MQM-London revokes Farooq Sattar’s membership

Says Nadeem Nusrat is MQM’s elected convener

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London on Sunday revoked the basic membership of MQM-Pakistan chief Dr Farooq Sattar.

In a statement, three MQM-London leaders — Mustafa Azizabadi, Nadeem Nusrat and Wasay Jalil — said the basic membership of Dr Farooq Sattar had been revoked and now the party’s elected convener was Nadeem Nusrat with its founder’s consent.

Citing the reason for the decision, the MQM-London leaders said Dr Farooq Sattar had repeatedly disobeyed the party’s directives.They said Farooq was not allowed to impose his decisions on the masses. They also said Farooq was no longer the MQM’s parliamentary leader. They demanded that the MQM lawmakers should resign for the sake of the party’s martyrs.

On the other hand, the MQM-P in response issued a statement saying that it would continue to stick to its decisions and policies of August 23 and work for the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan.

The MQM-P Coordination Committee said it would not allow the sacrifices of missing persons, widows and martyrs go to waste.It added that the MQM-P would continue struggling for the rights of suppressed people.The party advised all its members to stick to the party’s policies and remain united.

On September 25, Dr Farooq Sattar Sattar had reasserted that the August 23 decision to part ways with London was not made due to any dictation, stating that if this had been the case, the Nine-Zero headquarters would have been in their possession.

Addressing a meeting of the MQM-P’s elders committee at the PIB Colony office, he had said people from London were demanding that the MQM should quit the assemblies but asked why they were not demanding resignation from the local government’s elected members.

Sattar said the August 23 decision was correct and that was why the party had its mayor and deputy mayor.Otherwise, the local government members would have been forced to go into hiding. He asserted that the decision was taken to bring the MQM leaders and activists out of their state of hopelessness and restore the 38-year-long struggle.

However, in the same presser, Sattar had also expressed reservations about the treatment meted out by law enforcement agencies to his party activists even though it had dissociated itself from the leadership in London.

Meanwhile, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has made it clear that Dr. Farooq Sattar will continue as the MQM’s Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly as long as he enjoys the confidence of the majority of his party members.

In a brief chat with The News on Sunday, Ayaz clarified that the National Assembly recognised the MQM Pakistan and no other party or groups were recognizable to the Secretariat of the Speaker National Assembly under the banner of the MQM.

He said no MQM other than led by Dr. Farooq Sattar had established contact with him for any action.“Dr. Farooq Sattar can’t be de-seated at the request of a person sitting abroad or having no association with the party concerned as long no evidence is available for the purpose provided in the Constitution.”

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said he hadn’t received any communication from anyone to remove Dr Sattar from the leadership of the MQM.To a question about the reported action by the MQM London against Dr. Farooq Sattar, he said he hadn’t received any request from anyone.

The Speaker said no member of the National Assembly could be deprived of membership at the request of a person who isn’t associated with a party that doesn’t exist in the record of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

For the purpose, a reference could be submitted or the ECP is the forum where such submission could be made, he added.Meanwhile, Dr. Farooq Sattar has been invited by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to attend a meeting of parliamentary heads of the groups present in parliament being held in Islamabad today (Monday).

He will be reaching here from Karachi on Monday morning.The meeting will discuss the IHK situation and aggressive Indian  posturing against Pakistan, the sources said.