KARACHI: PSP Chief Mustafa Kamal and senior politician Dr Farooq Sattar on Thursday announced rejoining the MQM-Pakistan to jointly raise voice for the rights of people of the urban areas of Sindh.
“Today all efforts to unify all factions of [MQM] have borne fruit and all those who were hatching conspiracy against us will be disappointed,” said MQM-Pakistan Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui while addressing a joint press conference at party’s Bhadurabad headquarters on Thursday.
He was flanked by PSP chief Mustafa Kamal, Farooq Sattar and other party leaders.
“It’s need of the hour that we become one voice to fight for the rights of urban areas of Sindh,” he said, adding that Karachi is mini Pakistan and its revenue engine.
Siddiqui said in view of the prevailing circumstances, it was imperative for the people who sacrificed their lives for the independence of this country should join hands and work together for the betterment of the urban areas of the province.
“I welcome all of you including Mustafa Kamal bhai [brother] and Farooq Sattar bhai and their supporters,” the MQM-P chief remarked.
The announcement came ahead of the local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad, which are set to take place on January 15.
“We will not let the [local body] election take place on January 15… we are ready to fight elections if delimitations are fixed by overnight but if not then we will fight for our identity,” announced Siddiqui while referring to his allegations that attempts being made to snatch the mandate of the Mohajirs by gerrymandering.
Speaking on the occasion, Kamal said the reunification of different factions of the MQM will go down in history as the most important development.
“On March 3, 2016, we put our lives at stake and raised voice for the people of this city before our entry innocent people were being killed but this has stopped and we played major role in this regard,” he said while referring to the launching of his party against MQM founder Altaf Hussain.
“We did not rid the city from the influence of Altaf Hussain and RAW [Indian spy agency] so that Asif Zardari take over this city,” he added.
Kamal said a conspiracy is being hatched to occupy different areas of Karachi and for this reason he decided to set aside differences and rejoin MQM-P to jointly struggle for the rights of the Sindh’s urban population.
“Today we are beginning another migration into MQM-Pakistan,” he remarked.
Kamal said PPP co-chairperson Asif Zardari is trying to make his son and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari prime minister of the country.
“If he wants to make Bilawal prime minister then he needs to realise that this is not possible without addressing the grievances of the of the people of Karachi and other urban areas of [Sindh],” he added.
He also demanded to release missing MQM workers, saying one-time amnesty should be granted to them “as they had played major role for the development of this city”.
“We will work under the leadership of Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui bhai,”he said.
‘MQM is a ray of hope’
Sattar, speaking on the occasion, said the merger of the factions of the MQM-Pakistan was an important development not only for Sindh’s urban areas but for the entire country.
“MQM is a ray of hope in the current political and economic crisis for Pakistan as all political parties of the country are fighting each other. Our action will show why we have gathered here,” he added.
Speaking about flood aid pledges of over $10 billion, Sattar said Karachi alone can gather this amount if given chance.
“Today we are launching an organised and dynamic MQM. The division of MQM was a deadly poison. We are putting aside all and reuniting under the banner of MQM.”
Responding to a question, Sattar said he has advised the MQM-P to quit the federal government “and don’t even look towards the [PPP-led] provincial government”.
However, he was interrupted by Siddiqui. “Don’t give any policy statement. We will consider all options in the meeting,” he maintained.
