Former Karachi mayor and leader of Pak Sarzameen Party Mustafa Kamal on Saturday roped in two former leaders of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Saif Yar Khan and Attaullah Kurd, into his newly established political party.
Both the leaders were former members of MQM’s coordination committee. The move came a day after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Syed Hafeezuddin joined Kamal’s political bandwagon, being the first MPA from any other party than MQM to have joined the PSP.
Speaking at the occasion, Saif Yar Khan said “it’s the government’s responsibility to investigate the matter of RAW’s involvement in MQM”.
“My 30 years of loyal affiliation with the party and MQM chief Altaf Hussain has been a lost cause,” he maintained.
Khan said that those sitting in London are not party workers but personal employees of the MQM leader.
Earlier this week, member of MQM Coordination Committee Iftikhar Akbar Randhawa had also joined the ranks of Pak Sarzameen Party.
Kamal’s revelations:
Earlier in March, when Kamal returned to Pakistan, the MQM dissident unleashed a salvo of bombastic ‘revelations’ against party chairman Altaf Hussain, accusing him of deception, addressing workers while intoxicated and poor running of the MQM.
Since then, the former mayor of Karachi has pulled former MQM heavyweights Advocate Anis, Raza Haroon, Anis Kaimkhani, MPA Dr Sagheer, MPA Iftikhar Alam, Waseem Aftab, ex-senator Mohammad Ali Brohi, and most recently MPA Bilquis Mukhtar, into his party.
The Pak Sarzameen Party’s name was announced on March 23 and since then the party has opened offices in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas.
Advocate Anis and Raza Haroon both have slammed Altaf Hussain, saying the MQM chief is the reason behind party members jumping ship. However, the MQM has denied all allegations regarding the ‘minus-Altaf formula’ and claims its workers are being ‘forced to change loyalties’.
Kamal and his colleagues have not specifically denied these allegations or others that suggest the new party is being backed by ‘certain quarters’.
A number of senior MQM members left the country suddenly around the time Kamal returned to Karachi, causing speculation as to the reasons behind their seemingly abrupt departure.