Media briefing: Karachi will not be allowed to be a ‘colony of London’
PPP says demand to split Sindh was equal to destroying the country.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon. PHOTO: EXPRESS/MOHAMMAD SAQIB
KARACHI:
The leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Saturday said their party had a “candid” and “loud” policy which would never allow Karachi to be a “colony of London.”
The demand made by MQM leader in a public gathering held in Hyderabad was tantamount to destroy the country, PPP leaders Taj Haider, Sharjeel Inam Memon and Qadir Patel said addressing a press conference at PPP Media Cell.
The demand to split Sindh was part of a concealed agenda they told the media after attending a party meeting presided over by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
“There are three possibilities behind the MQM leader’s statement to spit Sindh,” Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said. The demand has either been made to divert attention from the trial of Pervez Musharraf or the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi. The third and the strongest possibility is that some elements inside MQM were misguiding the party chief Altaf Hussain in order to prevent his return to Pakistan, Memon said.
He asked Altaf Hussain to return to Pakistan and assured that the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) would stand by him against any threats to his life.
“The PPPP Jiyala can tolerate everything but will not hesitate sacrificing their lives for the defence of Sindh and the country,” Memon asserted.
He was of the view that all those living in Sindh, whether they were Sindhi, Baloch, Seraiki, Punjabi, or Urdu-speaking had no conflict with each other and had always lived in peace, but a conspiracy was afoot to trigger the ethnic violence.
“We believe that those who suspended the Constitution, toppled the democratic government in 1999 and imposed emergency in 2007 should be held accountable,” he said.
Clarifying Party policy, he said the PPPP would continue its reconciliation policy, keeping its doors open for all political parties.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2014.
The leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Saturday said their party had a “candid” and “loud” policy which would never allow Karachi to be a “colony of London.”
The demand made by MQM leader in a public gathering held in Hyderabad was tantamount to destroy the country, PPP leaders Taj Haider, Sharjeel Inam Memon and Qadir Patel said addressing a press conference at PPP Media Cell.
The demand to split Sindh was part of a concealed agenda they told the media after attending a party meeting presided over by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
“There are three possibilities behind the MQM leader’s statement to spit Sindh,” Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said. The demand has either been made to divert attention from the trial of Pervez Musharraf or the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi. The third and the strongest possibility is that some elements inside MQM were misguiding the party chief Altaf Hussain in order to prevent his return to Pakistan, Memon said.
He asked Altaf Hussain to return to Pakistan and assured that the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) would stand by him against any threats to his life.
“The PPPP Jiyala can tolerate everything but will not hesitate sacrificing their lives for the defence of Sindh and the country,” Memon asserted.
He was of the view that all those living in Sindh, whether they were Sindhi, Baloch, Seraiki, Punjabi, or Urdu-speaking had no conflict with each other and had always lived in peace, but a conspiracy was afoot to trigger the ethnic violence.
“We believe that those who suspended the Constitution, toppled the democratic government in 1999 and imposed emergency in 2007 should be held accountable,” he said.
Clarifying Party policy, he said the PPPP would continue its reconciliation policy, keeping its doors open for all political parties.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2014.