Estranged Baloch leaders should be engaged in dialogue: Altaf Hussain

MQM chief says bitter pills would have to be swallowed for the integrity and survival of Pakistan.

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has called for engaging estranged Baloch leaders living in the mountains through dialogue if Pakistan is to be made a progressive state.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Hussain was quoted as saying that, “the Balochistan issue would not be resolved through artificial measures. Estranged Baloch leaders in mountains would have to be engaged in dialogues, and bitter pills would have to be swallowed for the integrity and survival of Pakistan.”

Hussain also said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a liberal, secular and progressive Pakistan, instead of a theocratic one.

He added that the MQM wanted to develop a society in Pakistan where everyone has equal rights irrespective of their religious belief, language, race, gender, colour and sect, and “where life, property, and honour of an individual are safeguarded and government decisions are taken purely on merit”.

Hussain further claimed that the vision of the Quaid-e-Azam was being corrupted by a particular group and sectarianism was being encouraged. He also condemned the recent attack on the Bohra community in the Hyderi area of Karachi.

“If the country has an MQM prime minister, and the party gets a chance to serve for five years, it would at least make Pakistan a liberal and progressive country even if it could not make it like France,” the statement added.