Telephonic address: Remain calm if I’m arrested, Altaf advises MQM workers
Says he has faced ‘testing times’ before and is not afraid of jail.
File photo of MQM Chief Altaf Hussain. PHOTO: APP/FILE
KARACHI:
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has asked his supporters to remain calm and ‘committed’ to their cause in case he is arrested by the Scotland Yard.
“I’m innocent. I’m not afraid of confinement or any other action,” the MQM chief told his party workers in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas by phone on Saturday.
Altaf Hussain is being investigated by the London Metropolitan Police over the murder of former MQM senior leader Dr Imran Farooq and suspicions of money laundering.
The MQM chief said he had faced ‘testing times, fabricated cases and imprisonments’ before, but had never compromised on his ‘beliefs and principles’.
“Arrests, false cases and difficulties of imprisonment are part of my struggle … Time has proved all allegations levelled against me were baseless,” he said, urging his supporters to remain united to attain their ‘usurped’ rights.
Talking about his self-exile, Altaf said that sometimes a leader struggling for the rights of the ‘oppressed’ is imprisoned in his own city and is thus compelled into staying away physically from his people.
He added that while he may be physically away from Pakistan, he was always spiritually close to the workers and supporters of his party. “No power on earth can distance me from my people,” he said.
The MQM chief said his party was not working against any ethno-linguistic group or community. “In my eyes, all communities are equal and I respect them all.”
He said previously the MQM had a Sindhi member of parliament elected from the Urdu-speaking dominated Azizabad constituency of Karachi. Altaf added that the fact that a Baloch party member had been elected for the same seat demonstrated that the MQM had no designs against any group.
Terming Mirpurkhas an MQM stronghold, Altaf alleged that armed individuals had taken over polling stations in previous elections and cast bogus votes. He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan and the government to ensure free and fair by-elections in the district. “If the government fails to do so, then the people will reserve the right to protest,” said Altaf.
He assured MQM supporters that the party would emerge victorious in the August 22 by-elections, adding that despite all difficulties, the morale of MQM workers remained high.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2013.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has asked his supporters to remain calm and ‘committed’ to their cause in case he is arrested by the Scotland Yard.
“I’m innocent. I’m not afraid of confinement or any other action,” the MQM chief told his party workers in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas by phone on Saturday.
Altaf Hussain is being investigated by the London Metropolitan Police over the murder of former MQM senior leader Dr Imran Farooq and suspicions of money laundering.
The MQM chief said he had faced ‘testing times, fabricated cases and imprisonments’ before, but had never compromised on his ‘beliefs and principles’.
“Arrests, false cases and difficulties of imprisonment are part of my struggle … Time has proved all allegations levelled against me were baseless,” he said, urging his supporters to remain united to attain their ‘usurped’ rights.
Talking about his self-exile, Altaf said that sometimes a leader struggling for the rights of the ‘oppressed’ is imprisoned in his own city and is thus compelled into staying away physically from his people.
He added that while he may be physically away from Pakistan, he was always spiritually close to the workers and supporters of his party. “No power on earth can distance me from my people,” he said.
The MQM chief said his party was not working against any ethno-linguistic group or community. “In my eyes, all communities are equal and I respect them all.”
He said previously the MQM had a Sindhi member of parliament elected from the Urdu-speaking dominated Azizabad constituency of Karachi. Altaf added that the fact that a Baloch party member had been elected for the same seat demonstrated that the MQM had no designs against any group.
Terming Mirpurkhas an MQM stronghold, Altaf alleged that armed individuals had taken over polling stations in previous elections and cast bogus votes. He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan and the government to ensure free and fair by-elections in the district. “If the government fails to do so, then the people will reserve the right to protest,” said Altaf.
He assured MQM supporters that the party would emerge victorious in the August 22 by-elections, adding that despite all difficulties, the morale of MQM workers remained high.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 18th, 2013.