MQM says they are ‘not hide-snatching, fitra-looting insects’

Rejecting the allegation of extorting money from the residents of Karachi in the name of charity, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Friday said another media trial has been kicked off against the party by the paramilitary Sindh Rangers.

“Rangers issued a press release about a week-old briefing –given by the DG Rangers Maj Gen Bilal Akbar to the apex committee– with malicious intent,” Dr Farooq Sattar, the MQM Coordination Committee member, told reporters at a press conference. The MQM leader said that there was a conspiracy behind the release of this report.

“They deliberately timed it with the All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation’s 37th Foundation Day celebrations,” Dr Sattar said.

“They accused us of snatching the hides of animals sacrificed on Eidul Azha. This is one of the most disgusting accusations ever levelled against any political party. It’s not like the MQM to degenerate to such loathsome practices,” he said.

The MQM chief said it’s a pity that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif instead of meeting and consoling the bereaved families was comparing the martyrs to dead houseflies.

“We were expecting the PM to wipe the tears off the faces of the mourning kin of the martyrs but he likened them to insects,” lamented Sattar.

Earlier, MQM, which usually gives the calls for strikes in Karachi mostly in reaction to its workers allegedly extrajudicial murders, came down hard on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for comparing the loss of human lives to that of houseflies.

“The PM should refrain from making fun of death of a human. It is not becoming of a premier to pass such remarks,” MQM leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan told reporters.

Earlier in the day, PM Sharif said Pakistan would not prosper as long as Karachi remained a hostage to strikes, shutdowns and wheel-jam strikes.

“Karachi is shut down even if a fly dies here. This is counterproductive to the economy of the country,” the prime minister said while addressing a ceremony at Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) on Friday.

“I have directed Governor Sindh Dr Isharatul Ebad not to allow anyone to bring life and business in Karachi to a grinding halt every other day,” the PM said while addressing the audience.