KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Tuesday rejected all allegations levelled against the MQM and Altaf Hussain by former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza and said that a media trial was being conducted against their party.Addressing the press conference at Khursheed Memorial Hall, MQM coordination committee member and former Karachi city nazim Mustafa Kamal said false accusations such as the Jinnahpur conspiracy were made against the MQM in 1992 which resulted in an army operation that killed thousands of innocent people in extra-judicial killings.
Accompanied by MQM coordination committee members Nasreen Jalil, Shoaib Bukhari, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Ashfaq Mangi and other members, Kamal said Mirza’s allegations against the MQM and its Chief Altaf Hussain were false and baseless. He said a letter allegedly written by Altaf Hussain to British Prime Minister Tony Blair wherein he had agreed to break up Pakistan was being used as propaganda against the MQM. Kamal also rejected the allegation that Altaf Hussain had agreed to help the United States in disintegrating Pakistan.
“Such accusations are not new for the MQM,” Kamal said, adding the army generals who had blamed his party for breaking up Pakistan had proved wrong.The MQM was a democratic party and the people of Karachi had given them a mandate through ballots and votes, he cleared.He said the MQM had deliberately chosen to remain silent over the allegations during the past week since it did not wish to get embroiled in blame game.
Criticising the media role, the MQM leader said it had overplayed the Mirza’s viewpoints and the anchorpersons deliberately conducted media trial of their party. He also blamed the media for ignoring the ISI and Army confessions of falsely blaming the MQM for harbouring anti-state elements which had led to the operation against the MQM in 1992.Commenting over Mirza announcement for issuing three million arms license, he demanded of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to conduct an inquiry into the claims made by the PPP minister.
On target killing in Karachi, Kamal said it was not the MQM that started indiscriminate killings of the Mohajirs in Hyderabad, Katti Pahari, Lyari and Shershah. Hundreds of Mohajirs were abducted from Lyari and then tortured, killed, and their mutilated bodies were found packed in gunny bags, he added.
The MQM could not be eliminated through conspiracies and all intrigues to push the Mohajirs against the wall must be stopped forthwith, he demanded.About the video testimony of Ajmal Pehari, the former city nazim questioned that why the intelligence agencies could only arrest Ajmal Pahari who had confessed everything under duress.“Any person under a Joint Interrogation Team would confess to plotting the 9/11 attacks within two hours. Ajmal Pehari also confessed committing of all crimes which he never did,” Kamal said.
Criticising the PPP’s Balochistan leader Lashkari Raisani, Mustafa Kamal asked why he was ignoring that criminals sprayed bullets for four days at Katti Pahari, and the culprits continued brutal killings in the city.Kamal said the MQM would fully support and facilitate the suo moto investigations into the Karachi killings and he urged the media not to issue judgments till the court gives its verdict.About the stolen Nato containers, Kamal said that why Mirza had not got any FIR registered against the MQM for stealing the Nato containers. – Nation
