LONDON: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda has called upon the British government to take action against the MQM leadership on the basis of its own “findings and evidence”.
He was leading a huge demonstration of PTI activists from across the UK outside Prime Minister David Cameron’s residence 10 Downing Street. It was arguably the biggest ever protest held by the PTI in the UK breaking its own record of 2013 demo which was held at the same venue.
The protestors carried banners demanding action against Altaf Hussain and the MQM for their alleged involvement in Karachi violence from London.For two hours, the protestors chanted slogans against the MQM leader and called on the UK government to explain why it had not taken any action against the London-based leadership of the party.
Vawda was accompanied by elected PTI President London Barrister Waheedur Rehman Mian and other regional presidents. Those who attended the protest included mainly youth and men and women of all age groups.
Speaking to The News, Faisal Vawda said Pakistanis have had enough. “We want to know why the British government has been silent for such a long time. It has now been established that the MQM took money from the RAW and this has been confirmed by none other than the Scotland Yard. There are serious questions as to why no action has been taken for long.”
Vawda accused that the MQM leader had been involved in sponsoring violence inside Pakistan.“Altaf Hussain has dozens of cases registered against him on various counts. He is a law absconder who has instigated violence for over two decades. Pakistan has suffered because of this. Karachi is bleeding because of the MQM’s militancy and it has been allowed to happen from London. We are asking the British authorities to explain why they turned a blind eye to the involvement of MQM in criminality; they have violated laws of Pakistan as well as the UK.”
He said
Pakistan and the UK enjoyed close relations and their securities were linked with each other and it’s important that both countries help each other to root out terrorism. Barrister Waheedur Rehman said Altaf Hussain had often made hate speeches against certain people of Pakistan and members of its institutions in order to pressurise the Government of Pakistan to avoid extending any cooperation to the UK authorities.
He alleged that Altaf’s speeches had caused intolerance and hatred in Pakistan, mainly helping militants in Karachi.He said the British government should ensure that Altaf should not be allowed to exploit innocent people by exploiting natural ethnic issues in society by delivering hate speeches on the pretext of freedom of speech.
A petition was submitted by Faisal Vawda and Barrister Waheed to 10 Downing Street which read: “We are confident that your government being a friend of Pakistan would immediately launch an investigation into the violence(s) committed by Mr. Hussain. The conditions attached to grant of his UK citizenship have also been breached by him. We also believe that your government would also direct law enforcement agencies to play their critical role by thoroughly investigating the allegations against Mr. Hussain. There are hundreds of victims in Pakistan who have suffered and are continuously suffering due to the hate crimes committed by Mr. Hussain, a British national.
“We hope you will be able to respond to the concerns raised in this representation with an unequivocal condemnation of the attacks the Pakistan and its institutions face by Mr. Hussain and provide support to the Government of Pakistan in providing justice to the thousands of victims suffered all kinds of losses due to Mr. Hussain.”