PRESS CONFERENCE
MQM REJECTS ZULFIQAR MIRZA’S ALLEGATIONS AS MONSTROUS, OUTRAGEOUS AND ABSURD
BASELESS AND SCADULOUS ALLEGATIONS WERE LEVELLED
AGAINST THE MQM IN THE PAST
BUT ALL THE ALLEGATIONS PROVED WRONG IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME.
KARACHI: 30TH AUGUST 2011
Respected Journalists
We thank you for coming to attend this Press Conference
The monstrous allegation made by Zulfiqar Mirza about an alleged US plot to break Pakistan, referring to his meeting with Mr Altaf Hussain in London, is as much laughable as it is grave. The mental condition of Zulfiqar Mirza can easily be judged from this. Zulfiqar Mirza has tried to increase his diminutive stature by pointing finger at the leader of the third largest political party who is honoured by millions of people. It is highly ridiculous that Mr Altaf Hussain asked Dr Farooq Sattar, Governor Sind Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad and other senior leaders of the MQM to go out of the room, as Mirza himself says, and held secretive talks with him. This would mean that the people who had been working with Mr Altaf Hussain for many years were not worthy of his trust, and those who were meeting with him for the first time were so reliable that he could hold highly confidential talks with them. This is nothing but slander and a white lie. There is not a speck of reality in it and the MQM condemns this in the strongest possible terms.
People know it very well that the fabricated, appalling and outrageous allegation of Jinnahpur was levelled against the MQM in the past as well in an attempt to malign it as an anti-state political party. Self-made maps were also produced before the people but a time came when the conspirators came on the media and accepted before the nation that the Jinnahpur allegation was a drama and that no maps were discovered. Mr Altaf Hussain is a great and a patriotic leader of the country and the MQM is the political party of the descendants of the founders of Pakistan, who sacrificed millions of lives in the struggle for Pakistan. They left their homes, belongings and memories of their ancestors for their cherished homeland. Everyone in Pakistan knows that it was Zulfiqar Mirza who talked about breaking Pakistan in his speech before the media. Zulfiqar Mirza has only tried to mislead the international community, armed forces of Pakistan, national defence institutions and patriotic people by making these unfounded and repugnant allegations -hitting several targets with one bullet.
The conversation imputed to Mr Altaf Hussain by Zulfiqar Mirza regarding killing of the Pakhtuns is an unabashed lie, baseless and a figment of imagination of his devious mind. The purpose of this allegation is to create hatred and animosity in the minds of the Pakhtuns against the Mr Altaf Hussain and to bring them in confrontation with the MQM. We want to assure the Pakhtuns beyond a shadow of doubt that Mr Altaf Hussain and the MQM have never been against the Pakhtuns. We consider them as our brothers and hold their life, property and dignity as sacred as we hold ours. We never had any dispute with the Pakhtuns and there will never be a feud with the Pakhtuns in the future as well. It is actually Zulfiqar Mirza who has been trying to pitch the Pakhtuns and the Mohajirs against each other by fomenting violence and protecting the miscreants. We also want to inform the people that a large number of Pakhtuns from Karachi, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwah and other parts of the country are present in the MQM, and Gulfaraz Khan Khattak, a Pakhtun, is a member of the Co-ordination Committee that is the policy-making body of the MQM.
Respected Journalists
There never was a dispute between the Baluchs and the Mohajirs in Karachi before Zulfiqar Mirza become the Home Minister. Zulfiqar Mirza conspired to provoke violence between the Baluchs through a nefarious conspiracy. The Baluchs are old citizens of Karachi and they are our brothers. No sooner had Zulfiqar Mirza become the Home Minister than the incidents of kidnapping for ransom, extortion, robbery spiked in Karachi. Any trader and shopkeeper who dared to refuse ransom or extortion money in the areas of Saddar, Burns Road, Kharadar, Mithadar, Jodia Bazar, Tower and the other adjoining areas was killed in broad daylight. The massacre of the shopkeepers in Sher Shah Kabari Market is a glaring example in which several shopkeepers were put to death by indiscriminate firing when they refused to give extortion money to the criminal elements of Zulfiqar Mirza. Many others were seriously wounded in the firing. The accused terrorists of the People’s Amn Committee who were nominated in the case were turned over to the police in the office of Zulfiqar Mirza. The shopkeepers who were plaintiff in the case were threatened with murder if they identified the killers. The business community at large kept on raising voice against his open terrorism and thuggery but the incidents did not stop because Zulfiqar Mirza was avowedly patronizing the criminals. He is still supporting the criminals and the terrorists which is the basic reason of the lawlessness in Karachi. Every businessman, industrialists, shopkeeper and even small children know as to who supports the extortion mafia in Karachi.
Respected Journalists
Zulfiqar Mirza has made tall claims about peace in Karachi. Had he any concern with bringing peace in Karachi, he would have supported indiscriminating and across the board action against terrorists and criminal elements in Karachi, but he fiercely opposed action against the dissolved Peoples Amn Committee in every government meeting. Zulfiqar Mirza started making baseless allegations not only against the MQM but also the government, Federal Interior Minister, Governor Sindh and PPP leaders Agha Siraj Durrani and Babar Awan as soon as the Rangers moved against the terrorists of gang war in Lyari, finished no-go areas, arrested criminals, recovered weapons and discovered torture cells. Zulfiqar Mirza did this in a bid to stop action against the criminal elements and to influence the suo motu action taken by the Supreme Court against bloodshed, mayhem and extortion mafia in Karachi.
Respected Journalists
As far as the reports of the Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) are considered we maintain that unless the guilt is established in a court of law, the accused should be considered as innocent. Innocent until proven guilty. Hundreds of cases were made against the MQM in order to defame it and harm its credibility in the public. From stealing the cap of a policeman to Jinnahpur and from the murder of a common man to Hakim Saeed, false cases were registered against the MQM workers but they have been honourably discharged from all cases through courts. Zulfiqar Mirza should prove the allegations in the courts instead of showing them on the media. He should let the courts do their work and not become the judge and the jailer himself. We want the action against the criminals elements in Karachi to proceed indiscriminately and no leniency should be shown to anyone involved in criminal offences.
Respected Journalists
We respect the co-chairman of the PPP and President Asif Ali Zardari, PPP leadership and the mandate of their party from the bottom of our heart and we hope that they will foil the negative activities of extremist elements like Zulfiqar Mirza that want to harm the democratic process by driving a wedge between the PPP and the MQM, create disturbance in Sindh and create feud between the voters of both the parties. We will continue to work for bringing peace and stability in Sindh, particularly Karachi, under the guiding leadership of Mr Altaf Hussain.
We would once again appeal the workers, sympathizers, and the general public not to get provoked at inflammatory and absurd allegations. We would ask them to restrain their emotions and know that Allah is All-seeing and the best of Judges.
Faisal Sabzwari &
Members of Sindh Assembly