Farooq Sattar defends party decision

MQM will not be ‘physically present’ at the rally, it will continue to support Qadri’s cause says Sattar.

KARACHI:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has announced that it will not take part in the Minhajul Quran International (MQI) chief’s January 14 march on Islamabad.

The party’s deputy convener Farooq Sattar made the announcement at a press conference here on Friday, citing a precarious security situation in the country for the decision.

“Keeping in mind the current security situation and threats being issued by militants, we have decided to not be a part of the long march,” he told reporters, adding that the decision was taken in the country’s ‘greater interest’. However, he maintained that while MQM would not be ‘physically present’ at the rally, it would continue to support Qadri’s cause.

“We are firm believers in democracy, and we would never want to derail it or cause it harm.”

Sattar announced that the party had informed the MQI chief of the decision, adding that it would solely be the latter’s call to move ahead with the march or not. Qadri, meanwhile, has decided to conduct the march, with or without MQM.

MQM leader Wasey Jalil while talking to The Express Tribune said the decision was taken to safeguard the lives of its workers.

“There are genuine and credible threats. After the Quetta and Swat blasts, we had meetings the whole night and decided that it was better not to be part of the long march.”

However, Jalil too said MQM would continue to support Qadri since his ideology was similar to that of the party.

“We took this decision with a heavy heart. On Thursday, more than 100 people lost their lives…We couldn’t risk being part of it,” he continued. The MQM leader added all collection camps have been closed down and the Rabita Committee would hold a meeting to decide what to do with the donations received for the march.

According to sources privy to the development, Interior Minister Rehman Malik rushed to Karachi in order to request the MQM to withdraw support for the march. Reportedly, he requested the party leadership to confine its support for Qadri to Punjab.

Sources in MQM, meanwhile, say that regardless of Malik’s backdoor diplomacy, the party leadership had already started reviewing the decision. They claimed that senior MQM leaders had advised Altaf to be vigilant and cautious in this regard.

In his telephonic address to party workers on Thursday, the MQM chief had vowed the party would participate in the march at any cost. He had advised party workers all over the country to prepare for Qadri’s call for action.

Reservations cancelled

As MQM backtracked from joining Qadri’s march, prospective participants from the party started getting their railway tickets and reservations cancelled.

“Six coaches were reserved by MQM activists for January 11, but all reserved seats were cancelled after the party’s announcement,” said a PR official.

When asked about the reservation of coaches by MQM, PR Karachi Division commercial official Shoaib Adil said he had received no information regarding the matter. He also denied having any information pertaining to the number of tickets reserved for the march on an individual basis.

Meanwhile, according to MQI deputy press secretary Rao Ishtiaq, a total of 3,000 people are traveling via PR from Karachi.

“Long-march participants have started their journey on Friday,” he said, adding that a fleet of 100 vehicles led by Mustafavi Student Movement president Waseem Akhtar had left for Lahore to participate in the march as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2013.