Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, said on Thursday there are questions for Pakistan’s judicial system about the progress of the investigation into what happened last year on May 9 last year.
“Despite doing nothing, we have suffered a lot, as witnessed through the media, something not seen in the 75-year history of Pakistan,” he added. “We are asking the courts how long we must wait and how much more evidence is needed.”
He was addressing a press conference at the MQM- Pakistan’s central election office, Pakistan House. Present at the occasion were central ad-hoc committee members Nasreen Jalil, Syed Mustafa Kamal, Syed Aminul Haque and Faisal Subzwari, and assembly members.
The MQM-P convener mentioned the actions taken by PTI leadership through commands and directives on May 9 and asked what action was taken against them. He questioned the meaning of the slogan “If not Khan, then not Pakistan,” and what punishments were given for attacks on the Corps Commander’s office and Jinnah House.
Such acts, he argued, should be considered attacks on Pakistan’s stability. He said that the role of the state in politics has been questioned for years and that politics should not burden the state. “Defence institutions are guarantors of the stability and defence in Pakistan.”
“What the courts have decided on the PTI’s leadership’s actions on May 9 and the kind of decision that should be made. Whether politicians want it or not, the state should remain detached from politics,” he added.
Siddiqui criticised the PTI’s leadership’s stance that the state should involve itself in political conflicts but only in a way that supported them. He expressed frustration that they are expected to remain neutral yet stand with him, effectively becoming the court, the state, the constitution, and the law himself.
Condemning the events of May 9, he posed questions about the courts’ actions and the punishments given. He stressed that the MQM-Pakistan strongly condemned the May 9 incidents, the targeting of installations, and the attacks on the martyrs’ memorial, which were intolerable. “The courts are being questioned, and the nation must unite to make decisions that prevent such actions in the future,” he concluded.