Altaf disowns time-tested Ibad

• Laments Sindh governor’s ‘indifference’ to raids on MQM’s headquarters

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Wednesday said Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, whose political career shares a long history with the party, was no longer affiliated with MQM.

Speaking to a television channel via telephone from London, the MQM chief directed party activists not to expect any cooperation from the governor, who he referred to as “representative of the Establishment”. “The army holds conversations with Ibad whenever it suits them and the media should not portray the governor as an MQM official,” he said.

The MQM chief was also critical of Ibad’s “indifference to the raids on MQM’s Nine Zero headquarters and MQM offices”. He said the governor neither took any notice nor condemned the operations against the party and never paid heed to the extrajudicial killings of MQM members.

Hussain said the governor did not take action when his sister’s house was raided nor when it was claimed that the ammunition recovered during the Nine Zero raid was stolen from NATO containers. He said Ibad was never a “governor of MQM”, adding that he took the position of governor after renouncing his party membership.

Hussain said former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had named a number of political parties with militant wings but only MQM’s headquarter was raided by the Rangers paramilitary force. He said his party has endured operations in the past when Ibad was not the governor and advised MQM activists to “remain united and seek refuge in their homes in case they are frightened”.

Speaking about his arrival in the country, Hussain, who has been residing in London for the past 23 years, said he was “willing to come to Karachi tomorrow” if the cases against him in London were dismissed.

Dr Ibad began his political career as a worker of the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO), MQM’s students wing, when he was studying in Karachi’s Dow Medical College. He contested the general election in 1990 on a provincial assembly constituency as a candidate of the MQM-backed Haq Parast group and became a minister in the Jam Sadiq Ali cabinet.

While he was very close to Hussain, he maintained a low profile in the MQM until 2002 when he became the acting convener of the MQM’s coordination committee after Hussain removed then convener Dr Imran Farooq from the post.