Afaq says Mohajirs should not be punished for their leader’s ‘sins’

Karachi
Afaq Ahmed, chairman of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement Pakistan (commonly known as MQM-Haqiqi) said on Monday his party had written a letter to the British government to stop its citizens from using foul language or else it would stage protest demonstration outside the British Deputy High Commission in Karachi.
Speaking to media persons at his party’s temporary headquarters, he lamented the speech of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain who sought help from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the United Nations to stop killings of “Mohajirs”. He said the Mohajirs should not be punished for Hussain’s “sins”.
Ahmed described the speech as a conspiracy against the sovereignty and integrity of the country, saying that it was tantamount to treason.
Any action of Hussain should not be linked to the Mohajir community, he added.
The MQM-Haqiqi leader asked if the people of Punjab were held responsible when Ghulam Mustafa Khar talked of coming back home on Indian tanks, of if the entire Pushtoon nation had to face the consequences when Bacha Khan refused to be buried in Pakistan. Whether the Sindhi nation was declared traitor when Sindhu Desh songs were played in an event of GM Syed, he maintained.
”So the Mohajir nation should not be blamed for Altaf’s wrongdoings,” he insisted.
He strongly criticised politicians’ reactions that gave the perception that the Mohajirs supported Hussain.
In 2004 when Hussain visited India and observed that the creation of Pakistan was a blunder, then president and army chief Pervez Musharraf telephoned Pakistani High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed to organise a reception in Hussain and his delegation’s honour. “Why was Altaf Hussain given protocol in India?”
Ahmed held Musharraf responsible for nurturing Hussain to this level, and asked whether the former president would also be taken to task or interrogated in this respect.
He demanded of the army chief and the interior minister to put an end to those who patronised Hussain.
To fill the gap in case Hussain was no longer in charge of this party, Ahmed demanded that the Mohajir leadership should be given a chance and not a person from Mianwali should be inducted into Karachi’s politics.
Referring to the NA-246 election in which MQM was successful, he said that actually people did not vote for Hussain; they voted against Imran Khan due to the wrong policy of the establishment by imposing him on the city.
He appealed to the quarters concerned to make a wise decision for Karachi, saying that its people would not accept any person from outside the city. Doing so would be another blunder, he added.