Imran Farooq murder case: MQM rebuffs claims of Dr Farooq forming party

Scotland Yard sees slain leader’s party launch as a ‘key line of inquiry’.

KARACHI:

On his third death anniversary, the Muttahida Qaumi movement claimed that Imran Farooq was a party loyalist who would never form his own political organisation.

Earlier on Monday, London’s Scotland Yard stated that the slain Dr Farooq wished to actively participate in politics by pursuing his political career  independent from the MQM, which might have led to his murder. According to the police, the launch of his new political career is a ‘key line of inquiry in the investigation’.

Dr Farooq, a founding member of the MQM, was stabbed outside his house on September 16, 2010 in Edgware.

MQM deputy convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui emphatically said, “We cannot even imagine that Imran Farooq would think of forming his own party.” He was addressing the media and party activists who had gathered to offer prayers for Dr Farooq, whose father was also present. His father said that he did not suspect MQM chief Altaf Hussain or anyone in the party to be behind his son’s murder.

Meanwhile, in London, Dr Imran Farooq’s widow said that Altaf Hussain is the leader of millions of people and no amount of propaganda can disparage his leadership.

In his statement on the death anniversary, Altaf Hussain also paid tribute to Farooq, saying that his sacrifices would not go to waste. “He will always remain alive in the hearts of MQM workers.”

Rejecting Scotland Yard’s claims, MQM Rabita Committee member Wasay Jalil said that the London police’s statement relied solely on the discovery of a Facebook account that allegedly belonged to Dr Farooq. “This Facebook account is fake. There is no truth to the rumours of him forming a separate party.”

Even in 2002, the media reported an apparent split in the party when Altaf Hussain dismissed Farooq as convener of the Rabita Committee.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2013.