LAHORE – The MQM has distanced itself from the religious parties and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), also considered a rightwing party, by not extending them invitation for the public meeting to be held today (Sunday) at the Football Stadium opposite the Gaddafi Stadium where it was earlier scheduled.
The gesture seems to have aired a clear signal and drew a line between the foes and the friends, as the religious entities like Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulama-e-Pakistan-Noorani (JUP-N), Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Sunni Ittehad Council (STC, alliance of more than 22 religious parties including Sunni Tehreek) and even the PML-N are not invited.
However, the MQM invited the PML-Q, PPP and PTI by sending delegations to participate in the rally after which the PML-Q accepted the offer but the PTI refused. And PPP General-Secretary Jahangir Badr, who welcomed MQM delegation at his residence on Saturday, conveyed his party’s good wishes but linked participation with the decision of PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari.
The MQM avoided invitation to JI, JUP, JUI-F, STC and PML-N. MQM Secretary Information Wassay Jalil told Pakistan Today that the local party leaders might have talked to the religious parties but could not confirm that MQM delegation visited the offices or residences of religious parties’ heads for a formal invitation. About the PML-N, he said senior party leader Babar Ghauri met with PML-N Senator Pervaiz Rashid and invited to join the public meeting.
But Pervaiz told Pakistan Today that though the MQM remained in contact but it did not forward any invitation. JI Secretary Information Anwar Niaz said they did not receive any invitation. Had the JI been invited, it would have definitely turned it down, he added.
JUP-N Secretary-General Qari Zawar Bahadur, “If a gesture had been shown, we would have asked the MQM leaders to stop spilling blood in Karachi,” he added.
