PSP wants MQM banned, Muttahida calls Mustafa Kamal ‘rejected leader’

Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal has accused Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) convenor Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of collaborating with India’s Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) and demanded that the party be banned.

In response to the former Karachi mayor, the MQM’s spokesperson termed Kamal’s claims “a pack of lies”, saying that the residents of urban Sindh had already rejected him as “an artificial leader” and buried him and his party in the last general elections.

Addressing a news conference at the Pakistan House on Monday, the PSP chief demanded a complete ban on the “RAW-sponsored MQM” with immediate effect, claiming that the party’s presence in any form is a clear threat to the security of Pakistan.

He levelled allegations against MNA Siddiqui, saying that he has been working for the Indian spy agency for the past two decades to destabilise Pakistan. “The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led federation and the state itself is keeping the set-up and the sleeping cells of RAW alive in Pakistan in the form of MQM,” claimed Kamal.

“[MQM founder] Altaf Hussain is being kept alive in Pakistan today through the party’s name, its tricolour flag, its symbol and its letterhead,” said the PSP chairman. “These four things are being used worldwide to not only defame and malign Pakistan but also to hamper the country’s efforts to get itself off of the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list,” he said.

“On the other hand, inside Pakistan the members of the MQM are part of the government with the same party name, flag, symbol and letterhead.” He accused Siddiqui of visiting India in 2000 on the orders of the MQM’s founder, holding a meeting with RAW officials and speaking against Pakistan. “He tore up his Pakistani passport and travelled to America on a diplomatic passport provided by RAW.”

Kamal said the MQM convener had been arrested by US officials and then released on bail, adding that he returned to Pakistan after 13 years and became an MNA, a federal minister and then the Muttahida’s head.

The PSP chief said the nation can only accept the stance of the state when RAW’s real agents are arrested and its remnants eliminated inside Pakistan. “The name, flag and symbol of the MQM should be banned immediately. With the same name, flag and symbol, nobody remembers Amir Khan or Khalid Maqbool. All these things are a memorial of Altaf Hussain,” he said.

“If the state doesn’t ban the name, flag and symbol of the MQM, all its statements will be considered a bad joke with the nation, especially at a time when India is ready to attack Pakistan, and Kashmir is at the height of oppression and barbarism.” He advised the government that the MQM’s lawmakers in the Senate and the national and Sindh assemblies be allowed to work for the time being to avoid a political crisis.

“There are legislators like Farogh Naseem in the government who may have a card up his sleeve to divert the government from running into a constitutional crisis.” ‘Pack of lies’ Reacting to the PSP chief’s claims, the MQM held its own news conference to reject all the allegations levelled against Siddiqui, terming them “a pack of lies”.

“The residents of urban Sindh had completely rejected the artificial leader as well as his artificial party in the last general elections,” said the MQM’s spokesperson. “Before the polls, the artificial leader had also claimed to have buried the MQM and their electoral symbol of kite, but he and his party were themselves buried in the elections.” He said the MQM has been involved in a public struggle in a peaceful and democratic way, and in accordance with the country’s constitution and laws. “It hurts the artificial politicians.”