Delimitation issue: We are being pushed to the wall, says MQM leader

Farooq Sattar says verification of voters’ list should be carried out across the country.

KARACHI:

The rhetoric against redrawing constituencies in Karachi intensified on Saturday.

Senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Farooq Sattar warned against singling out Karachi, referring to a Supreme Court ruling regarding fresh delimitation of constituencies in Karachi, during a fiery speech laced with reminders of irreversible mistakes committed by the state in the past.

Speaking to the media at the Jinnah Ground, Sattar said the verification of voters’ list should be carried out across the board, not just in the MQM’s stronghold.

“We are being pushed to the wall,” said Sattar on Saturday, the eve of the “Remembrance Day” for party workers killed in security operations in the 1990s. “The MQM does not accept this policy of double standards. The Constitution and laws are the same for everyone.”

The MQM stalwart went on to add that allegations of rigging in the recently held by-polls in Punjab only reaffirmed his party’s stance of reassessing voters’ lists across the country.



“This is something that has been called for by all the parties. The PML-Q, PPP and PTI have all pointed out at rigging,” he said, adding that the blatant use of weapons during polling in Punjab should be an eye-opener for everyone.

“Television channels showed footage of men carrying weapons and how ballot boxes were tampered,” he said.

Sattar, flanked by the top leadership of the MQM, also hit out at political and religious leaders calling for a door-to-door search operation for weapons in Karachi, saying the same leaders should also open their eyes to what is happening in Punjab.

“The Supreme Court took notice of violence in Karachi but why is it not taking notice of what happened in Punjab?” asked Sattar. The word of highhandedness, which has been used to define MQM’s mandate in the city, is unacceptable, said the party leader, referring to the apex court ruling regarding fresh delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.

“So many elections have been held and not a single petition has proven anything wrong in MQM’s 85% mandate (in Karachi),” he said.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) there is no room for delimitation of constituencies, he said. “All this is being done ahead of elections. Wrong messages are being sent to us.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2012.