In a bid to counter demands made by Mustafa Kamal to ban the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a senior party leader on Monday rebuffed ‘baseless’ allegations against Altaf Hussain.
“Allegations levelled against MQM chief and party’s senior leadership are baseless, [and are] aimed at shrinking the party’s vote bank, which is not an easy task,” Rabita Committee convener Nadeem Nusrat said while addressing a press conference via a video link from London.
The senior MQM leader said decades’ old propaganda was being rolled out against the party to malign its image in public.
“Despite false allegations and negative media coverage, people have always put their trust in MQM supremo,” he said. “But still some ‘unknown people’ are being given undue media coverage.”
Nusrat alluded to a number of historical events during his speech, which, he said, were reflective of the discrimination being carried out against the party.
“[The] MQM was created as a result of the deprivations of poor Urdu-speaking people and has since been subjected to discrimination,” the party convener said.
“Baseless allegations are being put against a political leader who enjoys popular support of the masses.”
Nusrat claimed undue pressure was being exerted against party leaders, who were being forced to quit the MQM and join the PSP.
He appealed the country’s top civil-military leadership, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to intervene in the matter and stop ‘baseless’ propaganda against the party.
The senior MQM leader also demanded an end to a ban on speeches of the party chief, saying he should be given a chance to clarify himself.
The address came hours after MQM’s provincial lawmaker Ashfaq Ahmed Mangi joined Kamal’s bandwagon.
