Malik says MQM didn’t brief him about RAW links

Says if MQM had links with RAW, why did Musharraf make it his ally; dubs Mustafa Kamal a RAW agent and plans to sue him on return to Pakistan; asks PM to form commission where all political leaders should file affidavits stating whether or not they receive funds from RAW

LONDON: Former minister for interior and senior PPP leader Rehman Malik has said it’s his belief that the former MQM leader and Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal attacked him to divert attention from his own involvement with the Indian spy agency, RAW.

In an interview with Geo News here, Rehman Malik said that allegations of Mustafa Kamal were without any evidence and substance and his name had been dragged into MQM’s internal war “just to create hype and to make headlines to get cheap publicity”.

Rehman Malik said that for over one year he had not spoken to Altaf Hussain and there had been no contact from any side. Rehman Malik, however, accepted that Altaf Hussain had consulted him when Hussain’s wife Faiza Gabol approached the court for divorce and the matter was settled in the court.

Rehman Malik said that he never acted on his own while dealing with the MQM and always had the blessings of party leader Asif Ali Zardari. “All my meetings with MQM leadership including Altaf Hussain were mandated by my party leadership. There was nothing secret about these meetings and the party leadership knows, I am telling the truth. I was obliged to have the view point of my party included in the press releases issued by MQM. Hence it’s absurd to say that I used to dictate these press releases,” said Malik, while replying to Mustafa Kamal’s allegation that Rehman Malik dictated press releases of the MQM.

Malik said Mustafa Kamal was right about a meeting held in Dubai with the MQM leadership in 2014 but that was in relation to the matters of Sindh government. “I was not the interior minister at that time. Sindh governor was also present in the meeting and in that meeting or for that matter any previous meetings, the linkage of Altaf Hussain with RAW was never discussed or shared with me.”

Malik said that it was absurd to suggest that MQM leadership had shared anything about its alleged involvement with RAW with him. “They are not so naive that they would share with me their secrets.”

Rehman Malik said that he had learnt in 2015 when, for the first time, it was revealed on Geo News that Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir had confessed during an interview with the Scotland Yard officers that they had received funding from India. Rehman Malik said if MQM was getting aid from RAW, why Pervez Musharraf made the party his ally for several long years and supported the MQM.

It is a matter of fact that PPP government was never aware of involvement of arrested persons in Imran Farooq murder case nor UK government had ever requested for any assistance from the Pakistan government, said Rehman Malik. He said that he had even asked the spy chief General Shuja Pasha about the killers of Dr Farooq and he told Malik reportedly that Pakistan didn’t have the knowledge about them. “It is also a fact that MQM is a registered political party of Pakistan and all successive governments of PML-N, Musharraf, PML-Q and PPP had coalition partnership with MQM which was not a crime as per election laws. MQM is still part of Parliament. We should not make unsubstantiated allegations,” he said.

Rehman Malik said that he would reveal names of some people who were caught red-handed while getting aid from RAW in Dubai.

Rehman Malik alleged that Mustafa Kamal himself was on the payroll of RAW and attacked Malik to please the RAW because “I am the loudest and harshest critic of RAW and its terror support against Pakistan. RAW bosses are not pleased with me and they use people like Kamal to attack me. I will send him legal notice after returning to Pakistan,” said Malik.

Rehman Malik called on the prime minister of Pakistan to establish a commission before which every politician should submit an affidavit whether or not he/she had ever received funding from RAW.

Rehman Malik said that Asif Ali Zardari and other PPP leaders loved Pakistan Army and they were not against the role of army. He said Asif Ali Zardari’s statement was taken out of the context. “He meant to criticise only Pervez Musharraf and his policies,” he said.