- Says party will hold a protest on Nov 5 even if authorities refuse permission
- MQM-P chief denies any contact with Altaf Hussain
Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) chief Dr Farooq Sattar has denied any involvement of the party members in the acts of money laundering, the accusations of which were levelled by a UK-based businessman Sarfaraz Merchant.
The MQM-P chief rejected the accusations of Sarfaraz Merchant against party leaders calling them ‘false’ and ‘baseless’ and claimed that Merchant had supervised illegal activities in Karachi.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Farooq Sattar clarified that they were being politically victimised and it was imperative in the current situation to reject any accusation levelled against them.
He also denied that the party was in contact with MQM-London chief Altaf Hussain.
He further informed that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had started an investigation into the alleged money laundering charges against the MQM members. He, however, claimed that no one from the party had yet been nominated in the first information report (FIR) lodged on Merchant’s complaint.
Farooq Sattar further said that former MQM leader and Karachi Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, MNA Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and his brother Khawaja Rehan Mansoor, and former senator Ahmed Ali had received letters from the FIA and were facing probe despite not being nominated in the FIR.
He also disclosed that a letter addressed to the MQM president was also received, however, he was not sure whether it was meant for the chief of MQM’s London faction or Sattar himself.
The MQM-P leader also clarified that he was not aware of any money laundering if it happened before August 22, 2016, but said that he could guarantee that there had been no such activity after August 22. He added that the leaders charged by the FIA had been falsely accused, including Vohra — who recently quit MQM to join Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP).
Earlier, Farooq Sattar had said that Vohra parted ways with the party and joined PSP since he could not put up with the pressure of the money laundering case taken up by the FIA.
In his Wednesday’s presser, Sattar criticised the police for refusing to grant permission to MQM-P for holding a rally on October 5 on the pretext that the date and venue collided with the Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) protest. He announced that the protest will be held even if the permission is not granted.
The MQM had announced to hold a protest against the recently announced provisional census results, and a proposed delimitation bill that would allow fresh delimitation of constituencies, which was being viewed as an apparent move by the Sindh government and some political parties to settle the controversy over the census data.
“We had informed the authorities 15 days prior to the rally,” he said and added that still permission was not granted to them because GDA is holding a protest on the same date.
“We then requested that we be allowed to stage a rally on the nearby Shahrah-e-Quaideen but the authorities didn’t permit us to do that either, Sattar maintained. “Protest is our democratic right and this is an injustice to our party,” he stated.
He also alleged that Karachi police were taking down MQM’s banners and flags on the pretext that putting up political banners were not allowed. He termed it a discrimination against the party, claiming that police had not taken down flags of Jamaat-e-Islami.
“This is a clear message for the voters of Karachi and Sindh that MQM is being sidelined,” said the disgruntled MQM-P chief. He went on to announce that the party will hold a protest on November 5 at Mazar-e-Quaid or in Liaqatabad, even if the authorities refuse to grant permission.
Earlier, the party had called off a protest of a similar nature on September 16 after which the party contacted city authorities seeking permission to hold a rally on November 5 at Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum.