Ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to US next week, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has reached out to the Obama administration to persuade the Pakistani leadership not to target the party’s members in Karachi in the name of counter-terrorism operations, reports in the Indian media said on Saturday.
In an interview with the Press Trust of India (PTI), senior MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar said that the situation in Karachi is “very volatile” and “can explode” any moment if steps are not taken now.
“I told them (State Department officials) that if Karachi is going into a state of turmoil, if things become irreversible where will you have the strength to run your (Pakistan’s) economy (sic), run your national programmes like war on terror, action against the Taliban and fighting this enemy within,” Sattar said.
“The Taliban is an enemy within so is Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. So you have to ensure peace and stability in Karachi by doing a justiciable operation. You bring temporary peace by usurping fundamental rights,” he added. .
Sattar further claimed: “We (MQM members) are law abiding citizens. We are peace loving citizens. We believe in democracy. God forbid, if it (Karachi) goes into turmoil, what will happen to the economy of Pakistan.”