MQM CHIEF DEMANDS BAN ON JI

Daily Dawn
Bureau Report


HYDERABAD, July 22: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on Friday called upon the government to ban Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) to save the country, saying it was the only party that had been patronizing terrorists and exporting terrorism. The MQM leader was speaking via phone from London at a ceremony organized by the Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation at Liaquat Colony here to distribute relief goods among the destitute.

Pakistan, he said, was passing through the ‘most critical phase’ of its history and offered unconditional support to President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to steer the country out of the crisis.

He charged that JI and Pakistan could not go together as the Jamaat was exporting terrorism. He warned foreign countries that JI was the only organization that had been patronizing terrorism and, therefore, it was necessary that it should be banned.

Mr Hussain said that JI collected donations in the name of Palestine, Afghanistan and Kashmir and then purchased weapons and bombs for terrorist activities. The JI, he added, was anti-Islam and Pakistan.

Referring to the MQM’s role as a coalition partner of the government, he said the party never framed the government policies and therefore it was not responsible for the joblessness, non-availability of clean drinking water, poverty and hunger.

He said the root cause of these problems was feudalism which needed to be eradicated and lands should be distributed among landless haris.

He criticized the People’s Party Parliamentarians and the PML-N for signing an agreement with the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal in the NWFP, depriving women of their voting right in the recent by-elections. He vowed to defend voting right of women.

ALTAF LASHES OUT AT JI

The News International
By our correspondent

HYDERABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on Friday alleged that the Jamat-e-Islami (JI) was a terrorist organisation and called for banning it.

Speaking at a programme organised by the KKF from London by telephone, Altaf said: "If Pakistan is to be saved, the Jamat-e-Islami has to be banned as the country and the Jamat-e-Islami cannot go together."

He said that he wanted to inform the human rights organisations and democratic forces that the Jamat-e-Islami was a head of all terrorist organisations around the world. He said the Jamat-e-Islami collected donations in the name of Jihad in Kashmir but they purchased automatic weapon and bombs. He added that JI carried out terrorism and it was an anti-Pakistan organisation.

He strongly condemned the bombing incidents in London and said that these incidents had created a harassing like situation for Asian especially Pakistani community.

Altaf said that today Pakistan is passing through very critical situation and "so-called intellectuals are debating as to why the Muslims are being victimised".

"I want to ask them why these people did not raise their voice when an operation was launched against the Muttahida in 1992 and extra judicial killing of its 15,000 workers was committed. Nobody raised voice against those atrocities perpetuated on Muhajirs, who sacrificed everything for the creation of Pakistan."

He said that those rulers, who perpetuated atrocities on Muhajirs must apologise to them. He said that he was ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with President General Pervaiz Musharaf to save the country.

Altaf said that in the past those, who were saying that Altaf Hussain has run away from the country, "today they are themselves living outside Pakistan".

Altaf said the Muttahida was a very important party, whose manifesto is to serve the people. "The Muttahida is struggling for rights of the people."