Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal and MQM Organisation Restoration Committee founder Dr Farooq Sattar on Thursday buried the hatchet and announced rejoining the MQM-Pakistan to “jointly raise voice for the rights of the people of urban areas of Sindh”.
The announcement came ahead of the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad, which are set to take place on January 15.
“Our efforts to unify all factions [of the MQM] have borne fruit and all those who were hatching conspiracy against us will be disappointed today,” MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told a joint news conference at party’s Bahadurabad headquarters on Thursday.
He was flanked by Kamal, Sattar and other party leaders.
Siddiqui observed that Karachi was the city which “feeds the country” but none of the political parties had done anything for its development.
“All [the politicians] come here, make false promises and go back. No one feels the pain for Karachi,” he said.
Siddiqui stressed that in view of the prevailing circumstances, it was imperative that all the factions of the MQM join hands and work together for the betterment of the urban areas of Sindh.
“It is the need of the hour that we, the sons of Karachi, become one voice and fight for the rights of the urban areas of Sindh… Karachi is mini Pakistan and the revenue engine of the country,” he said.
“We have united for the survival of Pakistan.”
"I welcome all of you including Mustafa Kamal bhai (brother) and Farooq Sattar bhai and their supporters,” the MQM-P chief remarked.
He said during the last five years, census, constituencies and job quota in the urban areas of Sindh had been subjected to prejudice. “No one feels the pain of Karachi except us.”
Siddiqui warned that they would not let the local government polls take place on January 15 if the issue of delimitations was not fixed.
“We will not let the [local body] elections take place on January 15… We are ready to contest elections if delimitations are fixed by overnight but if not then we will fight for our identity,” Siddiqui announced as he alleged that attempts were being made to snatch the mandate of the Mohajirs by gerrymandering.
Speaking on the occasion, Kamal said the reunification of different factions of the MQM would go down in history as the most important development.
“On March 3, 2016, we put our lives at stake and raised voice for the people of this city. Before our entry (PSP formation), innocent people were being killed, which has stopped [now]. We played major role in this regard,” he said while referring to the launching of his party against MQM founder Altaf Hussain.
“We did not rid the city of the influence of Altaf Hussain and RAW so that (PPP Co-chairperson) Asif Zardari could take over this city,” he added.
Kamal said he had decided to set aside differences and join MQM-P as a “conspiracy” was being hatched to occupy different areas of Karachi. He said they would jointly launch a struggle to help the Sindh urban population get their rights.
“Today we are beginning another migration into MQM-Pakistan,” he remarked.
Kamal said Zardari was trying to make his son Bilawal Bhutto prime minister of the country.
“If he wants to make Bilawal premier then he needs to realise that this is not possible without addressing the grievances of the people of Karachi and other urban areas [of Sindh],” he added.
He demanded the release of missing MQM workers, saying a one-time amnesty should be given to them “as they had played a major role for the development of this city”.
“We will work under the leadership of Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui bhai,”he added.
‘MQM is a ray of hope’
Speaking on the occasion, Sattar said the merger of MQM factions was an important development not only for Sindh’s urban areas but for the entire country.
“MQM is a ray of hope in the current political and economic crisis for Pakistan as all political parties of the country are fighting with each other. Our action will show why we have gathered here,” he added.
Speaking about flood aid pledges of over $10 billion, Sattar said Karachi alone could gather such amount if an opportunity was given.
“Today we are launching an organised and dynamic MQM. The division of MQM was a deadly poison. We are putting aside all [our differences] and reuniting under the banner of MQM.”
Responding to a question, Sattar said he had advised the MQM-P to quit the federal government “and don’t even look towards the [PPP-led] provincial government”.
However, he was interrupted by Siddiqui. “Don’t give any policy statement. We will consider all options in the meeting,” he maintained.
Sattar said by confiscating the powers of 140-A, the province had resorted to pre-poll rigging against which they would stage “biggest sit-in in the country's history on Shahrah-Faisal”.
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