* MQM chief says his party will support army in operation against terrorists
* Time for people to decide if they wanted Pakistan to survive or allow it to be wiped out
By Danish Rafique
KARACHI: The citizens should decide whether they supported the Taliban or wanted to see Pakistan as envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, MQM chief Altaf Hussain said during his telephonic address from London at a General Workers’ meeting held at Jinnah Ground, Azizabad on Sunday.
Altaf hailed Malala Yousufzai and said she is a symbol of knowledge that the Taliban want to suppress. The cowardly attack on Malala and her classmates was an attack on Islam, the teachings of Holy Prophet (PBUH), and the humanity, adding that terrorists were brutes, not human beings. He urged the entire nation to rise against the heartless killers.
He said it was time to decide if the nation wanted Pakistan to survive and progress or allow it to be wiped out from the map of the world. During the meeting, the MQM chief also gave Malala the title of “Daughter of the Nation”. He said Malala is an innocent, enlightened, talented and God-gifted girl, who carried on her studies in the Taliban-controlled area with courage.
Addressing heads of the armed forces and the ISI, Altaf asked them to move ahead and crush the Taliban, saying the 180 million people of the country would be standing behind them. He said MQM workers were with the armed forces to eliminate extremist elements from the country.
He said the MQM had always condemned drone strikes and killings of innocent people in these attacks. He categorically stated the MQM could not support drones in the country. He also urged the students to continue going to schools to eliminate ignorance. Education is the only means for opening the closed doors of the mind, he added. He said the nation should get ready to rid the country of Taliban, as there was no other option left for them.
Altaf appealed to the members of NGOs, civil society and lawyers to come forward to save the country from extremist elements.
“Those who are against the women’s education are not Muslim, but Taliban,” the MQM chief added.
He further added the so-called “muftis” and “mullahs” were selling Islam, and appealed to enlightened religious clerics and scholars to come forward and perform their duties at such a critical juncture. He also appealed to the chief justice of Pakistanto take suo motu notice of the attack on Malala and her friends.
He also demanded the CJP take action against the lawyers who had showered petals on Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassin Mumtaz Qadri when he confessed his crime before the court. He appealed to the people not to give donations to religious parties that attacked shrines, imambargahs and tombs.
He criticized the religious and political parties of the country for their passivity and criminal silence over the acts of terrorism. A large number of people attended the public meeting. Altaf thanked the media for coverage of MQM meeting.