MQM’s 30th anniversary: Altaf to army - keep off foreign conflicts

Assails critics who brand MQM a product of Zia’s rule.

KARACHI:

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain appealed to the armed forces not to pay heed to the government in case they ask the military to intervene in Sunni-Shia conflicts in Muslim countries.

Speaking at the party’s 30th Foundation Day, celebrated at Jinnah ground in Karachi on Tuesday, the party leader said, “The government should not use the Pakistan army for their own purpose and should not involve them in killing Muslim brothers in Libya, Syria, Bahrain and other countries.”

Altaf’s statement coincides with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa’s visit to Pakistan. “If a treason case is registered against the army for disobeying the government’s orders, then they should be prepared for it. If this is betrayal, then let it be betrayal,” he said. “If a case is registered against me for treason, then I am also ready.”

In his speech, the MQM leader, who has remained a fierce critic of the Sindh government in the past, did not mention the provincial government’s management of the situation of Tharparkar.

Regarding the government’s negotiations with the Taliban, Altaf said the process of dialogue seems to be between two countries as it is being kept secret and even the location of talks is not disclosed. “Terrorism and Pakistan cannot go hand in hand,” he said. “For the sake of the country’s prosperity, the elimination of terrorism is the need of the hour.”

Altaf became emotional during his address and broke down in tears while discussing the rape and self-immolation of a student in Muzafargarh, saying that if powers are handed to him, he will arrest the criminals in a week and hang them.

The crowd shouted slogans in favour of the party as the MQM chief said that people today allege the army and military dictator Ziaul Haq were behind the formation of the MQM. “I want to tell them that I was sent to jail thrice under Zia’s regime,” he said. He added that unlike other political leaders, he does not own houses in multiple cities and in the last 30 years, he has never turned to businesses such as sugar mills. “Those leaders and I should be kept separate,” he said.

Altaf lambasted lawyers who did not protest the killing of their female colleagues in the attack on Islamabad’s district courts, saying they did not protest against the alleged rape and suicide of the girl in Muzafargarh either. He said the current judiciary metes out punishment to innocent people and sets free those responsible for the killings of several people.

Altaf added that in a country where feudal and tribal system is rife, democracy cannot exist simultaneously. “The bitter reality is that in history we have seen that it is mostly a general, colonel or a brigadier of the army who has gained power and rid the country of a corrupt political culture,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2014.