No talks unless three basic demands met: MQM

KARACHI: Ruling out a fresh round of negotiations with the government on the issue of resignations of MQM parliamentarians until their ‘three basic demands’ were met, Dr Farooq Sattar on Thursday said the party was now out of the dialogue process.
Speaking to media representatives here on his arrival from Islamabad, MQM parliamentary leader Dr. Sattar said resignations had been tendered and now the ball was in the government’s court.
“The government has our resignations and now it’s their prerogative to decide how they proceed on the issue,” he added.
Sattar said before the acceptance of ‘three basic demands’ put forth by his party earlier in the day, dialogue was out of question.
Reiterating the demands, he said: “An undeclared ban placed on the MQM’s welfare activities be lifted, its political offices be allowed to function and Altaf Hussain’s recorded statements be allowed to go on air on the electronic media.”
Following a joint meeting of the Rabita Committee London and Karachi in the early hours of Thursday, it was decided that the MQM must withdraw itself from the ongoing negotiations in the face of the government’s ‘non-serious attitude’.
Dr Farooq Sattar said the MQM lawmakers tendered resignations from the assemblies and the Senate on August 12 but despite a lapse of almost 20 days no ‘grievance redressal committee had been constituted by the government.
He said the MQM was being pushed to the wall in the guise of the Karachi operation. “The MQM faces an undeclared and unconstitutional ban on its political and welfare activities,” he said.
Dr Sattar said all political offices of the MQM stood shut and its Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF) was not being allowed to carry out its activities.
Dr Sattar said a ban had been placed on his party chief Altaf Hussain’s statements – both live and recorded – and termed it an unconstitutional act.
“I ask the owners of electronic media outlets under whose instructions they have decided not to air Altaf Hussain’s statements,” he said.