Declaring the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) a black law, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Thursday said he regretted his party leaders’ decision to support the bill’s passage, insisting he was not consulted beforehand.
Speaking to journalists at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday during an informal talk on the political situation of the country, Altaf said his party leaders made the decision in haste. “I don’t support the law. But we had no other options but to swallow the bitter bill.”
The MQM chief said that the ordinance would be used against ‘limited’ people who are a threat to the country’s peace and would not be used once the operation has ended.
Altaf spoke in favour of revolutions and said that even if an army officer vows to free the society from a corrupt system and provide empowerment to the people at the grassroots level, he would support it.
The MQM chief said that many years ago he was the only party leader to raise his voice against Talibanisation and was ridiculed. He said that in every village of K-P there are MQM workers and vowed that people from all over the province would be gathered under one flag.
Altaf recalled the time when he was arrested in London last month, and said that 30 policemen had turned up with an arrest warrant when he was leaving for the hospital.
“Arrests are not an issue for me,” he said. “I have witnessed lockups and arrests,” The MQM has been summoned again at the end of July.
Responding to a question on the MQM’s decision to join the Sindh government when its dozens of workers were missing, the MQM chief said that a majority in the Rabita Committee was in favour of an alliance with the PPP.
“We decided to join to serve the public and do something productive,” he said.
The Express Tribune exclusively spoke to the MQM chief Altaf Hussain after the session. He was asked whether his party will, if approached, form an alliance with Dr Tahirul Qadri against the government.
He said that his party will jointly decide whether to ally themselves with Qadri. If lawful demands are put up by Qadri, Altaf said he will support them. However, he insisted that the country must stand united during the military operation and not focus on forming new alliances.
Altaf was asked if he has invited PTI and JI to his rally on Sunday. The MQM chief said that his party had invited PTI for the rally. He then asked Farooq Sattar to confirm if they had also invited the JI.
“We have invited their parliamentarians in the assembly, but we are still considering whether to go to their office for invitation,” said Sattar. Altaf told him to invite the JI for the MQM solidarity rally against the armed forces on Sunday.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2014.
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