Imran Farooq murder case: BBC caused ‘damage’ to MQM, says Naseem

MQM’s senator says his interview was heavily edited.

KARACHI:

A top lawyer representing the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in the Senate has castigated BBC for causing ‘untold damage’ to his party in an email to journalist Owen Bennett Jones.

Dr Farogh Naseem sought a clarification from Jones, whose report was aired on Newsnight programme on BBC Two, and asked his employers at the broadcasting service to air a full recording of his interview.

Naseem told The Express Tribune that he had sent the email only to Jones who has not yet responded to his demand.

In a detailed letter, Naseem asks for clarification from BBC on the ‘allegations’ and demands the whole programme is aired without his answers being edited and left out.

The MQM lawyer says in the letter that while the BBC report had mentioned that Altaf Hussain had been accused of many murders in Pakistan, it had failed to explain that he had been acquitted in all the cases. Naseem asked Jones whether he had any evidence of a criminal case against the MQM chief so that he could respond with documentary evidence.

The letter also narrated the incident of the raid at MQM leader Dr Tariq Mir’s house in England where the police took away 1,100 pounds for household expenses, linking it to money laundering.

He claimed that funds had gone to the MQM through legitimate and verifiable sources. Though several politicians have assets in Britain, he said, it is unclear why his party was being questioned when it had only ‘paltry funds’ as compared to others.

The email is attached by a covering letter by the party’s deputy convener Nasir Jamal, who told The Express Tribune that through the letter, they have tried to give the answers to the BBC report as the party’s version against the allegations was not included in the programme.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2014.