Siddiqui welcomes IHC verdict as Sattar smells a conspiracy

After receiving the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict in his favour, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, legally the convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), has announced that the decision ends the divide of the party’s Bahadurabad and PIB Colony factions.

Addressing a news conference at the MQM-P Bahadurabad headquarters on Monday, Siddiqui offered Dr Farooq Sattar, who heads the PIB Colony group, to come and rejoin the office. He also asked the party workers who are siding with either of the factions and those who have sidelined themselves to resume their activities. “The high court has interpreted the MQM manifesto itself, and there should not be any more confusion on this matter,” he said.

“Farooq Bhai should come; the party will not disappoint him, as his respect is our respect,” he added. He commented that the MQM-P has got another chance to play down the notion that the urban Sindh’s mandate has slipped through the party’s fingers. “By uniting and working together, we can prove this perception wrong.”

He hoped that from now on there will be no discussion on MQM-PIB or MQM-Bahadurabad, considering the high court’s decision as a defeat to those who were seeing the division in the party as their success.

Responding to a question regarding the conditions of Sattar’s return, he said that the party is not placing any, and that the invitation is based on love. He added that they had already said that if the decision were to be against them, they would simply retreat without any opposition.

On the controversial results of the 2017 population census, Siddiqui said the MQM-P has already filed petitions with the appellate and superior courts, hoping that they are taken up before the general elections on July 25. “Holding free and fair elections is more important than holding them on time.”  

‘Pre-poll rigging’

Reacting to the IHC’s decision, Sattar termed it tantamount to pre-poll rigging, saying that the Mohajirs’ unity is being broken under a conspiracy. If the balance is not redressed, the PIB Colony faction may boycott the elections, he added.

He said his colleagues have advised him to take the matter to the Supreme Court, but he is yet to make up his mind. “Courts do not make anyone a leader; the public does.” Sattar said that though, technically, he is no longer the convener of the party, the people still respect him as their leader. “We had accepted the minus-one formula in the best national interest,” he said, referring to the removal of MQM founder Altaf Hussain from the party on August 22, 2016.

“But when it turned out to be a minus-MQM formula, I opposed it,” he added. He announced beginning the PIB Colony faction’s electoral campaign in Sindh, despite the fact that a decision is yet to be made if his group will participate in the polls.