MQM-P, PSP celebrate release of Rauf Siddiqui, Anis Qaimkhani

Farooq Sattar welcomes court’s order, also seeks release of city mayor and other detained party leaders; Mustafa Kamal says with Qaimkhani’s

release PSP has overcome all hurdles

Whole-heartedly welcomed at their respective party headquarters, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) – Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Rauf Siddiqui and Pak Sarzameen Party’s (PSP) Anis Qaimkhani were released from the Central Jail on Wednesday.

The two leaders were set free, by the anti-terrorism court-II (ATC-II), on condition of submitting their passports and paying Rs50o,ooo each as surety to the court.

The concerned authorities were also ordered to not issue any other passports to accused who had deposited their passports with the ATC concerned.

Their release came a day after the Sindh High Court granted the accused bail in the case.

Siddiqui and Qaimkhani were among several other political leaders including Dr Asim Hussain, mayor Karachi, Waseem Akhtar, and Pasban leader, Usman Moazzam, accused of sheltering and facilitating terrorists at Dr Hussain’s Ziauddin Hospital; all the accused have been granted bail. 

However, Dr Hussain, Akhtar and Moazzam remained in the custody of law enforcers for being nominated in other cases as well.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Abdul Malik Gaddi, had ordered the suspects to deposit their valid passports in the ATC and forbade them from leaving the country without acquiring the court’s permission.

 

Waseem’s release sought

Addressing a press conference following Siddiqui’s release, MQM-P convener Dr Farooq Sattar demanded immediate release of city mayor Waseem Akhtar and other party members.

Welcoming Siddiqui’s release, he said the court’s order came as a breath of fresh air for the party, going through a crucial turn in its decades old politics.

Terming the senior party leader’s release as a good omen, he further called for the release of Syed Shahid Pasha, Qamar Mansoor, Gulfaraz Khan Khattak and MNA Kunwar Naveed Jamil.

The MQM-P chief further observed that the party firmly believed in the supremacy of law and judicial system in the country. He stated that the party was peace-loving and wanted democracy to flourish in Pakistan.

Dr Sattar stated that the party strongly condemns the wrongful impression being created regarding the involvement of its workers in militancy. “We desire that all out offices would be opened against and the unannounced ban on our political activities would soon be done away with.”

MPA Siddiqi while addressing the press conference arranged in his honour, reiterated Dr Sattar’s stance that it firmly believed in the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan, and that nobody should ever doubt the party’s patriotism.

He said the party would now focus itself on developing Sindh’s urban areas.

 

PSP hails Qaimkhani's release

PSP chief Mustafa Kamal welcomed Qaimkhani’s release and went to receive the party’s senior leader at the central prison.

“Today we have crossed all hurdles and now our caravan will move forward. From a time when we had a thousand people supporting him, today we have a following of millions,” Kamal observed. He was accompanied with other central PSP leaders at the presser.

Kamal said the PSP would now continue with its politics of unity, not enmity.

He called upon the party’s workers to prepare for a similar welcome for Qaimkhani in Hyderabad, where the party officials would soon be visiting.