Sattar part and parcel of MQM-Pakistan: Amin

Aminul Haque of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has said that they are trying to bring back the disgruntled Dr Farooq Sattar as he is “part and parcel” of their party.

Talking to The News on Thursday, the Rabita Committee member said that some of his colleagues that have been assigned this task by the party leadership are in constant touch with Sattar to persuade him to withdraw his resignation and resume his responsibilities at the MQM-P headquarters.

“[Sattar] is a member of the MQM-P family, and we believe that issues do occur in a family, but only to be resolved,” said Haque. “Soon you will see him back in Bahadurabad.”

Sattar, who emerged as a driving force behind the MQM-P after the August 22, 2016, saga, resigned from his post as a member of the coordination committee this September 13, citing “personal reasons”.

He later said that the behaviour of his colleagues at the party’s helm was unwelcoming for him, and that he was being kept out of the decision- and policy-making process, due to which he could not continue to be a member of the party’s main body.

Haque, however, refuted these allegations and said that Sattar is consulted in almost all the crucial decisions that the party has made after the July 25 general elections. Referring to one of these important decisions, the Rabita Committee member said that Sattar was on board when they decided to be part of the coalition with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) despite having reservations.

“When PTI leader Jahangir Tareen called on us at the Bahadurabad office, Sattar was present in the meeting, as well as in those that were held later to decide the party’s future course of action.”

Meanwhile, Sattar is said to be mulling over the offers that he claims to have received from the PTI to join its ranks. “These offers are made because of my friends in the MQM-P,” he had said earlier.

The MQM-P is going through a difficult time. Besides being split into more factions, it has lost the title of being the largest political party of Karachi, the economic and cultural hub of the country.