Feeling ignored: MQM chief cut up over PPP leaders’ indifference

Says Qaim, Zardari could not be reached by telephone despite several attempts

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said on Saturday that he is “deeply hurt” by the callousness of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) leadership – who were incommunicado when he tried to share his grievances over the arrest of his party workers.

Altaf had called Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari but was unable to speak to them. According to a press release issued by the party, the MQM chief called Qaim but the line was not clear and because of the chief minister’s ‘old-age’, the latter could not hear Altaf clearly.

The MQM chief then told the chief minister that he would call again from his direct phone. When he called the second time, instead of Qaim, it was his operator who picked up. The operator made Altaf wait for several minutes, during which time he was forced to listen to the recorded speeches of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, said the press release. The operator then said that the CM would call him back but the call never came.

CM says hurt by Altaf’s statement

Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah said that Altaf Hussain’s statement regarding his telephonic conversation was not true and it has hurt him.

The MQM chief had called when the CM was in a meeting said a statement issued from the CM House. “I left the on-going meeting just to receive his call,” the statement cited CM Shah as saying. “Altaf Hussain was very emotional and excited in his conversation. He kept talking and talking without listening to me and upon completing his conversation ended the call,” the chief minister said.

Qaim said that he respects Altaf but the MQM chief’s statement has hurt him.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2015.