Farooq Sattar, Khalid Maqbool voice support for Pervez Musharraf after ‘hurtful’ verdict

Throwing their weight behind former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, various factions of the once unified Muttahida Qaumi Movement have been organising rallies to voice their anger over the special court’s decision to give the death sentence to Musharraf in a high treason case.

When the MQM was united under the leadership of Altaf Hussain, the party was a close ally of Musharraf, particularly during his rule from 2001 to 2008. During the anti-Musharraf movement started by lawyers after the military ruler imposed emergency in November 2007, the MQM had staged several rallies in his support.

Outside the Karachi Perss Club, the MQM-Organisation Restoration Committee, a faction headed by Dr Farooq Sattar, started a protest in support of Musharraf. A large number of the party workers and supporters attended the rally.

Expressing disappointment over the special court’s verdict, Sattar claimed that due legal and constitutional formalities were not fulfilled in the process. He said the court’s decision had “hurt sentiments of fifty million Mohajirs”.

“It is heartbreaking to learn that the person [Musharraf] who raised the slogan ‘Pakistan First’ has been declared traitor,” he said, commenting that Musharraf’s decision would be controversial similar to the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s verdict.

Separately, leaders of the MQM-P, a former ally of Musharraf and the current partner of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government, announced at a press conference on Friday that their party would hold a big rally on Sunday to voice solidarity with the former president.

MQM-P convener and federal minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, along with party’s central leaders Aamir Khan and Kunwar Naveed Jamil, addressed a press conference held at the party’s temporary secretariat in Bahadurabad.

Raising questions regarding the decision against Musharraf, Siddiqui asked the chief justice to take notice of the language used in the detailed verdict of the case and said it hurt the feelings of the nation.

“All the blame has been put on a single person,” he said. “The verdict has also raised questions on the system of merit. We want to see such a judicial system in Pakistan in which the rich and the poor are treated equally.”