Haqiqi activists throng Sherpao Colony to welcome Afaq

Thousands of Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) activists have gathered in the Sherpao Colony on the call of their party chairman Afaq Ahmed, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Provincial Minister Zulfiqar Mirza met with Afaq in Karachi Central Jail and reportedly discussed the law and order situation of Karachi with him. Jamaat-e-Islami leader and former town nazim Liaquatabad Dr Parvaiz Mahmood played a key role in the meeting, during which Mirza offered the MQM-H leader a key post in the provincial government, said sources.
After the meeting, the MQM-H chief instructed his party’s activists to converge at Sherpao Colony before his possible release on July19.
MQM-H’s Anwar Kazmi told Pakistan Today that more than 5,000 activists had reached the colony while about 3,000 more workers will reach there before the 19th.
“Our activists are ready to give a warm welcome to our beloved chairman – the man who did not make any deals with the government and remained behind the bars, which is an example for politicians,” said Kazmi.
Criticising Aamir Khan among other leaders who joined the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), he said there is no place for such leaders in the party and ‘they can never come back.’
“Haqiqi activists from different parts of the country, including Lahore, Khanewal, RahimYar Khan, Sadiqabad, Sukkur and Larkana, will reach the city before July 19. Special arrangements are being made for their journey to make sure their presence in Karachi, and seats have been booked in different trains.”
Pakistan Today visited the area with the local MQM-H leaders and found thousands of youngsters in 20 to 25 streets of the colony. After spending a decade long self-exile, the MQM-H activists are now upbeat on their homecoming as their leader is expected to be released.
Sources also told Pakistan Today that Zulfiqar Mirza had offered a deal to Afaq for his early release but the MQM-H chief refused by saying that he was not a criminal and does not need to make deals for his release. “I trust our courts and am sure that I will be released on the 19th,” he had replied.