Altaf‎ calls for NATO intervention in Karachi

• Nisar says Hussain’s hate-inciting speech tantamount to waging war against Pakistan, says Karachi operation will continue despite MQM’s uproar
• Imran Khan says Hussain’s statements prove MQM-RAW link, asks govt to act against ‘MQM’s attack on Pakistan and its state institutions’

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Sunday once again drew the ire of the country’s political leadership for asking for foreign intervention in Karachi, with many politicians terming the MQM chief’s statements tantamount to waging war against the country.

‎Addressing MQM’s annual convention in the US city of Dallas early on Sunday, Hussain had asked his party workers to stage protests in front of United Nations, White House and NATO and ask them to send troops in Karachi.

Hussain said that India itself is a “coward country” and if it had some honour, “it would not let further bloodshed of Mohajirs on Pakistani soil”. Altaf Hussain also demanded a separate province for Mohajirs.

The MQM chief directed party workers to write letters to US newspapers and make them aware of the actual situation in Pakistan. He dismissed the money laundering charges against him, while stating that all the bank accounts in London had been frozen and they were surviving in difficult situation.

Terrorism is biggest threat for Pakistan, he asserted and added that the organisations banned by Interior Ministry are still operating in the country.

Earlier on July 30, the MQM in a letter sent to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, had claimed excesses committed by the paramilitary Rangers in their ongoing security operation in Karachi.

The letter was submitted by the MQM’s International Secretariat, and was signed by the party’s head of international relations.

The party in its letter sent to the UN, alleged that its workers are being mistreated during the current security operation being conducted in Karachi, and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are unlawfully detaining their activists.

The letter specifically mentions the raid conducted on MQM’s headquarters on the night of July 17, and the subsequent arrest of Qamar Mansoor, a member of the party’s Rabita Committee.

MQM further elaborated in their letter that the court had allowed Mansoor to get treatment in a private hospital, after an application was submitted in this regard. Although the court had allowed treatment in the case, Rangers later denied it citing security reasons.

GOVT LEADERS LASH OUT AT ALTAF:

Reacting to Altaf’s address, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said, “The hate-inciting speech, made in a foreign country last night, crossed all limits. Heads of key institutions were insulted. Sarcastic poems were read against the armed forces of Pakistan and accusations were levelled against the army.”

The interior minister was of the view that “these statements cannot exhibit the sentiments of a patriotic Pakistani”.

“MQM leader Farooq Sattar on August 27, 2013 had demanded that Karachi be handed over to the army. The perception that the operation in Karachi is against the MQM or that the operation only targets one specific party is absolutely wrong, as the action has been taken across the board,” he said.

Nisar further said, “Only criminal elements within the MQM have been targeted during the ongoing operation. Activists belonging to the PPP, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Sunni Tehreek, Shabab-i-Milli and ANP were also arrested but no party raised any objections apart from the MQM.”

No other party took to the streets nor asked for the operation to be ended, he claimed.

Even the MQM as a party has raised no issues against the operation, he said, adding that he didn’t consider the Urdu-speaking community or the MQM to be against Pakistan.

“The operation will continue with the same pace,” the federal interior minister asserted. “The efforts carried out by government have resulted in a decrease in terrorism cases.”

Nisar further said, “Altaf hasn’t come to the country during the past 25 years and I doubt that he will ever return.”

The noose around Altaf is being tightened in two cases filed in London and he is venting his anger on Pakistanis, the interior minister claimed.

“The Imran Farooq murder case and the money-laundering case against Altaf have not been initiated by the Pakistani armed forces, nor its government,” the federal interior minister said, adding that, “The cases are not being heard in Pakistani courts. They have been lodged by the country where the MQM chief has chosen to seek asylum.”

Responding to a question the federal interior minister said, “Though the media has ended live broadcast of Altaf Hussain’s speeches, the government is further considering a blanket ban on the speeches delivered by the MQM chief.”

We are examining the speech as a disclosure of attempting to abet waging of war against Pakistan and its institutions, said Nisar.

“The speech made from MQM’s London Office is a conspiracy against the sovereignty and integrity of the country, as it invited foreign forces and India to interfere in Pakistan’s internal matters. We will approach the British authorities in the next few days and submit a legal document on the matter,” said the interior minister. “Work is already underway in this regard.”

Responding to Hussain’s comments, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that the MQM leader’s “diatribe against Pakistan and the Army” proves he is working for the enemy.

“The entire Pakistani nation awaits the exemplary end of this self-proclaimed leader who calls out to India for help,” he said.

The Punjab chief minister added that the MQM chief’s recent statement proves that Rangers have taken the right measures in Karachi in the ongoing operation against terrorists and criminal elements in the port city. The nation will never forgive Altaf Hussain as he has hurt the sentiments of 20 crore population of Pakistan, he added.

KHATTAK, KHAN DENOUNCE MQM CHIEF:

Furthermore, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak strongly condemned the MQM chief’s speech against the state and armed forces of Pakistan and termed it a malicious effort for harming the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan.

Imran Khan took to twitter to express his disgust.

“Strongly condemn Altaf Hussain’s letter to UN seeking external intervention in our affairs & his invitation to India to intervene in Karachi,” he wrote.

“This proves the MQM-RAW link. The state & govt must immediately act against this MQM attack on Pakistan & its state institutions,” he added.

“UK govt must stop allowing its territory to be used by its citizen Altaf Hussain to advocate violence & external intervention against Pak,” he said.

Pervez Khattak, meanwhile, urged the federal government to take stern action on the statement of Altaf Hussain under the provisions of the constitutional and law.

He said that PTI already had severe reservations over the negative statements and way of politics of Altaf Hussain but his fresh attempt to malign the national parliamentary and defense institutions was an extreme effort against national integrity and sovereignty which cannot be ignored or tolerated at any level.