Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Senator Taj Haider of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has accused Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain of patronising radical groups.

Talking to Daily Times on Sunday, Taj said, “This was not the first time that Altaf Hussain had chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, he had also burnt the Pakistani flag in 1987. He [Altaf] is doing anti-Pakistan politics for the last three decades.”

The senator said, “Whenever dictatorship comes, the PPP leadership goes to jail, whereas some politicians go to Jeddah after submitting an apology and parties such as MQM becomes personal servant of the dictator.”

To a question, he said breaking political parties into different factions is a job of establishment. He; however, said, “The PPP brings all political parties to a platform through the process of reconciliation. We had a chance to split the PML-N before 2013 elections, but we didn’t and gave it a chance to form the government.”

He quoted Javed Hashmi who once said that one must be a PhD degree holder to understand politics of Asif Ali Zardari, but “our politics is simple and straight”.

He said that it was a wish of the PPP that all the political parties be strengthened; no matter what would be the result of polls because elections are fought either to win or lose.

The veteran leader said that PPP gave sacrifices more than anybody else for the democracy and even it had lost two of its supreme leaders but never bowed in front of any dictator.

He also rounded on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for issuing statement on Balochistan. “Kashmir is a disputed territory whereas Balochistan is part of Pakistan and there is no comparison between the two.” He said the Indian prime minister was an extremist who supported terrorism.