On Tuesday, police lodged a case of treason against MQM’s firebrand London-based leader, Altaf Hussain, and sealed the headquarters of the party had incited supporters to attack the office of a TV channel in battles that left one dead.
Advertisement
In a stunning reversal for founder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain, the party broke away on Tuesday from its chief exiled in London, following his anti-Pakistan tirade in which he called the country “cancer for the entire world”.
“From the depth of heart, I beg pardon from my remarks against Pakistan, the establishment including General Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers”, Hussain said.
Paramilitary forces detained leaders of Karachi’s biggest political party and sealed its offices following a riot that turned deadly in Pakistan’s financial hub. The MQM aims to represent descendants of Muslims who moved from India to Pakistan after their independence from Britain in 1947.
Security forces launched a late night raid Monday against an opposition party in Karachi, hours after party members stormed television stations, clashed with police and raised anti-state slogans, local media reported.
Sattar accepted that “there is a problem” and that Hussain’s frequent apologies after inflammable statements are an issue that needs to be resolved.
Khawaja said the decision to register cases against the MQM was taken during a high-level meeting of police officials in the metropolis. The ARY Chief Executive Salman Iqbal said that the MQM workers fired inside its office located in Medina Shopping Mall.
Waseem Akhtar, mayor nominee of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MQM, gestures from an armoured personal carrier while being taken to jail after his arrest from Anti Terrorism Court ATC, in Karachi, Pakistan, July 19, 2016. Police arrested a senior leader of MQM, Farooq Sattar, as he arrived to address a news conference in front of the press club after the incident.
The MQM is run by Hussain from London.
Mashhadi also accused the government of pushing MQM supporters to join a rival political party, and not letting its charity arm collect donations.
Mr Hussain does not have any formal office in the party and the MQM is registered in Farooq Sattar’s name with the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Akhtar was elected after a turbulent two days in Karachi politics that centred on his party’s exiled leader, Altaf Hussain.
Advertisement
MQM denies the charges and has accused the Rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown on crime in Karachi began in 2013. A number of cases are also pending in courts against Mr. Altaf Hussain which are under investigation for murder, money laundering and hate speech/inciting violence both in United Kingdom and Pakistan.
