Talks with MQM: Maulana Fazlur Rehman arrives in Karachi

Fazlur Rehman hopes that the matter of MQM's resignations can be resolved amicably

KARACHI: After arriving in Karachi on Monday evening, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman hoped that the terms for Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) return to assemblies can be reached in the first round of meetings, Express News reported.

“I have come to Karachi with much hope. If there were no hope, I would not have come,” he said.

The JUI-F chief further said that the negotiations will be held without any pre-conditions. While he hoped to wrap up negotiations in the first meeting where the issues will be presented, Rehman said that should there be a need for it, talks could extend to a second round.

With a meeting with MQM leaders expected at the party's headquarters at Nine-Zero on Tuesday, the JUI-F chief expressed the hope that the matter of their resignations can be resolved amicably. "If PTI can return to the assemblies, why not the MQM?"

The JUI-F chief said that he had made the journey after a positive discussion with MQM chief Altaf Hussain.

Speaking about the security situation in Karachi, the JUI-F chief said that citizens of the megalopolis now consider themselves as “safe”.  He added that even the MQM chief had said that he was not against the operation.

Earlier, efforts to bring estranged MQM back in the assemblies seemed to have hit a snag as the party claimed that the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was yet to contact them regarding the matter.

The JUI-F chief, who was scheduled to arrive in Karachi on Monday to hold talks with the MQM, was appointed as the unofficial negotiator between the government and the MQM after the party resigned from the Parliament and the Sindh assembly last week, citing reservations over the ongoing Rangers operation in Karachi.

Taking to The Express Tribune, MQM leader Aminul Haq had said that the party was yet to receive any information from Rehman regarding when and where the meeting would take place, adding that it seems that if a meeting was to take place, it would take place on Tuesday.

There have also been reports that the JUI-F chief does not want to go to MQM headquarters Nine Zero for negotiations and is insisting on meeting at a neutral place, preferably the government’s guest house.

On the other hand, the MQM is insisting that Fazl come to Nine Zero for the meeting.

Read: Fazlur Rehman to hold talks with MQM leadership

“It has been a tradition that all politicians come to Nine Zero to have discussions and dialogue with us. From Benazir Bhutto, who came to party headquarters in 1988 before taking oath as the prime minister to the time when Mamnoon Hussain came to Nine Zero after being designated the President,” said Haq.

Earlier on Saturday, the JUI-F chief spoke with MQM chief Altaf Hussain via telephone and assured him that all genuine grievances of the MQM would be addressed.