Daily Times

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Bahadaurabad faction announced on Friday that it would not sit back and watch silently while the people of Karachi were deprived of their rights by state authorities.

Khalid Maqbool Siddique, a senior leader of the faction, made the announcement at a press conference at the party’s head office in Bahadaurabad.

Referrinng to PIB faction leader Farooq Sattar’s visit to Bahadurabad late on Thursday night, Siddiqui said he was very pleased to see Dr Sattar at the party’s headquarters, adding that matters between the two factions could be resolved through dialogue.

The MQM leader said that the urban Sindh was under represented in the last year’s national census. “Only half of the Karachi’s population is recorded in the census while the population of some cities has been over represented,” he said, “PPP has also shown its ethnic bias in census.”

Siddiqui said that the MQM leadership and its supporters were ready to hit the streets. He added that civic issues were not getting sorted due to massive corruption in provincial departments as Karachi generated 70 percent of the national revenue and even a portion of that revenue was enough to solve many of its longstanding municipal issues.

Siddiqui admitted that the party’s organisational structure was not working as desired due to the ongoing intra-party crisis.

“The revival of sports activities in the city is a remarkable achievement,” he said, referring to the recently held final match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He said PSL had helped improve Pakistan’s image abroad.

He said growth of economy and restoration of peace had been possible in the country because of the role played by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the armed forces. However, he said, all these gains would remain temporary if people were not given their rights.

On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended the decision of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to remove Farooq Sattar as convener of MQM-P. The court ordered that he should be restored on the post until a decision was reached in his appeal against the ECP verdict.

After the IHC decision, Sattar remarked that another obstacle from his way stood removed. Later in the day, he visited the Bahadurabad office along with his wife and MNA Ali Raza Abidi. Party insiders said that it was the first instance during the ongoing crisis when it seemed that some progress would soon be achieved in overcoming the deadlock.

After the meeting, Sattar and Siddiqui addressed a joint press conference where they announced to continue to stay in contact with to iron out their differences. “Bahadurabad is our joint home despite differences,” Sattar said. “And all workers in PIB and Bahadurabad are part of Muttahida Qaumi Movement,” he added.

Key Bahadurabad faction leader Amir khan was not present during the press conference, although he attended the meeting earlier in the day. Party sources say that Khan is opposed to Sattar’s return to the party’s central leadership.

After the press conference, Sattar left for Dubai with his wife. At the airport, he held a brief meeting with PSP chief Mustafa Kamal.

Published in Daily Times, March 31^st 2018.