said that the MQM staunchly believed in democracy and it respected the vote bank of all the religious and political parties. However, if someone desired to suppress the MQM with brute force of the state, then history is a testament to the fact that those who tried to eliminate MQM were highly unsuccessful in their endeavors. Hussain made it clear that the MQM was no longer just a representative political party of the Urdu-speaking people only as its network of supporters had spread across Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2011.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has proposed a new prescription for restoring stability in Karachi. On the occasion of the 14th foundation day of the party, he addressed a large assembly of the MQM office-bearers and workers at the Lal Qila Ground in Azizabad.
“All the religious and political parties in the country should send a 5-member delegation to Karachi for the sake of restoring peace,” he said. “If a single bullet is fired anywhere in the city, these delegations should be sent to the area concerned to see for themselves as to who is firing,” he added.
He invited retired army officers and judges to become part of the delegation in order to ascertain the identity of those who are creating trouble. He also said that the leaders of all the religious and political parties should know that the elements behind the tragic incidents occurring in Karachi are working at the behest of foreign powers. Hussain appealed to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mian Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League Functional chief Pir Saheb Pagara, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan, Jamiat Ulema Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and leaders of all other political and religious parties to send their delegations to the city.
He asked the local and national leaders of the PPP and the Awami National Party (ANP) to invite Asfandyar Wali and Asif Ali Zardari to Karachi for ameliorating the situation. Hussain said that he was holding out the hand of friendship in all sincerity. He said that the MQM staunchly believed in democracy and it respected the vote bank of all the religious and political parties. However, if someone desired to suppress the MQM with brute force of the state, then history is a testament to the fact that those who tried to eliminate MQM were highly unsuccessful in their endeavors. Hussain made it clear that the MQM was no longer just a representative political party of the Urdu-speaking people only as its network of supporters had spread across Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2011.