All stakeholders agree on erasing traces of Altaf

ISLAMABAD: All the principal federal and Sindh stakeholders are on the same page on erasing even minor visible traces of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain from all areas of his influence after his intolerable vitriolic diatribe against Pakistan.

“The civ-mil leadership at the federal level and the Sindh government are on the same wavelength and a decision to obliterate all the posters, banners and panaflexes carrying Altaf Hussain’s pictures from Karachi, Hyderabad and other cities of Sindh was taken immediately after the August 22 harangue,” a senior official told The News.

During high level discussions, he said, it was decided that the MQM Pakistan would be allowed to function if it “behaved” and practically dissociated and delinked itself from Altaf Hussain. “It will be under constant watch.”

The official stated that every stakeholder loudly emphasized that enough was enough and that there would be no more any leniency whatsoever. Previously when Altaf Hussain kept harshly attacking top official figures, legal action was taken and cases were registered against him but no severe proceedings like removal of all the publicity material projecting him and shutting down of the MQM offices in violation of law was initiated. “Now he has crossed all limits and deserved a matching response.”

This time, the official said, the crime Altaf Hussain committed is unpardonable and he has to be checked forthwith before it is too late. There can’t be any banners, posters and panaflexes eulogizing him in Pakistan whose existence he doesn’t accept and rather wants its destruction.

The administration, the official said, continued to show tolerance although what Altaf Hussain has been saying was not bearable but there is a limit to everything. The only objective behind the previous strategy was to knock some sense into the MQM chief to behave, the official said. But sadly, Altaf Hussain did not read the message given through persistent government policy.

The official said that the government deliberately shut its eyes to the presence of MQM offices on encroached state land and amenity plots. But this policy was promptly abandoned after Altaf Hussain’s August 22 tirade.

It has been decided that the MQM offices set up on lands legitimately owned by the party or its leaders or activists would not be demolished. They would be permitted to function subject to the behaviour of the MQM in Pakistan.

The official said that the MQM operating in Pakistan has correctly discerned the official line and that was why it was no more calling Altaf Hussain its Quaid, but was just referring to him as its founder. Through its words and actions, it is desperate to tell the powers that be that Altaf Hussain is just a founder, and no longer an effective leader controlling the party or having any role to play in it.

According to the official, all the MQM offices being razed to the ground leading to retrieval of the state land and amenity plots, were established on encroached tracts during Altaf Hussain’s reign and presence in Pakistan. He said that the purpose of removal of all the publicity material extolling the MQM chief was to implement the minus-one formula, whose enforcement had to be accelerated after Altaf Hussain’s inexcusable ranting. When the fire was still raging in every top level official quarter over August 22 outbursts of Altaf Hussain and everyone was flabbergasted, he said much more unendurable against Pakistan in his address to his supporters in North America the next day, the official noted.

The relevant government agencies, the official said, have in possession the precise record of all of his attacks on Pakistan and instigation of his supporters and followers abroad to take out rallies and hold demonstrations against Pakistan. “The state can’t allow letting even a slight vestige of such a person in Pakistan.”

He said there would be no clemency towards those MQM leaders and workers, who would advance the anti-Pakistan line of Altaf Hussain. He said they would be quickly booked and extended harsh treatment. However, he made it clear that the government agencies would not touch the MQM stalwarts and activists, who would dissociate themselves from him and delink and denounce his anti-Pakistan remarks.

The official said that the MQM chief would not be allowed to telephonically address his party in Pakistan. Even after the ban imposed by superior courts on the telecast of his telephonic speeches on TV channels and their publication in the print media, the state apparatus did not take any severe action to stop such addresses to the MQM workers. But this would not be allowed any more, he stressed.

The MQM Pakistan, he pointed out, has also announced that it would not let its platform to be used for such addresses or any other activity of Altaf Hussain. He said the party has to follow its commitment in letter and spirit otherwise serious consequences will entail.