Another MQM leader to form own group, claims Haqiqi leader

Muhajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) Vice Chairman Shamshad Ghauri has claimed that another disgruntled Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader was going to announce his own group by the end of 2016.

In a telephonic interview with Pakistan Today, Ghauri said that the new group will appear after Mustafa Kamal’s episode is over. The group will emerge once Kamal completes his ‘assignment’, he said.

Ghauri claimed everyone in the MQM wants to have his own party, and those who wanted to take Kamal’s seat, are now criticising him for forming his own group. “This is a democratic society and every citizen has the right to enter politics,” Ghauri observed, adding that those who wanted to enjoy Kamal’s position, would now form their own groups.

On question about his party chief Afaq Ahmed’s statement regarding inclusion of other MQM leaders in MQM Haqiqi after his release from the court, he said: “Many people are in contact with Haqiqi leaders and want to join us but we are trying to be low profile at this stage.”

He claimed that Kamal’s announcement of making his own party and joining of MQM leaders in his group was not a setback for Haqiqi. “It is good that Mustafa Kamal has come back to the country and formed his own party. It is his right to form and lead a group and his opponent must show patience and give him time to prove himself,” he added.

“Those who are willing to join Mustafa Kamal’s group will join him, those who wish to join Haqiqi will join Afaq Ahmad and some will remain part of the MQM Altaf Hussain group, but they will not be more than three to four in number,” Ghauri stated.

Ghauri appreciated Kamal but sought justification from him on the May 12 incidents of violence and bloodshed in Karachi. Kamal was the city’s mayor when people set markets on fire after a blast on Ashura procession and he should answer who was involved in the terror incidents, Ghauri added.

Defending his party and its chief, Ghauri said that formation of Kamal’s group proved that there was no hidden hand behind Afaq Ahmed’s release and the comeback of Haqiqi in Karachi.