Offspring of Pakistan’s founders hurt by Pervez Musharraf verdict: Khaliq Maqbool Siddiqui

KARACHI: A big rally was organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Sunday to express solidarity with former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and to protest against his death sentence handed down by a special court in a high treason. The demonstration was held on the Liaquatabad flyover -- the main overpass in District Central where the party started holding its events since 2015. A large number of party workers, holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans such as 'verdict or vendetta', 'we want justice' and 'Thank You Pervez Musharraf', attended the event. 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, the MQM had staged several rallies in his support. "The MQM-P is not ungrateful to its benefactor," said MQM-P Convener and Federal Minister Dr Khaliq Maqbool Siddiqui. He lauded Musharraf’s services for the development of Pakistan and Karachi in particular. During the Musharraf’s regime, he said, the country's GDP was increased and it was included in the world's biggest economies. Dr Siddiqui said one should make a comparison between the country's position in Musharraf’s era and the situation after his departure from power.

Denouncing the special court's verdict against the former military dictator, Dr Siddiqui said due legal and constitutional formalities had not been fulfilled in the process.

He questioned that if Musharraf's decision to impose an emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) was "legitimate in 1999", how could his emergency and PCO imposed in 2007 could be deemed as "unlawful and high treason".

Associating the special court's decision against Musharraf with injustices with the Mohajir community, he said the offspring of Pakistan’s founders had been hurt by the verdict against Musharraf.

"Because of the sacrifices of our ancestors, Pakistan came into existence, but even after the passage of more than seventy years, we are not considered the sons of the soil,” the MQM-P leader said.

Aamir Khan, the MQM-P's deputy convener, said his party had been holding rallies in support of Musharraf across the country.

"We respect the judiciary and our rally is not against them," he clarified. "The party expects justice from the courts." He said senior judges should remove the impression of bias towards Musharraf.

Discussing the MQM-P’s current situation, Khan said the party had always become stronger after passing through a crisis.

Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhter said "the successful rally" showed that the entire Karachi was standing with Musharraf. "We want to see an empowered judiciary. But the verdict against Musharraf is not on merit."

Faisal Sabzwari, another party leader, said the MQM-P was deprived of its seats in urban Sindh in the election by deliberately showing less population in the province's major cities in the census.

Two days ago, the MQM-Organisation Restoration Committee, a splinter group from the MQM-P which is headed by Dr Farooq Sattar, also organised a rally outside the Karachi Press Club to show its support for Musharraf.

Dr Sattar had 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 a traitor,” he had said, commenting that Musharraf’s decision would be controversial similar to the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's verdict.