Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain while expressing grief over the recent Karimabad clash said that people were infuriated over the injustices meted out in the name of Karachi operation.
The MQM chief while asking his workers to remain peaceful remarked that the public wrath was a reaction of speeches by some Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders.
“I appeal to party workers to remain peaceful,” Altaf said in the statement. He condemned the incident and offered his sympathies to PTI leaders over the episode which saw PTI election camp uprooted.
The MQM chief said the way Nine Zero (MQM headquarter) was raided had infuriated the people of Karachi. Altaf maintained that Farooq Sattar and other MQM leaders reached the spot and tried to calm down the people and he himself appealed the mob to disperse. The MQM chief asked all his supporters to remain patient and exercise restraint as God sides with those who observe patience.
“Your hearts are grieved, so is mine,” said Altaf.
He further added that public should remain peaceful and patient with the bye-elections of NA-246. He said no such actions should be done which would tense the situation in the constituency. “The PTI leaders gave provoking statements and the mob attacked their camp in anger,” he added.
He directed the MQM leaders to make sure that situation remains under control during the campaigning of bye-elections of NA-246. Meanwhile, MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi said on Saturday that the party chief Altaf Hussain was deeply grieved at the recent clash in Karimabad.
Rizvi claimed that he and other MQM leaders reached the spot as soon as they came to know about the clash to bring the situation under control. The MQM leader while condemning the incident in which PTI flag was burnt said that the whole episode was ‘damaging’ for the MQM itself, adding the MQM leadership implored the people to remain peaceful.
Answering a question, Rizvi claimed that the attackers were not MQM workers but from the common populace of the area, adding the MQM leaders themselves set up the PTI camp again.
Rizvi further vowed to sit in the PTI camp to ensure that no such untoward incident takes place again.