A renowned TV anchorperson has announced that his family would register a murder case against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chairman Altaf Hussain if anything were to happen to him.
The public announcement from TV anchor Absar Alam comes after a direct threat by Altaf Hussain in an address to the participants of a sit-in organised by the MQM on Wednesday against re-polling in NA-250 constituency.
Addressing media persons during his speech, Altaf had said, “You have the right to criticise, but not manipulate or spread lies against the sons of those who created Pakistan.”
Altaf subsequently retracted parts of his statements and apologised to media persons if he had “hurt their feelings”. In his earlier speech, Altaf warned the media that if they did not mend their ways, somebody from his organisation of millions of people might lose his cool. “If that person does something bad to one of you, don’t blame the MQM or Altaf Hussain,” he had said.
Hussain claimed that the media was clearly biased against his party, portraying them in a bad light. Using an old Urdu proverb, the MQM chief said, “Dogs bark when caravans move. I want to tell the media persons that they can criticise the MQM as much as they want but honestly.”
“We all know about favouritism and manipulation. We have been running the party for the past 35 years. You are like our kids, our children, you can’t teach us politics,” he had said. “Are you going to teach us the ethics of journalism? You boys!”
He warned the media to quit playing games with the MQM and said if the MQM ran out of patience, then neither the anchors nor the owners of the media houses would find a place to hide.