Pakistan's constitutional state structure is "quite anti-people" and it is unresponsive to the voice of oppressed people of the country, Pakistani poet and human rights advocate, IA Rehman said, while adding that enforced disappearance and forceful conversion of girls from minorities to Islam are a "matter of great concern".&nbsp;

Speaking at a webinar organised by World Sindhi Congress (WSC) on Saturday, Rehman said that the situation in context to human rights is "far from satisfactory" in Pakistan but people have started speaking against the atrocities by the government.&nbsp;

The webinar was also attended by several human rights advocates including Rights activist Baseer Naveed, Convenor of VMP Sindh Forum Sorath Lohar, and activist Dilshad Bhutto.&nbsp;

"Unfortunately, the state structure is quite anti-people. It is not responsive to the voice of oppressed people. Some of the chronic problems are enforced disappearances. People disappear and their dead bodies are found on the roadside. It is a serious problem in Pakistan and the state has not responded to it," he said.

"We can say that minorities are doing all right but the fact is they are not. Forced conversion, abduction of minorities' girls, and conversion to Islam are being done. The Justice Department is not in a position to address the people's problem. This is a matter of serious concern to all human rights activist s that we have not been able to check forced conversion in the Sindh, Balochistan," he added.

Pakistan's establishment has been long criticised over its practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by International bodies and local human rights organisations that dare to speak out on the issue. According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, around 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances of the Baloch people have been registered since 2014. Most of them, however, remain unresolved so far.

Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture. Naveed said that the "impunity" is "very high in Sindh" as Pakistan Army and Rangers have seized the region due to which government and administration can not function.&nbsp;

"The army is ruling in Sindh and it is not allowing all law and order to establish here. The government and administration are useless as the region is seized by the Army and the rangers. Impunity is very high in Sindh," he said.&nbsp;

According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, around 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances of the Baloch people have been registered since 2014. Most of them, however, remain unresolved so far.

Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture. Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple TV interviews the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible.

Pakistan's constitutional state structure is "quite anti-people" and it is unresponsive to the voice of oppressed people of the country, Pakistani poet and human rights advocate, IA Rehman said, while adding that enforced disappearance and forceful conversion of girls from minorities to Islam are a "matter of great concern".

Pakistan's constitutional state structure is "quite anti-people" and it is unresponsive to the voice of oppressed people of the country, Pakistani poet and human rights advocate, IA Rehman said, while adding that enforced disappearance and forceful conversion of girls from minorities to Islam are a "matter of great concern". Speaking at a webinar organised by World Sindhi Congress (WSC) on Saturday, Rehman said that the situation in context to human rights is "far from satisfactory" in Pakistan but people have started speaking against the atrocities by the government. The webinar was also attended by several human rights advocates including Rights activist Baseer Naveed, Convenor of VMP Sindh Forum Sorath Lohar, and activist Dilshad Bhutto. "Unfortunately, the state structure is quite anti-people. It is not responsive to the voice of oppressed people. Some of the chronic problems are enforced disappearances. People disappear and their dead bodies are found on the roadside. It is a serious problem in Pakistan and the state has not responded to it," he said. "We can say that minorities are doing all right but the fact is they are not. Forced conversion, abduction of minorities' girls, and conversion to Islam are being done. The Justice Department is not in a position to address the people's problem. This is a matter of serious concern to all human rights activist s that we have not been able to check forced conversion in the Sindh, Balochistan," he added. Pakistan's establishment has been long criticised over its practice of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by International bodies and local human rights organisations that dare to speak out on the issue. According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, around 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances of the Baloch people have been registered since 2014. Most of them, however, remain unresolved so far. Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture. Naveed said that the "impunity" is "very high in Sindh" as Pakistan Army and Rangers have seized the region due to which government and administration can not function. "The army is ruling in Sindh and it is not allowing all law and order to establish here. The government and administration are useless as the region is seized by the Army and the rangers. Impunity is very high in Sindh," he said. According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, around 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances of the Baloch people have been registered since 2014. Most of them, however, remain unresolved so far. Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture. Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple TV interviews the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible.

Pakistan state structure is 'anti-people', unresponsive to voices of oppressed: Poet Ibn Abdur Rehman

The founder of one of Pakistan's main political party Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) previously known as Muhajir Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain has pleaded to Modi to grant him and his colleague's asylum in India.

The MQM founder also sought financial assistance from the Indian prime minister.

Hussain has been living in exile in the UK since the launch of 'Operation Clean Up' that had been launched by the then Pakistani Government in 1992 targeting Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

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Watch | Exiled <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pakistan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pakistan</a> leader and founder of MQM, Altaf Hussain, seeks asylum in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/India?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#India</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/AltafHussain_90?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AltafHussain_90</a> <a href="https://t.co/iNL2dV6VV9">pic.twitter.com/iNL2dV6VV9</a>
— WION (@WIONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/WIONews/status/1196416491270201353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2019</a></blockquote>
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He is due to stand trial in June 2020 and passport remains with the UK police.

Hussain was charged by the UK's crown prosecution services for encouraging terrorism through a speech relayed to his followers in Pakistan in 2016.

In a video speech recorded by Hussain after London police relaxed his bail conditions, he turned towards Modi for help.

The MQM leader said he would like to travel to India because his grandparents are buried there.

Hussain alleged that his assets, house, and offices were taken over in Karachi leaving him with no means to “fight for justice” against the Pakistani regime.&nbsp;

MQM and its leader Altaf Hussain decided to boycott elections in 2018 due to military intervention in political affairs, &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Promising that he would not interfere in any politics, Hussian has said that he welcomed the supreme court verdict in the Ayodhya case.

The founder of one of Pakistan's main political party Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) previously known as Muhajir Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain has pleaded to Modi to grant him and his colleague's asylum in India.

The founder of one of Pakistan's main political party Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) previously known as Muhajir Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain has pleaded to Modi to grant him and his colleague's asylum in India. The MQM founder also sought financial assistance from the Indian prime minister. Hussain has been living in exile in the UK since the launch of 'Operation Clean Up' that had been launched by the then Pakistani Government in 1992 targeting Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Watch | Exiled #Pakistan leader and founder of MQM, Altaf Hussain, seeks asylum in #India. @AltafHussain_90 pic.twitter.com/iNL2dV6VV9 — WION (@WIONews) November 18, 2019 × He is due to stand trial in June 2020 and passport remains with the UK police. Hussain was charged by the UK's crown prosecution services for encouraging terrorism through a speech relayed to his followers in Pakistan in 2016. In a video speech recorded by Hussain after London police relaxed his bail conditions, he turned towards Modi for help. The MQM leader said he would like to travel to India because his grandparents are buried there. Hussain alleged that his assets, house, and offices were taken over in Karachi leaving him with no means to “fight for justice” against the Pakistani regime. MQM and its leader Altaf Hussain decided to boycott elections in 2018 due to military intervention in political affairs, Promising that he would not interfere in any politics, Hussian has said that he welcomed the supreme court verdict in the Ayodhya case.

Muttahida Quami Movement founder Altaf Hussain seeks asylum in India

Pakistan leader Altaf Hussain requests Modi for Asylum. To know more watch the video

Pakistan Leader Altaf Hussain seeks Asylum in India

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has claimed that former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been given polonium, the drug which slowly poisoned Yasser Arafat, famed Palestinian President, to death in 2004.

"Lower platelets count in Nawaz Sharif's body! A known fact is that 'Polonium' (a radioactive element) is used to eliminate enemies. It acts as a slow poison and destroys platelets. The only specialised radioactive laboratory can verify it. The international laboratory must examine it," Hussain first tweeted on November 2.&nbsp;

On Tuesday, Hussain posted a research article -- 'Polonium - A Perfect Poison' — on his Twitter handle after several questions were put up to him regarding his earlier post on the micro-blogging site."Dear Students and Followers! Here is my research article on 'Polonium-A Perfect Poison' in reply to questions put up by people about my 2nd November 2019 tweet regarding #Polonium. I tried my level best to give answers on this important subject. Please read it thoroughly," Hussain wrote alongside the article, which briefs about polonium, its symptoms and treatment.

"Besides Yasser Arafat, Irene Joliot Curie (1956), a Nobel Laureate and daughter of Madam Curie and Alexander Litvinenko (2006) are some of the known/suspicious victims of polonium poisoning," Hussain has claimed in his article.

"The mysterious and deteriorating medical condition of any person exposed to polonium need some serious screening and thorough investigations from globally recognised and reputed radioactive laboratories," said Hussain.&nbsp;

Polonium radiation destroys DNA and can lead to cell death and cancer. It is a known carcinogen. When inhaled, polonium causes lung cancer.&nbsp;

When swallowed, it becomes concentrated in red blood cells, before spreading to other important organs like liver, kidneys, and bone marrow.&nbsp;

Sharif was discharged from the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) in Lahore and shifted to his residence -- Jati Umra -- on Wednesday.&nbsp;

The 69-year-old leader was admitted to the SIMS on October 22 after his health conditions deteriorated drastically due to "critically" low platelet count.

An Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has been set up at Sharif`s residence and the doctors have put a ban on the people visiting him, Marriyum Aurangzeb, spokesperson of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said in a statement.

Adding that there were chances that an infection might develop due to low platelet counts, Aurangzeb said the doctors had suggested the setting up of a special medical unit at Sharif`s residence."The unit was set up under the supervision of Sharif`s personal physician Dr Adnan Khan and the doctors will be present in the ICU round the clock," she added.

While being shifted to his residence from the hospital, Sharif was accompanied by his mother, daughter Maryam Nawaz and other family members. On October 29, Sharif was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court on medical grounds in connection with Al Azizia and Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption cases.&nbsp;

The ailing Pakistani leader was serving a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia case in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. Besides this, he was remanded to the NAB custody in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.&nbsp;

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has claimed that former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been given polonium, the drug which slowly poisoned Yasser Arafat, famed Palestinian President, to death in 2004.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has claimed that former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been given polonium, the drug which slowly poisoned Yasser Arafat, famed Palestinian President, to death in 2004. "Lower platelets count in Nawaz Sharif's body! A known fact is that 'Polonium' (a radioactive element) is used to eliminate enemies. It acts as a slow poison and destroys platelets. The only specialised radioactive laboratory can verify it. The international laboratory must examine it," Hussain first tweeted on November 2. On Tuesday, Hussain posted a research article -- 'Polonium - A Perfect Poison' — on his Twitter handle after several questions were put up to him regarding his earlier post on the micro-blogging site."Dear Students and Followers! Here is my research article on 'Polonium-A Perfect Poison' in reply to questions put up by people about my 2nd November 2019 tweet regarding #Polonium. I tried my level best to give answers on this important subject. Please read it thoroughly," Hussain wrote alongside the article, which briefs about polonium, its symptoms and treatment. "Besides Yasser Arafat, Irene Joliot Curie (1956), a Nobel Laureate and daughter of Madam Curie and Alexander Litvinenko (2006) are some of the known/suspicious victims of polonium poisoning," Hussain has claimed in his article. "The mysterious and deteriorating medical condition of any person exposed to polonium need some serious screening and thorough investigations from globally recognised and reputed radioactive laboratories," said Hussain. Polonium radiation destroys DNA and can lead to cell death and cancer. It is a known carcinogen. When inhaled, polonium causes lung cancer. When swallowed, it becomes concentrated in red blood cells, before spreading to other important organs like liver, kidneys, and bone marrow. Sharif was discharged from the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) in Lahore and shifted to his residence -- Jati Umra -- on Wednesday. The 69-year-old leader was admitted to the SIMS on October 22 after his health conditions deteriorated drastically due to "critically" low platelet count. An Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has been set up at Sharif`s residence and the doctors have put a ban on the people visiting him, Marriyum Aurangzeb, spokesperson of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said in a statement. Adding that there were chances that an infection might develop due to low platelet counts, Aurangzeb said the doctors had suggested the setting up of a special medical unit at Sharif`s residence."The unit was set up under the supervision of Sharif`s personal physician Dr Adnan Khan and the doctors will be present in the ICU round the clock," she added. While being shifted to his residence from the hospital, Sharif was accompanied by his mother, daughter Maryam Nawaz and other family members. On October 29, Sharif was granted bail by the Islamabad High Court on medical grounds in connection with Al Azizia and Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption cases. The ailing Pakistani leader was serving a seven-year imprisonment in the Al-Azizia case in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. Besides this, he was remanded to the NAB custody in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case.

Nawaz Sharif being given Polonium to die a slow death like Yasser Arafat: Altaf Hussain

Pakistani politician and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has said that the revocation of Article 370 is absolutely an internal matter of India.

Hussain welcomed India’s move to scrap Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and said that Government of India took this decision with the overwhelming support of the people of India.&nbsp;

In a video released on Saturday from London where Hussain is living in exile, he said that Pakistan misuses Kashmiris and drives them to a corner where they have no choice except to hoist Pakistani flag and chant slogans for making J&amp;K party of Pakistan.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> London: Founder of Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, Altaf Hussain sings 'Saare jahan se acha Hindustan hamara.' <a href="https://t.co/4IQKYnJjfB">pic.twitter.com/4IQKYnJjfB</a>
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"Pakistan invaded Jammu and Kashmir and for that purpose used people of the tribal belt of Pakistan, arming them to attack and free J&amp;K. Following this, the Maharaja of J&amp;K approached India for help, consenting to merge the princely state with India. Pakistan fought four wars with India over the region but faced a humiliating defeat in all those four fights. Pakistan had not stopped conspiring against India and continued to infiltrate Indian territory with armed non-state actors in form of Jihadists," Hussain said.

Highlighting the plight of minorities in Pakistan, he said, “Pakistan’s military butchered unarmed and defenceless innocent Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Hazarwalls, Gilgitis.”

Pakistani politician and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has said that the revocation of Article 370 is absolutely an internal matter of India.

Pakistani politician and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has said that the revocation of Article 370 is absolutely an internal matter of India. Hussain welcomed India’s move to scrap Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and said that Government of India took this decision with the overwhelming support of the people of India. In a video released on Saturday from London where Hussain is living in exile, he said that Pakistan misuses Kashmiris and drives them to a corner where they have no choice except to hoist Pakistani flag and chant slogans for making J&K party of Pakistan. #WATCH London: Founder of Pakistan’s Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, Altaf Hussain sings 'Saare jahan se acha Hindustan hamara.' pic.twitter.com/4IQKYnJjfB — ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2019 × "Pakistan invaded Jammu and Kashmir and for that purpose used people of the tribal belt of Pakistan, arming them to attack and free J&K. Following this, the Maharaja of J&K approached India for help, consenting to merge the princely state with India. Pakistan fought four wars with India over the region but faced a humiliating defeat in all those four fights. Pakistan had not stopped conspiring against India and continued to infiltrate Indian territory with armed non-state actors in form of Jihadists," Hussain said. Highlighting the plight of minorities in Pakistan, he said, “Pakistan’s military butchered unarmed and defenceless innocent Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Hazarwalls, Gilgitis.”

Watch: Pakistani politician and MQM founder Altaf Hussain sings ‘Saare jahan se achha Hindustan humara’, terms Article 370 internal matter of India

The Central Coordination Committee (CCC) of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has said that Pakistan is committing atrocities in Karachi and other cities of Sindh province<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/article-370-responsible-for-corruption-poverty-underdevelopment-in-jammu-and-kashmir-amit-shah-240865">.</a>

The institutions in Pakistan are subjecting innocent Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns, Sindhis and other oppressed people in the country to "vehement torture and agony" and the scale of such atrocities is "enormous".

These atrocities in Karachi and other cities are being inflicted by the 'demonic military' and paramilitary troops in Pakistan, it said on Saturday.

These views were expressed by CCC deputy convener Qasim Ali Raza and committee members Mustafa Azizabadi, Manzoor Ahmed and Arshad Hussain.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/mqm-leader-hussain-calls-for-self-determination-for-mohajirs-under-un-charter-194881">Raza said Pakistan's "ghoulish" military </a>has butchered thousands of innocent Mohajirs in the garb of the crackdown against the criminals and many have been kidnapped from their houses and their whereabouts are not known.

Noting that no state institution in Pakistan is ready to listen to Mohajirs and others, Raza said, "The MQM could also seek assistance from the democracies of the world against the injustices, atrocities and genocide of the Mohajirs."

It might also be possible that the oppressed people would launch a united freedom movement under one platform, he opined.

He repeated the MQM's demand that Pakistan military should now stop inflicting atrocities on Mohajirs and others and should work within the constitutional ambit.

Raza accused Pakistan's military and civilian leaders with having played with the fate and future of Kashmir.

He said, "MQM's founder and leader (Altaf Hussain) is even today saying that he believes in a peaceful and unarmed struggle for the rights usurped by the military. (But) enough is enough and Mohajirs and the other oppressed are now free to decide whether they would like to continue with peaceful means or choose to resists the tyrant military of Pakistan."

"So with what face it (Pakistan) accuses India of atrocities in Kashmir?" he asked.

Arshad Hussain said, "The so-called brave Pakistan military is yelling out with full force about Kashmir but at the same time, it is inflicting colossal atrocities on Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns and the other oppressed in Pakistan."

He said, "The gallantry of the so-called brave Pakistan military is limited to sealing the MQM's headquarters, Nine Zero in Azizabad. The military should bear in mind that they could not suppress the Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns and others for a longer time."

Manzoor Ahmed said Pakistan always does advocacy for Jammu and Kashmir.On the other hand, Pakistan used force and occupied the state of Kalat (in Balochistan), which, in fact, was not willing to merge with Pakistan, he added.

In 1992, a military crackdown was launched against the Mohajirs in Karachi.&nbsp;

The MQM said this is still in full swing and thousands have been extrajudicially executed and many disappeared.

In 1996, the government of Benazir Bhutto was dismissed on charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings of the Mohajirs but not a single person among those involved in those massacres was ever tried or taken to task.&nbsp;

MQM men are targeted and killed extrajudicially in Karachi, it added.

The Central Coordination Committee (CCC) of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has said that Pakistan is committing atrocities in Karachi and other cities of Sindh province.

The Central Coordination Committee (CCC) of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has said that Pakistan is committing atrocities in Karachi and other cities of Sindh province. The institutions in Pakistan are subjecting innocent Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns, Sindhis and other oppressed people in the country to "vehement torture and agony" and the scale of such atrocities is "enormous". These atrocities in Karachi and other cities are being inflicted by the 'demonic military' and paramilitary troops in Pakistan, it said on Saturday. These views were expressed by CCC deputy convener Qasim Ali Raza and committee members Mustafa Azizabadi, Manzoor Ahmed and Arshad Hussain. Raza said Pakistan's "ghoulish" military has butchered thousands of innocent Mohajirs in the garb of the crackdown against the criminals and many have been kidnapped from their houses and their whereabouts are not known. Noting that no state institution in Pakistan is ready to listen to Mohajirs and others, Raza said, "The MQM could also seek assistance from the democracies of the world against the injustices, atrocities and genocide of the Mohajirs." It might also be possible that the oppressed people would launch a united freedom movement under one platform, he opined. He repeated the MQM's demand that Pakistan military should now stop inflicting atrocities on Mohajirs and others and should work within the constitutional ambit. Raza accused Pakistan's military and civilian leaders with having played with the fate and future of Kashmir. He said, "MQM's founder and leader (Altaf Hussain) is even today saying that he believes in a peaceful and unarmed struggle for the rights usurped by the military. (But) enough is enough and Mohajirs and the other oppressed are now free to decide whether they would like to continue with peaceful means or choose to resists the tyrant military of Pakistan." "So with what face it (Pakistan) accuses India of atrocities in Kashmir?" he asked. Arshad Hussain said, "The so-called brave Pakistan military is yelling out with full force about Kashmir but at the same time, it is inflicting colossal atrocities on Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns and the other oppressed in Pakistan." He said, "The gallantry of the so-called brave Pakistan military is limited to sealing the MQM's headquarters, Nine Zero in Azizabad. The military should bear in mind that they could not suppress the Mohajirs, Balochs, Pashtuns and others for a longer time." Manzoor Ahmed said Pakistan always does advocacy for Jammu and Kashmir.On the other hand, Pakistan used force and occupied the state of Kalat (in Balochistan), which, in fact, was not willing to merge with Pakistan, he added. In 1992, a military crackdown was launched against the Mohajirs in Karachi. The MQM said this is still in full swing and thousands have been extrajudicially executed and many disappeared. In 1996, the government of Benazir Bhutto was dismissed on charges of corruption and extrajudicial killings of the Mohajirs but not a single person among those involved in those massacres was ever tried or taken to task. MQM men are targeted and killed extrajudicially in Karachi, it added.

Pakistan's 'ghoulish' military butchered thousands of innocent Mohajirs: MQM

Altaf Hussain, the exiled leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of Pakistan's biggest political parties, was arrested on Tuesday by Scotland Yard in London over a hate speech in 2016 in which he asked his followers to take the law into their own hands.&nbsp;

The Metropolitan Police would only confirm that a man in his 60s had been held in an investigation into speeches related to his MQM party.

The MQM has dominated politics in Karachi for three decades because of its support in the densely populated working class neighbourhoods of Urdu-speaking Muhajirs, descendants of Muslims who migrated from India when Pakistan was created in 1947.

Hussain, 65, requested asylum in the 1990s and later gained UK citizenship. 
But he maintains a firm grip over the MQM and its main power base, the financial capital of Karachi.

Hussain was arrested Tuesday morning and taken to a south London police station. Fifteen officers took part in a dawn raid at his north London home, Geo News reported.

Altaf Hussain has been arrested in relation to the hate speech of 2016 in which he had urged his followers to take the law into their own hands, it said.&nbsp;

His arrest was confirmed to the BBC Urdu service by his spokesman, Qasim Raza.

The police statement does not name Hussain, referring instead to "an individual associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Pakistan".

He was arrested at an "address in north-west London... On suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting offences contrary to Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007", the statement said, adding that the man remains in custody.

Two premises are being searched, in an investigation led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.

It focuses on "a speech broadcast in August 2016 by an individual associated with the MQM movement in Pakistan as well as other speeches previously broadcast by the same person".&nbsp;

Altaf Hussain, the exiled leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of Pakistan's biggest political parties, was arrested on Tuesday by Scotland Yard in London over a hate speech in 2016 in which he asked his followers to take the law into their own hands.

Altaf Hussain, the exiled leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of Pakistan's biggest political parties, was arrested on Tuesday by Scotland Yard in London over a hate speech in 2016 in which he asked his followers to take the law into their own hands. The Metropolitan Police would only confirm that a man in his 60s had been held in an investigation into speeches related to his MQM party. The MQM has dominated politics in Karachi for three decades because of its support in the densely populated working class neighbourhoods of Urdu-speaking Muhajirs, descendants of Muslims who migrated from India when Pakistan was created in 1947. Hussain, 65, requested asylum in the 1990s and later gained UK citizenship. But he maintains a firm grip over the MQM and its main power base, the financial capital of Karachi. Hussain was arrested Tuesday morning and taken to a south London police station. Fifteen officers took part in a dawn raid at his north London home, Geo News reported. Altaf Hussain has been arrested in relation to the hate speech of 2016 in which he had urged his followers to take the law into their own hands, it said. His arrest was confirmed to the BBC Urdu service by his spokesman, Qasim Raza. The police statement does not name Hussain, referring instead to "an individual associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in Pakistan". He was arrested at an "address in north-west London... On suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting offences contrary to Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007", the statement said, adding that the man remains in custody. Two premises are being searched, in an investigation led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. It focuses on "a speech broadcast in August 2016 by an individual associated with the MQM movement in Pakistan as well as other speeches previously broadcast by the same person".

MQM founder Altaf Hussain arrested in London over 2016 hate speech

In a significant development, the leader of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement or MQM, Altaf Hussain, has called for self-determination for the Mohajir people - virtually signalling a plan to break away from Pakistan.

The MQM said that Pakistan's Military repressive actions date back to decades and the non-Punjabi nations like Baloch, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Kashmiris, settled in different provinces of the country, are forced to live like slaves and have been facing genocide. The organisation further said that these nations have been completely irked and now want freedom from Punjabi establishment's repressive dominance.

The political faction also said that the Mohajirs, in particular, are fully repressed, being restricted from involvement in politics and welfare acts. They allege that both MQM, their representative party, and Hussain, their leader, are being placed under an embargo.

The MQM's founder has now demanded the right for the self-determination in Pakistan under the aegis of the UN.

He has also invited other oppressed "nations", like the Pashtun, the Baloch and others to join him in the demand for the right of self-determination. Hussain outlined that he is not eager to lead the movement, stating that anybody from the "oppressed nations" could choose to be the leader of the movement for self-determination.

He further called on countries like the UK, USA, France, Australia, Germany and others to cease giving aid to Pakistan because it provides sanctuary to terrorism.

In his special message to the international community, Hussain said, "I appeal to the United Nations Secretary-General, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and all renowned Human Rights Organisations worldwide to take heed of my words."

He said he would like to draw their attention to the draconian measures being carried out against the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs living in Pakistan, the "humiliation being carried out by the Pakistan Army, ISI, Rangers, Police and civil-dressed officers during the illegal raids and abductions tantamount to criminal offence". "The inhumane torture being inflicted upon the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs, and then ultimately subjecting them to enforced disappearances, their family members, including their women, young children and the elderly are not even spared by the brutal forces of Pakistan," he added.

"This outdated measure of draconian torture, illegal raids, arbitrary detentions, are all carried out by the ruthless deep state. No respect is afforded to the families or victims, every member of the family is targeted without due legal process, no legal warrant or permission from any judicial authority is produced before they carry out these illegal actions," he said.

Hussain also mentioned that once abducted, the families do not even know if their loved ones are alive or dead. No authority co-operates with them and bodies are found in the suburban areas where they are killed and dumped. The bodies bear marks of inhumane suffering and the affected families fear every day that one of the bodies dumped so could be of their loved one, according to him.

Since 2013, over 15,000 Mohajir, Pashtun and Baloch office-bearers, workers and sympathisers have been the subject of enforced disappearances and sadly, none as yet has been held accountable for these abductions, Hussain stated.

He put forth that this is a blatant violation of human rights. "Pakistan is besieged by the Pakistani Army, ISI, Rangers and Police and this country has lost control and is currently in the phase of an undeclared martial law, where freedom of expression, freedom of speech or freedom to associate themselves to any political party of their choice is infringed upon," the MQM leader remarked.

He said that if a journalist expresses his concern over these violations and dares to cover the story, he will have only two options - either he will be told by the deep state to stop or his body will be found in a suburban area.

He requested all democratic countries, which provide assistance, and have afforded Pakistan a GSP+ status in the form of preferential support, to halt all funds until they send their representatives to enquire into these gross violations of human rights against the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs and approach those innocent civilians who have been the subject of these violations and their lives have been destroyed, and hold Pakistan accountable to their commitment to ensure that human rights are not violated.

He said, "I want to mention a few prime examples of the illegal abductions carried out by the deep state, a progressive, leader Momin Khan Momin, whose plight has been raised by Amnesty International."

He highlighted that Khan is frail and is undergoing cancer treatment. He was abducted with his son in the early hours of 31st January at 4 a.m., In this context, look at the tweets of South Asia Amnesty representative Rabia Mehmood. His only crime was his affiliation with the MQM, Hussain opined.

Furthermore, in 2018, Hassan Zafar Arif, a PhD from Harvard University was abducted and taken to the torture chamber of the ISI and Army, Hussian said. He was murdered due to the torture in custody; his body was dumped in the suburban areas of Karachi. Similarly, Naqeeb Allah Mehsud and three of his colleagues were abducted by the militaries henchmen Rao Anwar. He was brutally murdered. Conversely, Syed Ali Raza Abidi, who was MQM designee, was murdered on Christmas Eve 2018, Hussain put forth.

He said that he could not explain in detail, but if the democratic countries of the world might send their rapporteurs, they can enquire with the women of the Mohajir community about how their chastity and respect was desecrated by the Army. The Deep State has started the same illegal acts it carried out against the Bengalis in 1970, he remarked.

He said that he has faith and hope, that as democratic countries they will raise the voice of those going unheard or else the failure will result in annihilation. He also requested on an 'SOS basis' to intervene and help the helpless Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs.

Mohajirs have no choice but to seek the assistance of the international community, and demand that a UN referendum be held in the urban areas of Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and let the people decide if they want to live under the occupation of Pakistan's demonic army and deep state or not, Hussian outlined.

"They have suffered from the genocidal actions of the ghoulish Pakistan army since past 71 years and they now want to live free from danger and that they want a right to self-determination. The UN should take immediate action on the appeals of millions of Mohajirs, Balochs and Pashtuns to fulfil this justified demand as mentioned in the UN charter," Hussain appealed.

He further slammed the ones posing as MQM in Pakistan, putting forth that they were supported by the ISI. "I want to bring to your attention that those in Pakistan using the title of MQM are traitors of the nation. These traitors, who are being supported by the ISI, they are the puppets of the Pakistan army and Deep State," Hussain noted

There is only one MQM and that is the one founded by him in 1978 as APMSO as a student wing, then progressed to the Mohajir Qaumi Movement and then subsequently to the Muttahidda Qaumi Movement, Hussain said.

He also added that his family home and nearby offices have been illegally sealed by the Army and Deep State and at least 22,000 Mohajirs have been extra-judicially killed through brutal draconian style torture techniques.

He said that during raids it has become a normal practice of the day to treat the elderly and women disgracefully, not only beat them but desecrate their private life, it is a common routine to abuse and molest women.

In this situation, when the constitution of Pakistan and Judiciary are not providing any protection to the Mohajirs, what option they have other than to approach the United Nations to seek their right to self-determination, he asked.

He also condemned the discrimination being faced by the Baloch and Pashtuns, who are subjected to enforced disappearances. Similarly, thousands of Balochs have been killed extra-judicially and hundreds of Baloch girls are kidnapped and taken to the military cantonment and then raped, he revealed. In order to save their lives, the Balouch need to raise their voice to seek their right to self-determination. If they would fail to do so, it will only result in further deaths, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, he put forth.

He also appealed to the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leaders and those genuine leaders to get united and raise their voice collectively to stop the ongoing genocide of the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs and raise their voice at the United Nations.

In a significant development, the leader of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement or MQM, Altaf Hussain, has called for self-determination for the Mohajir people - virtually signalling a plan to break away from Pakistan.

In a significant development, the leader of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement or MQM, Altaf Hussain, has called for self-determination for the Mohajir people - virtually signalling a plan to break away from Pakistan. The MQM said that Pakistan's Military repressive actions date back to decades and the non-Punjabi nations like Baloch, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Kashmiris, settled in different provinces of the country, are forced to live like slaves and have been facing genocide. The organisation further said that these nations have been completely irked and now want freedom from Punjabi establishment's repressive dominance. The political faction also said that the Mohajirs, in particular, are fully repressed, being restricted from involvement in politics and welfare acts. They allege that both MQM, their representative party, and Hussain, their leader, are being placed under an embargo. The MQM's founder has now demanded the right for the self-determination in Pakistan under the aegis of the UN. He has also invited other oppressed "nations", like the Pashtun, the Baloch and others to join him in the demand for the right of self-determination. Hussain outlined that he is not eager to lead the movement, stating that anybody from the "oppressed nations" could choose to be the leader of the movement for self-determination. He further called on countries like the UK, USA, France, Australia, Germany and others to cease giving aid to Pakistan because it provides sanctuary to terrorism. In his special message to the international community, Hussain said, "I appeal to the United Nations Secretary-General, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and all renowned Human Rights Organisations worldwide to take heed of my words." He said he would like to draw their attention to the draconian measures being carried out against the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs living in Pakistan, the "humiliation being carried out by the Pakistan Army, ISI, Rangers, Police and civil-dressed officers during the illegal raids and abductions tantamount to criminal offence". "The inhumane torture being inflicted upon the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs, and then ultimately subjecting them to enforced disappearances, their family members, including their women, young children and the elderly are not even spared by the brutal forces of Pakistan," he added. "This outdated measure of draconian torture, illegal raids, arbitrary detentions, are all carried out by the ruthless deep state. No respect is afforded to the families or victims, every member of the family is targeted without due legal process, no legal warrant or permission from any judicial authority is produced before they carry out these illegal actions," he said. Hussain also mentioned that once abducted, the families do not even know if their loved ones are alive or dead. No authority co-operates with them and bodies are found in the suburban areas where they are killed and dumped. The bodies bear marks of inhumane suffering and the affected families fear every day that one of the bodies dumped so could be of their loved one, according to him. Since 2013, over 15,000 Mohajir, Pashtun and Baloch office-bearers, workers and sympathisers have been the subject of enforced disappearances and sadly, none as yet has been held accountable for these abductions, Hussain stated. He put forth that this is a blatant violation of human rights. "Pakistan is besieged by the Pakistani Army, ISI, Rangers and Police and this country has lost control and is currently in the phase of an undeclared martial law, where freedom of expression, freedom of speech or freedom to associate themselves to any political party of their choice is infringed upon," the MQM leader remarked. He said that if a journalist expresses his concern over these violations and dares to cover the story, he will have only two options - either he will be told by the deep state to stop or his body will be found in a suburban area. He requested all democratic countries, which provide assistance, and have afforded Pakistan a GSP+ status in the form of preferential support, to halt all funds until they send their representatives to enquire into these gross violations of human rights against the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs and approach those innocent civilians who have been the subject of these violations and their lives have been destroyed, and hold Pakistan accountable to their commitment to ensure that human rights are not violated. He said, "I want to mention a few prime examples of the illegal abductions carried out by the deep state, a progressive, leader Momin Khan Momin, whose plight has been raised by Amnesty International." He highlighted that Khan is frail and is undergoing cancer treatment. He was abducted with his son in the early hours of 31st January at 4 a.m., In this context, look at the tweets of South Asia Amnesty representative Rabia Mehmood. His only crime was his affiliation with the MQM, Hussain opined. Furthermore, in 2018, Hassan Zafar Arif, a PhD from Harvard University was abducted and taken to the torture chamber of the ISI and Army, Hussian said. He was murdered due to the torture in custody; his body was dumped in the suburban areas of Karachi. Similarly, Naqeeb Allah Mehsud and three of his colleagues were abducted by the militaries henchmen Rao Anwar. He was brutally murdered. Conversely, Syed Ali Raza Abidi, who was MQM designee, was murdered on Christmas Eve 2018, Hussain put forth. He said that he could not explain in detail, but if the democratic countries of the world might send their rapporteurs, they can enquire with the women of the Mohajir community about how their chastity and respect was desecrated by the Army. The Deep State has started the same illegal acts it carried out against the Bengalis in 1970, he remarked. He said that he has faith and hope, that as democratic countries they will raise the voice of those going unheard or else the failure will result in annihilation. He also requested on an 'SOS basis' to intervene and help the helpless Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs. Mohajirs have no choice but to seek the assistance of the international community, and demand that a UN referendum be held in the urban areas of Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and let the people decide if they want to live under the occupation of Pakistan's demonic army and deep state or not, Hussian outlined. "They have suffered from the genocidal actions of the ghoulish Pakistan army since past 71 years and they now want to live free from danger and that they want a right to self-determination. The UN should take immediate action on the appeals of millions of Mohajirs, Balochs and Pashtuns to fulfil this justified demand as mentioned in the UN charter," Hussain appealed. He further slammed the ones posing as MQM in Pakistan, putting forth that they were supported by the ISI. "I want to bring to your attention that those in Pakistan using the title of MQM are traitors of the nation. These traitors, who are being supported by the ISI, they are the puppets of the Pakistan army and Deep State," Hussain noted There is only one MQM and that is the one founded by him in 1978 as APMSO as a student wing, then progressed to the Mohajir Qaumi Movement and then subsequently to the Muttahidda Qaumi Movement, Hussain said. He also added that his family home and nearby offices have been illegally sealed by the Army and Deep State and at least 22,000 Mohajirs have been extra-judicially killed through brutal draconian style torture techniques. He said that during raids it has become a normal practice of the day to treat the elderly and women disgracefully, not only beat them but desecrate their private life, it is a common routine to abuse and molest women. In this situation, when the constitution of Pakistan and Judiciary are not providing any protection to the Mohajirs, what option they have other than to approach the United Nations to seek their right to self-determination, he asked. He also condemned the discrimination being faced by the Baloch and Pashtuns, who are subjected to enforced disappearances. Similarly, thousands of Balochs have been killed extra-judicially and hundreds of Baloch girls are kidnapped and taken to the military cantonment and then raped, he revealed. In order to save their lives, the Balouch need to raise their voice to seek their right to self-determination. If they would fail to do so, it will only result in further deaths, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, he put forth. He also appealed to the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leaders and those genuine leaders to get united and raise their voice collectively to stop the ongoing genocide of the Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Balochs and raise their voice at the United Nations.

MQM leader Hussain calls for self-determination for Mohajirs under UN charter

A US-based group representing expatriate Mohajirs Tuesday demanded creation of an autonomous "Greater Karachi" within Pakistan.

"Today on civil rights legend Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day, the Voice of Karachi formally demands the State of Pakistan to declare the urban areas of Sindh province as an autonomous region within the boundaries of Pakistan. We have unanimously decided to call this region Greater Karachi," Voice of Karachi chairman Nadeem Nusrat said at a news conference here.

Once a close aide of Mohajir leader Altaf Hussain, Washington DC-based Nusrat founded the Voice of Karachi a year ago.

Nusrat, who is living in self-exile in the US, said members and leaders of his organisation arrived at this conclusion after extensive research and deliberation.&nbsp;

"This solution, we believe, will adequately resolve urban Sindh's civic, economic and political issues and will also act as a role model to resolve similar situations in Pakistan's other regions," he said at a news conference, which was also addressed by former Congressman Tom Garett, who is now an advisor to the Voice of Karachi.

Citing the example of the Balkan region and autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, Nusrat asserted that Karachi, with an estimated population of 25 million, deserves a similar status.

"Since the creation of Pakistan, the province of Sindh has never had an elected Mohajir chief minister despite the presence of majority Mohajir population in Sindh," he rued.

Supporting Greater Karachi as an autonomous region, Garrett said declaring urban areas of Sindh as an autonomous region within the boundaries of Pakistan is not a strange phenomenon.&nbsp;

"Pakistan hurts itself by hurting its minority community in Karachi," he said.

"What Voice of Karachi has done here tonight is to submit that they want to be full and complete participants in the governing of the lands where they are majority, not to the detriment of a greater Pakistan, but to the benefit of all. That's not radical. That's just right," Garrett said.

The term Mohajir is used to describe the Urdu-speaking immigrants who left India in 1947 and came to Pakistan. A large chunk of them settled in the Sindh province.&nbsp;

A US-based group representing expatriate Mohajirs Tuesday demanded creation of an autonomous "Greater Karachi" within Pakistan. "Today on civil rights legend Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day, the Voice of Karachi formally demands the State of Pakistan to declare the urban areas of Sindh province as an autonomous region within the boundaries of Pakistan.

A US-based group representing expatriate Mohajirs Tuesday demanded creation of an autonomous "Greater Karachi" within Pakistan. "Today on civil rights legend Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day, the Voice of Karachi formally demands the State of Pakistan to declare the urban areas of Sindh province as an autonomous region within the boundaries of Pakistan. We have unanimously decided to call this region Greater Karachi," Voice of Karachi chairman Nadeem Nusrat said at a news conference here. Once a close aide of Mohajir leader Altaf Hussain, Washington DC-based Nusrat founded the Voice of Karachi a year ago. Nusrat, who is living in self-exile in the US, said members and leaders of his organisation arrived at this conclusion after extensive research and deliberation. "This solution, we believe, will adequately resolve urban Sindh's civic, economic and political issues and will also act as a role model to resolve similar situations in Pakistan's other regions," he said at a news conference, which was also addressed by former Congressman Tom Garett, who is now an advisor to the Voice of Karachi. Citing the example of the Balkan region and autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, Nusrat asserted that Karachi, with an estimated population of 25 million, deserves a similar status. "Since the creation of Pakistan, the province of Sindh has never had an elected Mohajir chief minister despite the presence of majority Mohajir population in Sindh," he rued. Supporting Greater Karachi as an autonomous region, Garrett said declaring urban areas of Sindh as an autonomous region within the boundaries of Pakistan is not a strange phenomenon. "Pakistan hurts itself by hurting its minority community in Karachi," he said. "What Voice of Karachi has done here tonight is to submit that they want to be full and complete participants in the governing of the lands where they are majority, not to the detriment of a greater Pakistan, but to the benefit of all. That's not radical. That's just right," Garrett said. The term Mohajir is used to describe the Urdu-speaking immigrants who left India in 1947 and came to Pakistan. A large chunk of them settled in the Sindh province.

Expatriate Mohajirs demand creation of 'Greater Karachi' as autonomous region within Pakistan

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination Committee has slammed Pakistan's federal information Minister Fawwad Chaudhry for levelling "false and baseless" allegations against MQM founder leader Altaf Hussain in connection with former Member of Pakistan National Assembly and Mohajir political leader <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-former-mqm-p-leader-ali-raza-abidi-assassinated-186489">Syed Ali Raza Abidi's assassination</a>.

The committee said that the allegation is part of maligning tactic since the day, the MQM was founded and military of Pakistan started using all means to crush and eliminate the MQM.

It also noted that it is a routine of the military of Pakistan to replay any of their previous acts in form of heinous crime and then malign the MQM while portraying it as wrongdoer.

Asserting that the military of Pakistan has been playing such notorious games with an aim of eliminating the MQM, the committee stated that the former has always been defeated in their schemes and would fail and stand defeated in future.

The committee said that the military of Pakistan has once again renewed their notorious agenda of maligning the MQM by choosing Abidi and assassinating him.

It further claimed that under the criminalisation policy of the military of Pakistan, the government and the controlled media have launched a malicious propaganda against the MQM and its founder leader.

The committee went on to say that, military-controlled Pakistani TV channels, their show presenters and city police have all been directed by the military establishment to launch unending propaganda so that the common people should start believing that MQM was responsible for Abidi`s assassination.

It further said that MQM workers in jails are now being placed under miserable situations so that the establishment could obtain the desired results.

The committee said that a local Pakistan TV channel had tried to surpass all contemporary TV channels in Pakistan by holding MQM responsible for Abidi's assassination, the crime the military establishment had committed.

It also said Police or Paramilitary rangers check posts are placed around every street regularly and that immense patrolling is always done round the clock but on the day of Abidi`s assassination, Police and Rangers had disappeared from the scene and hence the killers easily chased Abidi, reached his residence and fearlessly shot him dead and easily fled the crime scene.

Syed Akhlaque Raza Abidi, father of slain Abidi has earlier stated in a tweet that all the Police and Rangers deployed near Abidi`s residence disappeared before his assassination.

The committee said that it was no secret that Abidi was, under the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, trying hard to expose the military establishment of Pakistan, which was unacceptable for the military establishment and lastly he paid the price in form of his cold-blooded murder.

It also underscored that Abidi had become quite active and used to vocally support the MQM founder leader.

"He had openly advocated for the real MQM under the dynamic leadership of Altaf Hussain. It is no more a secret that taking name of Altaf Hussain, praising him, advocating him has been made an unpardonable crime in Pakistan by the ghoulish military of Pakistan, which has also restricted the controlled media to carry his name, statement or picture," the committee said.

It further highlighted that Hassan Zafar Arif, a historian, academician, philosopher and MQM's senior designee was kidnapped by ISI and extrajudicially murdered in custody only because he advocated Hussain Abidi.

The committee said that Hussain has been raising his voice in support of oppressed Mohajirs, Balochs and Pashtuns and exposing the demonic military of Pakistan and that is why the military is spitting venom in form of massacre and selective killings of MQM leaders and designees.

It also asserted that MQM founder leader is a perfect law abiding citizen of the United Kingdom and has never violated the country's laws.

It added that the fresh wave of allegations is nothing but a sheer maligning tactic so that the corrupt military could attain the desired goals of crushing the MQM.

The committee said that the military, the government and the controlled media have joined hands together to malign the MQM under the criminalisation policy of the ghoulish military of Pakistan and in this context, they have also invented a 'South African Network of MQM'.

It stated that almost every worker of the Movement they arrest or kill extrajudicially is showed a member of this South African Unit under criminalisation policy of the military, which is false and bogus.

The committee stated that an independent investigation commission can easily expose the ghoulish military while underlining that the military is preparing a deadliest crackdown in Karachi and hence is gearing up the pace of maligning the MQM and Mohajirs.

It asked the paramilitary Rangers to prove their efficacy in controlling the crimes in the city while stating the crime rate has been increased in Karachi during past thirty years since the paramilitary Rangers took over the city and barricaded the entire city by establishing Rangers headquarters in nook and cranny.

Stating that it is the government's sole responsibility to protect every single citizen, the committee demanded that the state of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan should ensure complete safety of every citizen.

It also asked the military establishment to have mercy on people of Pakistan and stop bringing more devastation to the country through their nefarious agendas.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination Committee has slammed Pakistan's federal information Minister Fawwad Chaudhry for levelling "false and baseless" allegations against MQM founder leader Altaf Hussain in connection with former Member of Pakistan National Assembly and Mohajir political leader Syed Ali Raza Abidi's assassination.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination Committee has slammed Pakistan's federal information Minister Fawwad Chaudhry for levelling "false and baseless" allegations against MQM founder leader Altaf Hussain in connection with former Member of Pakistan National Assembly and Mohajir political leader Syed Ali Raza Abidi's assassination. The committee said that the allegation is part of maligning tactic since the day, the MQM was founded and military of Pakistan started using all means to crush and eliminate the MQM. It also noted that it is a routine of the military of Pakistan to replay any of their previous acts in form of heinous crime and then malign the MQM while portraying it as wrongdoer. Asserting that the military of Pakistan has been playing such notorious games with an aim of eliminating the MQM, the committee stated that the former has always been defeated in their schemes and would fail and stand defeated in future. The committee said that the military of Pakistan has once again renewed their notorious agenda of maligning the MQM by choosing Abidi and assassinating him. It further claimed that under the criminalisation policy of the military of Pakistan, the government and the controlled media have launched a malicious propaganda against the MQM and its founder leader. The committee went on to say that, military-controlled Pakistani TV channels, their show presenters and city police have all been directed by the military establishment to launch unending propaganda so that the common people should start believing that MQM was responsible for Abidi`s assassination. It further said that MQM workers in jails are now being placed under miserable situations so that the establishment could obtain the desired results. The committee said that a local Pakistan TV channel had tried to surpass all contemporary TV channels in Pakistan by holding MQM responsible for Abidi's assassination, the crime the military establishment had committed. It also said Police or Paramilitary rangers check posts are placed around every street regularly and that immense patrolling is always done round the clock but on the day of Abidi`s assassination, Police and Rangers had disappeared from the scene and hence the killers easily chased Abidi, reached his residence and fearlessly shot him dead and easily fled the crime scene. Syed Akhlaque Raza Abidi, father of slain Abidi has earlier stated in a tweet that all the Police and Rangers deployed near Abidi`s residence disappeared before his assassination. The committee said that it was no secret that Abidi was, under the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, trying hard to expose the military establishment of Pakistan, which was unacceptable for the military establishment and lastly he paid the price in form of his cold-blooded murder. It also underscored that Abidi had become quite active and used to vocally support the MQM founder leader. "He had openly advocated for the real MQM under the dynamic leadership of Altaf Hussain. It is no more a secret that taking name of Altaf Hussain, praising him, advocating him has been made an unpardonable crime in Pakistan by the ghoulish military of Pakistan, which has also restricted the controlled media to carry his name, statement or picture," the committee said. It further highlighted that Hassan Zafar Arif, a historian, academician, philosopher and MQM's senior designee was kidnapped by ISI and extrajudicially murdered in custody only because he advocated Hussain Abidi. The committee said that Hussain has been raising his voice in support of oppressed Mohajirs, Balochs and Pashtuns and exposing the demonic military of Pakistan and that is why the military is spitting venom in form of massacre and selective killings of MQM leaders and designees. It also asserted that MQM founder leader is a perfect law abiding citizen of the United Kingdom and has never violated the country's laws. It added that the fresh wave of allegations is nothing but a sheer maligning tactic so that the corrupt military could attain the desired goals of crushing the MQM. The committee said that the military, the government and the controlled media have joined hands together to malign the MQM under the criminalisation policy of the ghoulish military of Pakistan and in this context, they have also invented a 'South African Network of MQM'. It stated that almost every worker of the Movement they arrest or kill extrajudicially is showed a member of this South African Unit under criminalisation policy of the military, which is false and bogus. The committee stated that an independent investigation commission can easily expose the ghoulish military while underlining that the military is preparing a deadliest crackdown in Karachi and hence is gearing up the pace of maligning the MQM and Mohajirs. It asked the paramilitary Rangers to prove their efficacy in controlling the crimes in the city while stating the crime rate has been increased in Karachi during past thirty years since the paramilitary Rangers took over the city and barricaded the entire city by establishing Rangers headquarters in nook and cranny. Stating that it is the government's sole responsibility to protect every single citizen, the committee demanded that the state of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan should ensure complete safety of every citizen. It also asked the military establishment to have mercy on people of Pakistan and stop bringing more devastation to the country through their nefarious agendas.

Pakistan: MQM rejects allegations against Altaf Hussain

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder and exiled leader Altaf Hussain on Saturday announced his resolution to boycott the upcoming 2018 Pakistan General Elections, scheduled to be held on July 25, citing incidents of injustice meted out to the party workers at the hands of the Pakistan Army.

This came after the MQM on Friday announced a conditional boycott of the elections and the application for the same was forwarded to Hussain.

With the announcement of boycott, Hussain also appealed to the Mohajirs and MQM workers to stay at home on the day of polling and not be a part of the election proceedings.

Hussain made this announcement in an address from London. He cited incidents of various state-sponsored injustices like arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial killings of Mohajirs and MQM workers, the embargo against him, and closure of his party headquarters Nine Zero in Karachi as the reasons behind his decision.

He also mentioned that the party offices that have not been destroyed were occupied by the Pakistani military establishment, and in an attempt to eliminate the movement, thousands of MQM workers have been arrested and given life imprisonment.

While accusing the Pakistani military of suppressing the rights of the minority groups including Balochs, Pashtoons, and Mohajirs, Hussain said "MQM on participating in the country`s politics also accounts for the boycott as when the movement is allowed to do politics in Pakistan then how would it be possible for them to appoint candidates."

He also accused the army of assassinating Pakistan`s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah and conducting atrocities on the women, as he said, "More than 250 women factory workers were kidnapped and had not been returned back to their families.

"Instead of repeated requests put forward by the Mohajirs to look into the incidents of disappearances of women, the Pakistani government, police, media, and the military remained silent on the issue, as claimed by Hussain.

Further, Hussain blamed former Pakistan`s military chief Ayub Khan for sending troops to kill numerous unarmed and innocent Mohajirs, and to rape women.

He then took on the government of former Pakistani president late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for massacring Mohajirs and imposing biased quota system to suppress the minority and support the Sindhi community.

For the time being, Pakistan is governed by an interim government headed by former Pakistan Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder and exiled leader Altaf Hussain on Saturday announced his resolution to boycott the upcoming 2018 Pakistan General Elections, scheduled to be held on July 25, citing incidents of injustice meted out to the party workers at the hands of the Pakistan Army

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder and exiled leader Altaf Hussain on Saturday announced his resolution to boycott the upcoming 2018 Pakistan General Elections, scheduled to be held on July 25, citing incidents of injustice meted out to the party workers at the hands of the Pakistan Army. This came after the MQM on Friday announced a conditional boycott of the elections and the application for the same was forwarded to Hussain. With the announcement of boycott, Hussain also appealed to the Mohajirs and MQM workers to stay at home on the day of polling and not be a part of the election proceedings. Hussain made this announcement in an address from London. He cited incidents of various state-sponsored injustices like arbitrary arrests and extra-judicial killings of Mohajirs and MQM workers, the embargo against him, and closure of his party headquarters Nine Zero in Karachi as the reasons behind his decision. He also mentioned that the party offices that have not been destroyed were occupied by the Pakistani military establishment, and in an attempt to eliminate the movement, thousands of MQM workers have been arrested and given life imprisonment. While accusing the Pakistani military of suppressing the rights of the minority groups including Balochs, Pashtoons, and Mohajirs, Hussain said "MQM on participating in the country`s politics also accounts for the boycott as when the movement is allowed to do politics in Pakistan then how would it be possible for them to appoint candidates." He also accused the army of assassinating Pakistan`s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah and conducting atrocities on the women, as he said, "More than 250 women factory workers were kidnapped and had not been returned back to their families. "Instead of repeated requests put forward by the Mohajirs to look into the incidents of disappearances of women, the Pakistani government, police, media, and the military remained silent on the issue, as claimed by Hussain. Further, Hussain blamed former Pakistan`s military chief Ayub Khan for sending troops to kill numerous unarmed and innocent Mohajirs, and to rape women. He then took on the government of former Pakistani president late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for massacring Mohajirs and imposing biased quota system to suppress the minority and support the Sindhi community. For the time being, Pakistan is governed by an interim government headed by former Pakistan Chief Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk.

MQM will boycott Pakistan's 2018 elections, confirms exiled leader Altaf Hussain

Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain on Friday announced that a Pahstun rally will be conducted on May 13 in Karachi and has expressed hope that it will be a successful one.

"Two days from now, on May 13, 2018, we are going to hold a rally for the Pashtuns. I appeal to all oppressed nations (including Mohajirs and Balouchs) to fully participate in the PTM public assembly in Karachi. I am also hopeful that almost everyone will take part in it," Altaf Hussain said, in a video message, broadcast from London.

"People who have locomotion issues and cannot work are the only ones who are allowed to stay back at homes. Rest, I am expecting a massive participation to make this rally an enormous success," he added.

The MQM Chief has also warned the Pakistani administration not to create hurdles and interfere with the rally.

The MQM Chief has also warned the Pakistani administration not to create hurdles and interfere with the rally

Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain on Friday announced that a Pahstun rally will be conducted on May 13 in Karachi and has expressed hope that it will be a successful one. "Two days from now, on May 13, 2018, we are going to hold a rally for the Pashtuns. I appeal to all oppressed nations (including Mohajirs and Balouchs) to fully participate in the PTM public assembly in Karachi. I am also hopeful that almost everyone will take part in it," Altaf Hussain said, in a video message, broadcast from London. "People who have locomotion issues and cannot work are the only ones who are allowed to stay back at homes. Rest, I am expecting a massive participation to make this rally an enormous success," he added. The MQM Chief has also warned the Pakistani administration not to create hurdles and interfere with the rally.

MQM leader Altaf Hussain announces new Pashtun rally on May 13

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has asked Pakistan to give Mohajirs their right of a separate province.

Hussain also warned Pakistan that dejecting Mohajirs'&nbspjust demand would lead to the creation of a separate homeland under duress. He was telephonically addressing MQM's 34th Foundation Day at Frankfurt, Germany from London.

"Discrimination against Mohajirs is widespread in every section of Pakistan. They are facing genocide and those who are alive are subject to humiliation and arbitrary arrests without any lawful charge or procedure. The ethnic majority and the establishment are mastermind of the discrimination and repression," Hussain said.

The MQM leader said that in order to order to keep Pakistan united Mohajirs should be given their right for a separate Mohajir province as their population has already exceeded 70 million."This is the last option to save the country and failing which, the things would become devastating and out of his control as 70 million Mohajirs won't then listen to me and take the course of actions in their own hands. It is a blessing that Mohajirs are till date committed to my command and listen to my appeals and advice," Hussain asserted.

In his preliminary address as usual, he urged upon the audiences to develop a habit of book reading to analyse things and acquire knowledge. Hussain asserted that he himself is an example as his critics flay his views and dare not to challenge him with logic and the fact is that none of his critic could yet held him wrong by logic or argument.

He said many lies are spread in Pakistan in order to conceal the truth. "Lies are presented as truth such as the country's elite claims that Allama Iqbal was the thinker of Pakistan, which is the biggest lie of history. There is no proof or record of Iqbal as a thinker of Pakistan. It is the irony that Pakistan commemorates Iqbal's day while he does not deserve it as he was not the thinker of Pakistan," Hussain said.

He argued: How could Iqbal be the thinker of Pakistan while the Lahore resolution was presented in Lahore in 1940 and Iqbal had died in 1938? The MQM founder said that the sister of the founder of Pakistan Mr. M. A. Jinnah, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, actually deserves the title.

"Fatima Jinnah struggled for Pakistan shoulder to shoulder with her brother, but was declared traitor by a Military establishment and military dictator General Ayub Khan in Pakistan," the MQM leader said.

He reminded that a few days ago on March 23rd, Pakistan day was commemorated in memory of Objective resolution while the fact is that there was no such resolution but a simple Lahore resolution, which has fraudulently been changed into the Pakistan Resolution. "The Lahore resolution is still engraved on the wall of a minaret of Pakistan in Lahore and there is no term for Pakistan Resolution in that inscription," Hussain said.

He said that on seeing repression and discrimination widespread against Mohajirs, he dared to erect the APMSO in Karachi University in 1978 but the hooligans of Jamat-e Islami tortured and expelled us from the varsity and then he dared to MQM on March 18, 1984, and held its first assembly at Nishtar Park on August 18, 1986.

"The military establishment had since then become a direct opponent of the MQM and Mohajirs as they fear that if the Mohajirs continue to be united then they would soon achieve their goals," Hussain said.

He warned the establishment and the ruling elite of Pakistan that the only way ahead to save Pakistan is to end the discrimination against Mohajirs and let them have their separate Mohajir Province or else the situation would be so dreadful and the Mohajirs would be constrained to look for their separate, independent and sovereign state.

He reminded the people of Pakistan that the Mohajirs are the creators of Pakistan and they laid millions of lives in sacrifice."They fought the battle of Pakistan in Uttar Pradesh, Central Provinces, and Bihar in India and made a country for the slaves of British Empire in North West of the sub-continent, which is now Pakistan. The corrupt military generals and feuds conspired against the Mohajirs and occupied the country on gun point. Mohajirs (Biharis) who again fought for Pakistan in 1971 have now been discarded and they are forced to spend their lives in camps of Red Cross in Bangladesh."

The MQM chief said that on seeing the atrocities, repression, and genocide of Mohajirs, he slammed the ruling feudal elite and military establishment and then the military generals and feuds of the country joined hands to punish the MQM.

"They held the MQM headquarters under siege and locked it down till date. Embargo was ordered and Pakistani media has been restricted on gun pint not to carry any of his picture or speech," Hussain said.

He said that the military establishment and feudal-based governments in Pakistan have so far executed 22000 innocent Mohajirs in an extra-judicial spree of chase and hunt. "Similar tactic is being applied in FATA where the local tribal population was forced to evacuate their homes and live as internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the mercy of the military establishment and the tyrant demonic feudal elites."

Hussain repeated his long-standing demand that the atrocities against the minority folks in Pakistan including Baloch, Pashtoon and Mohajirs should now end and the Biharis in Red Cross camps in Bangladesh should be brought back home with respect.

He reiterated his resolve to keep struggling for the Mohajir Nation.The organisers of 34th Foundation day in Frankfurt, Afzal Hussain and his all-party affiliates were appreciated for their untiring efforts. The programme was largely attended by men, women and children.&nbsp

Hussain also warned Pakistan that dejecting Mohajirs' just demand would lead to creation of a separate homeland under duress

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has asked Pakistan to give Mohajirs their right of a separate province. Hussain also warned Pakistan that dejecting Mohajirs'&nbspjust demand would lead to the creation of a separate homeland under duress. He was telephonically addressing MQM's 34th Foundation Day at Frankfurt, Germany from London. "Discrimination against Mohajirs is widespread in every section of Pakistan. They are facing genocide and those who are alive are subject to humiliation and arbitrary arrests without any lawful charge or procedure. The ethnic majority and the establishment are mastermind of the discrimination and repression," Hussain said. The MQM leader said that in order to order to keep Pakistan united Mohajirs should be given their right for a separate Mohajir province as their population has already exceeded 70 million."This is the last option to save the country and failing which, the things would become devastating and out of his control as 70 million Mohajirs won't then listen to me and take the course of actions in their own hands. It is a blessing that Mohajirs are till date committed to my command and listen to my appeals and advice," Hussain asserted. In his preliminary address as usual, he urged upon the audiences to develop a habit of book reading to analyse things and acquire knowledge. Hussain asserted that he himself is an example as his critics flay his views and dare not to challenge him with logic and the fact is that none of his critic could yet held him wrong by logic or argument. He said many lies are spread in Pakistan in order to conceal the truth. "Lies are presented as truth such as the country's elite claims that Allama Iqbal was the thinker of Pakistan, which is the biggest lie of history. There is no proof or record of Iqbal as a thinker of Pakistan. It is the irony that Pakistan commemorates Iqbal's day while he does not deserve it as he was not the thinker of Pakistan," Hussain said. He argued: How could Iqbal be the thinker of Pakistan while the Lahore resolution was presented in Lahore in 1940 and Iqbal had died in 1938? The MQM founder said that the sister of the founder of Pakistan Mr. M. A. Jinnah, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, actually deserves the title. "Fatima Jinnah struggled for Pakistan shoulder to shoulder with her brother, but was declared traitor by a Military establishment and military dictator General Ayub Khan in Pakistan," the MQM leader said. He reminded that a few days ago on March 23rd, Pakistan day was commemorated in memory of Objective resolution while the fact is that there was no such resolution but a simple Lahore resolution, which has fraudulently been changed into the Pakistan Resolution. "The Lahore resolution is still engraved on the wall of a minaret of Pakistan in Lahore and there is no term for Pakistan Resolution in that inscription," Hussain said. He said that on seeing repression and discrimination widespread against Mohajirs, he dared to erect the APMSO in Karachi University in 1978 but the hooligans of Jamat-e Islami tortured and expelled us from the varsity and then he dared to MQM on March 18, 1984, and held its first assembly at Nishtar Park on August 18, 1986. "The military establishment had since then become a direct opponent of the MQM and Mohajirs as they fear that if the Mohajirs continue to be united then they would soon achieve their goals," Hussain said. He warned the establishment and the ruling elite of Pakistan that the only way ahead to save Pakistan is to end the discrimination against Mohajirs and let them have their separate Mohajir Province or else the situation would be so dreadful and the Mohajirs would be constrained to look for their separate, independent and sovereign state. He reminded the people of Pakistan that the Mohajirs are the creators of Pakistan and they laid millions of lives in sacrifice."They fought the battle of Pakistan in Uttar Pradesh, Central Provinces, and Bihar in India and made a country for the slaves of British Empire in North West of the sub-continent, which is now Pakistan. The corrupt military generals and feuds conspired against the Mohajirs and occupied the country on gun point. Mohajirs (Biharis) who again fought for Pakistan in 1971 have now been discarded and they are forced to spend their lives in camps of Red Cross in Bangladesh." The MQM chief said that on seeing the atrocities, repression, and genocide of Mohajirs, he slammed the ruling feudal elite and military establishment and then the military generals and feuds of the country joined hands to punish the MQM. "They held the MQM headquarters under siege and locked it down till date. Embargo was ordered and Pakistani media has been restricted on gun pint not to carry any of his picture or speech," Hussain said. He said that the military establishment and feudal-based governments in Pakistan have so far executed 22000 innocent Mohajirs in an extra-judicial spree of chase and hunt. "Similar tactic is being applied in FATA where the local tribal population was forced to evacuate their homes and live as internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the mercy of the military establishment and the tyrant demonic feudal elites." Hussain repeated his long-standing demand that the atrocities against the minority folks in Pakistan including Baloch, Pashtoon and Mohajirs should now end and the Biharis in Red Cross camps in Bangladesh should be brought back home with respect. He reiterated his resolve to keep struggling for the Mohajir Nation.The organisers of 34th Foundation day in Frankfurt, Afzal Hussain and his all-party affiliates were appreciated for their untiring efforts. The programme was largely attended by men, women and children.

Give Mohajirs their right of province or repent: Altaf Hussain to Pakistan

The office gate of the political party Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) was padlocked on Saturday night in Lahore by unidentified individuals.

A member of the party&#39;s Rabita Committee, Waseem Khokhar, has said computers and important documents were missing from the office when they went inside after breaking the lock in presence of the police, Geo News reported.

The perpetrators of the alleged incident have not yet been identified and an encroachment attempt case has been filed, according to the reports.

Party&#39;s former convener Farooq Sattar has condemned the incident.

MQM is a political party in Pakistan that was founded by Altaf Hussain in 1984.

Currently, the party is split into two main factions: MQM-London faction and MQM-Pakistan faction.

The perpetrators of the alleged incident have not yet been identified and an encroachment attempt case has been filed, according to the reports

The office gate of the political party Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) was padlocked on Saturday night in Lahore by unidentified individuals. A member of the party's Rabita Committee, Waseem Khokhar, has said computers and important documents were missing from the office when they went inside after breaking the lock in presence of the police, Geo News reported. The perpetrators of the alleged incident have not yet been identified and an encroachment attempt case has been filed, according to the reports. Party's former convener Farooq Sattar has condemned the incident. MQM is a political party in Pakistan that was founded by Altaf Hussain in 1984. Currently, the party is split into two main factions: MQM-London faction and MQM-Pakistan faction.

MQM-P office padlocked in Lahore

Muttahida Qaumi Movement founder Altaf Hussain has been charged with terror funding and money laundering, after Pakistani&#39;s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted an interim charge-sheet before the administrative judge of the Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs).

Hussain and others were booked by FIA&#39;s State Bank Circle earlier this month on the complaint of UK based businessman Sarfaraz Merchant.

The FIA had named MQM&#39;s Senator Babar Ghauri, Karachi Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, Khawaja Rehan and Senator Ahmed Ali as co-accused.

Investigating officer (IO) Mohammad Ali Abro named the MQM founder as absconder interim investigation report filed on Tuesday.&nbsp;

However, the charge-sheet does not mention the residential addresses of the absconding accused.

The co-accused have not been named in the charge-sheet, nor shown as exonerated of charges.

The administrative judge of the ATCs sent the case to ATC-II for formal trial.

The FIA said the co-accused sent money to the MQM founder through the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF), the party&#39;s charity wing and KKF was used as a source of illegal money transfer to Hussain. 
&nbsp;

Pakistani's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted an interim charge-sheet before the administrative judge of the Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs).

Muttahida Qaumi Movement founder Altaf Hussain has been charged with terror funding and money laundering, after Pakistani's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted an interim charge-sheet before the administrative judge of the Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs). Hussain and others were booked by FIA's State Bank Circle earlier this month on the complaint of UK based businessman Sarfaraz Merchant. The FIA had named MQM's Senator Babar Ghauri, Karachi Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, Khawaja Rehan and Senator Ahmed Ali as co-accused. Investigating officer (IO) Mohammad Ali Abro named the MQM founder as absconder interim investigation report filed on Tuesday. However, the charge-sheet does not mention the residential addresses of the absconding accused. The co-accused have not been named in the charge-sheet, nor shown as exonerated of charges. The administrative judge of the ATCs sent the case to ATC-II for formal trial. The FIA said the co-accused sent money to the MQM founder through the Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF), the party's charity wing and KKF was used as a source of illegal money transfer to Hussain.

MQM founder Altaf Hussain charged with terror funding, money laundering

In the past weeks, there has been a great deal of sound and fury over Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain&rsquo;s anti-Pakistan remarks. He delivered the speech to MQM supporters who had been protesting media bias at the Karachi Press Club via phone from London where he has lived in exile for the last 24 years. Pakistan, Hussain declared, &ldquo;is a cancer of the entire world&hellip;it is the epicentre of terrorism for the world.&rdquo; Thereafter, MQM supporters stormed the offices of two media companies. In the ensuing uproar, paramilitary Rangers sealed the MQM headquarters, arresting its top leaders and removing Hussain&rsquo;s posters.&nbsp;

Since 2013, the Pakistan Army has been trying to restore peace in the Pakistan&rsquo;s principal port and commercial centre, a populous city of 23 million called Karachi. In 2015, they intensified their operations, killing hundreds of MQM workers and jailing thousands. Many have&nbsp; simply disappeared. It is these actions which probably triggered Hussain&rsquo;s outburst.

Hussain has since apologised to the Pakistan Army chief, the Rangers chief, the ISI and other higher authorities in that order; the list tells its own story about the power balance in Pakistan. As a tactical move, he has declared that he is stepping down from the leadership group of the party. The MQM leader Farooq Sattar announced that the party will now be run from Pakistan, not London.

Simultaneously, Hussain has faced considerable pressure in his place of exile, UK. The troubles began with the assassination of an MQM leader Imran Farooq in 2010 by two assassins who were arrested in Pakistan on their return. They claim they were put to it by a senior aide of Hussain in London. Subsequently, the London police began an investigation into the MQM&rsquo;s activities, especially money-laundering, and arrested Hussain in June 2014 though he was not charged subsequently.

There is an irony&nbsp; that the Punjabi-dominated Pakistani establishment is convinced that the MQM has been funded by India, considering that the party is constituted of those who played a central role in creating Pakistan. This is one reason why after the first army offensive against the MQM in 1992, they created a situation for which New Delhi was forced to shut down its consulate in Karachi in 1994, an action that has also affected Mohajir visa seekers.

The &ldquo;Indian hand&rdquo; has been a staple Pakistani explanation of the problem. But the fact that Mohajirs originally came from India gives it a resonance in contemporary Pakistan. In 2015, a BBC report, following up a British investigation into money laundering, claimed that Pakistani officials blame India for providing fund and training to the MQM. These claims came in the wake of a statement from a Karachi police officer that two arrested MQM militants have revealed that they had been trained by India.

The BBC report was based on the purported 2012 confession to the London police by senior MQM leader Tariq Mir that the Research and Analysis Wing (R&amp;AW) of India had funded the MQM. According to the report, the R&amp;AW had been funding the MQM since 1994 and that the four top leaders of the outfit were aware of it.&nbsp; It turned out later that this entire report had been fabricated and it was formally denied by the London Metropolitan Police, which said with typical British understatement that no such documents were part of its record. &nbsp;

One of the greater ironies of history has been the fate of people who are called Mohajirs in Pakistan. They were the people who conceptualised the country and fought tooth and nail against the Congress party to create it. But once established, they found themselves slowly marginalised to the point that they had to create a new political platform to defend their interests. The Mohajir Qaumi Mahaz (Mohajir Qaumi Movement) was founded in 1984 by Altaf Hussain and Azeem Ahmed to represent the interests of the erstwhile refugees from India who had concentrated in the Karachi area.&nbsp;

Initially, its goal was to advance the interests of the Mohajirs who resented the discrimination against them from the dominant Sindhi community. In turn, the Sindhis and other communities in Pakistan resented the sense of entitlement among the refugees from India who had foisted their Urdu language on them and had held a disproportionately high share of top-level jobs in the new nation.

Altaf Hussain&rsquo;s personality is shaped from his rough and tumble days as a student leader in Karachi university. In turn, this imprinted itself on the MQM. Once established, the party&nbsp; came to dominate Karachi&rsquo;s politics through a network of patronage, enforced by violence and assassination. In the October 1990 elections, the MQM emerged as a potent third force in the country between the Pakistan Muslim League and its rival, the Pakistan People&rsquo;s Party.

So powerful did it become that the Pakistani establishment decided to crush the outfit and launched an &ldquo;Operation Cleanup&rdquo; ostensibly to restore order in the otherwise chaotic city, but also to cut the MQM to size. Thousands of MQM workers were arrested and hundreds killed. It was around this time in 1992 that Hussain fled Pakistan and arrived in London from where he ran the affairs of the party thereafter.

Violence levels have remained high in the city in recent years with four-way clashes between the Sindhi-dominated PPP, the MQM, the Baloch and the Pashtun refugees who now make up a significant proportion of the city population. Most authorities accused the MQM of being the instigator of the violence. But many believe that elements from all these ethnic groups have devolved into armed mafias and are political entities only in name. To add to this mixture has been the role of the Islamists who have carried out many targeted killings in the city, primarily targeting Shias. The Al Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, too, have found the city&rsquo;s violent environment congenial for their activities.

In the late 1990s, to rid themselves of a sectional identity, the MQM changed its name to the Muttahida (United) Qaumi Movement. It took up the cause of provincial autonomy and cultural pluralism in Pakistan and called for the abolition of feudal holdings in Sindh. But essentially it remained a political entity tightly controlled by its mercurial leader in London.

In 2002, with a Mohajir, Pervez Musharraf, at the helm of the Army, the MQM returned to normal politics and did well in the provincial elections, though nationally it won only 17 seats. Subsequently, it became an ally of the pro-Musharraf PML(Q) and it displayed its preferences in protesting the visit of Musharraf&rsquo;s tormentor Chief Justice Ifthikar Muhammad Chaudhry in May 2007. Violence remained at a high tempo thereafter, including the bombing of a Shia procession on&nbsp; December&nbsp; 2009, followed by riots and arson.

Violence intensified after 2010 when MQM lost the power of its mayoralty and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) decided to rule the city through bureaucrats rather than hold elections. According to estimates, in 2011 approximately 2,042 people died in violent incidents, followed by 2,403 deaths in 2012, 2,789 in 2013 and 2023 in 2014. In 2015, despite a sharp decline&mdash;with just 1040 people killed&mdash;Karachi still remained the most violent region in Pakistan.

Given Pakistan&rsquo;s own dysfunctional polity, restoring normalcy to the city will not be easy. Neither will Hussain&rsquo;s power, which has suffered a temporary eclipse, disappear that easily. In treating the symptoms, rather than the disease, the Pakistan Army may buy some time, but that is about all.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Altaf Hussain?s power, which has suffered a temporary eclipse, will not disappear easily from Pakistan's political scenario

In the past weeks, there has been a great deal of sound and fury over Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain’s anti-Pakistan remarks. He delivered the speech to MQM supporters who had been protesting media bias at the Karachi Press Club via phone from London where he has lived in exile for the last 24 years. Pakistan, Hussain declared, “is a cancer of the entire world…it is the epicentre of terrorism for the world.” Thereafter, MQM supporters stormed the offices of two media companies. In the ensuing uproar, paramilitary Rangers sealed the MQM headquarters, arresting its top leaders and removing Hussain’s posters. Since 2013, the Pakistan Army has been trying to restore peace in the Pakistan’s principal port and commercial centre, a populous city of 23 million called Karachi. In 2015, they intensified their operations, killing hundreds of MQM workers and jailing thousands. Many have simply disappeared. It is these actions which probably triggered Hussain’s outburst. Hussain has since apologised to the Pakistan Army chief, the Rangers chief, the ISI and other higher authorities in that order; the list tells its own story about the power balance in Pakistan. As a tactical move, he has declared that he is stepping down from the leadership group of the party. The MQM leader Farooq Sattar announced that the party will now be run from Pakistan, not London. Simultaneously, Hussain has faced considerable pressure in his place of exile, UK. The troubles began with the assassination of an MQM leader Imran Farooq in 2010 by two assassins who were arrested in Pakistan on their return. They claim they were put to it by a senior aide of Hussain in London. Subsequently, the London police began an investigation into the MQM’s activities, especially money-laundering, and arrested Hussain in June 2014 though he was not charged subsequently. There is an irony that the Punjabi-dominated Pakistani establishment is convinced that the MQM has been funded by India, considering that the party is constituted of those who played a central role in creating Pakistan. This is one reason why after the first army offensive against the MQM in 1992, they created a situation for which New Delhi was forced to shut down its consulate in Karachi in 1994, an action that has also affected Mohajir visa seekers. The “Indian hand” has been a staple Pakistani explanation of the problem. But the fact that Mohajirs originally came from India gives it a resonance in contemporary Pakistan. In 2015, a BBC report, following up a British investigation into money laundering, claimed that Pakistani officials blame India for providing fund and training to the MQM. These claims came in the wake of a statement from a Karachi police officer that two arrested MQM militants have revealed that they had been trained by India. The BBC report was based on the purported 2012 confession to the London police by senior MQM leader Tariq Mir that the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) of India had funded the MQM. According to the report, the R&AW had been funding the MQM since 1994 and that the four top leaders of the outfit were aware of it. It turned out later that this entire report had been fabricated and it was formally denied by the London Metropolitan Police, which said with typical British understatement that no such documents were part of its record. One of the greater ironies of history has been the fate of people who are called Mohajirs in Pakistan. They were the people who conceptualised the country and fought tooth and nail against the Congress party to create it. But once established, they found themselves slowly marginalised to the point that they had to create a new political platform to defend their interests. The Mohajir Qaumi Mahaz (Mohajir Qaumi Movement) was founded in 1984 by Altaf Hussain and Azeem Ahmed to represent the interests of the erstwhile refugees from India who had concentrated in the Karachi area. Initially, its goal was to advance the interests of the Mohajirs who resented the discrimination against them from the dominant Sindhi community. In turn, the Sindhis and other communities in Pakistan resented the sense of entitlement among the refugees from India who had foisted their Urdu language on them and had held a disproportionately high share of top-level jobs in the new nation. Altaf Hussain’s personality is shaped from his rough and tumble days as a student leader in Karachi university. In turn, this imprinted itself on the MQM. Once established, the party came to dominate Karachi’s politics through a network of patronage, enforced by violence and assassination. In the October 1990 elections, the MQM emerged as a potent third force in the country between the Pakistan Muslim League and its rival, the Pakistan People’s Party. So powerful did it become that the Pakistani establishment decided to crush the outfit and launched an “Operation Cleanup” ostensibly to restore order in the otherwise chaotic city, but also to cut the MQM to size. Thousands of MQM workers were arrested and hundreds killed. It was around this time in 1992 that Hussain fled Pakistan and arrived in London from where he ran the affairs of the party thereafter. Violence levels have remained high in the city in recent years with four-way clashes between the Sindhi-dominated PPP, the MQM, the Baloch and the Pashtun refugees who now make up a significant proportion of the city population. Most authorities accused the MQM of being the instigator of the violence. But many believe that elements from all these ethnic groups have devolved into armed mafias and are political entities only in name. To add to this mixture has been the role of the Islamists who have carried out many targeted killings in the city, primarily targeting Shias. The Al Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, too, have found the city’s violent environment congenial for their activities. In the late 1990s, to rid themselves of a sectional identity, the MQM changed its name to the Muttahida (United) Qaumi Movement. It took up the cause of provincial autonomy and cultural pluralism in Pakistan and called for the abolition of feudal holdings in Sindh. But essentially it remained a political entity tightly controlled by its mercurial leader in London. In 2002, with a Mohajir, Pervez Musharraf, at the helm of the Army, the MQM returned to normal politics and did well in the provincial elections, though nationally it won only 17 seats. Subsequently, it became an ally of the pro-Musharraf PML(Q) and it displayed its preferences in protesting the visit of Musharraf’s tormentor Chief Justice Ifthikar Muhammad Chaudhry in May 2007. Violence remained at a high tempo thereafter, including the bombing of a Shia procession on December 2009, followed by riots and arson. Violence intensified after 2010 when MQM lost the power of its mayoralty and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) decided to rule the city through bureaucrats rather than hold elections. According to estimates, in 2011 approximately 2,042 people died in violent incidents, followed by 2,403 deaths in 2012, 2,789 in 2013 and 2023 in 2014. In 2015, despite a sharp decline—with just 1040 people killed—Karachi still remained the most violent region in Pakistan. Given Pakistan’s own dysfunctional polity, restoring normalcy to the city will not be easy. Neither will Hussain’s power, which has suffered a temporary eclipse, disappear that easily. In treating the symptoms, rather than the disease, the Pakistan Army may buy some time, but that is about all.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement: Pakistan's national politics and the Mohajir question

With Pakistan slapping treason charges on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain for his alleged inflammatory speech, the United States (US) has said that in a democracy, critical opinion should be encouraged, not silenced. 
 
&quot;I would just say in a democratic society, critical opinion should be encouraged, not silenced. We believe that democracies become stronger by allowing free expression from diverse voices within society and we would certainly emphasise that any expression must be peaceful,&quot; state department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday. 
 
Hussain, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since 1992, was charged with treason for his speech that seemingly incited party workers to attack media outlets in Pakistan.&nbsp; 
 
Responding to a question on the arrest of MQM leaders, he said the US is always concerned when members of a political party are detained or arrested. 
 
&quot;We obviously uphold the importance and believe in the importance of public assembly, freedom of speech, as long as it&#39;s peaceful. We would emphasise that any kind of protest, any kind of demonstrations would need to be conducted peacefully. So I think we&#39;re still assessing, gathering information about what took place. And we&#39;ll reserve further comment until that time,&quot; Toner said. 
 
The MQM has been the single largest party in Karachi for decades and has dominated the political landscape for years sweeping provincial and national elections but the party has come under pressure since the clean-up operations began on the orders of the centre. 
 
 
(WION with inputs from PTI)

Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain was charged with treason for his speech that reportedly incited attacks in Pakistan

With Pakistan slapping treason charges on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain for his alleged inflammatory speech, the United States (US) has said that in a democracy, critical opinion should be encouraged, not silenced. "I would just say in a democratic society, critical opinion should be encouraged, not silenced. We believe that democracies become stronger by allowing free expression from diverse voices within society and we would certainly emphasise that any expression must be peaceful," state department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Tuesday. Hussain, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London since 1992, was charged with treason for his speech that seemingly incited party workers to attack media outlets in Pakistan. Responding to a question on the arrest of MQM leaders, he said the US is always concerned when members of a political party are detained or arrested. "We obviously uphold the importance and believe in the importance of public assembly, freedom of speech, as long as it's peaceful. We would emphasise that any kind of protest, any kind of demonstrations would need to be conducted peacefully. So I think we're still assessing, gathering information about what took place. And we'll reserve further comment until that time," Toner said. The MQM has been the single largest party in Karachi for decades and has dominated the political landscape for years sweeping provincial and national elections but the party has come under pressure since the clean-up operations began on the orders of the centre. (WION with inputs from PTI)

US on exiled MQM chief: Critical opinion should be encouraged, not silenced in democrarcy

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Wednesday &quot;handed over powers to the Rabita committee in Pakistan&quot;, after drawing criticism for raising anti-Pakistan slogans and calling it a &ldquo;cancer for the entire world&rdquo;, media reports said. Hussain&#39;s stepping down comes a day after he apologised&nbsp;to the Pakistani military for the vitriolic comments.&nbsp; 
 
Dawn, a Pakistan newspaper, reported that senior MQM leader, Farooq Sattar, spoke to party leaders and lawmakers, and communicated his decision to disown Hussain&#39;s controversial statement and take over the MQM. 
 
&quot;Keeping in view the statements by MQM leader Farooq Sattar and other MQM members, I hand over powers of reorganisation, policy-making and decision-making to the Rabita Committee,&rdquo; Hussain said.&nbsp; 
 
The coordination committee will now have the power in policy-making, MQM spokesman Wasay Jalil said.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;From now onwards, decisions will be made in Pakistan. This message is for the London office as well as for Pakistan office-bearers,&rdquo; Sattar added.&nbsp; 
 
But Sattar&#39;s announcement failed to cut ice with other political parties as they continued to denounce Hussain for his anti-Pakistan remarks. 
 
Jalil had shared Hussain&#39;s apology statement on Twitter, saying that he was under &#39;mental stress&#39; over the forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings of his party members. Parts of his speech that showed him addressing the workers of MQM protesting outside the Karachi Press club and raising anti-Pakistan slogans on Tuesday had taken the social media by storm. 
 
The MQM is a political party registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan in the name of Farooq Sattar. According to MQM, Pakistani&#39;s establishment has hounded the party for years, carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since 2013.&nbsp; 
 
Hussain had been running the party&#39;s day-to-day organisational affairs over phone from his office in Edware, London, where he lives in what some call self-imposed exile. However, death threats from the Taliban over the years are said to be the main reason behind his staying away from Pakistan.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;I will continue to focus on improving my health in line with the coordination committee&#39;s suggestions,&quot; Hussain tweeted. Many sections of the international press have reported that this could be a compromise deal between MQM and the Pakistan Army that Hussain had attacked in his speech. 
 
On Tuesday, however, Khwaja Izahrul Hassan, leader of the opposition in the Sindh assembly, said that the MQM leadership in London had not been consulted before holding the press conference to indicate that the MQM in Pakistan was beginning to act on its own. 
 
Pakistan Sunni Tehrik leaders Maulana Noor Ahmed Qasmi and Khalid Hassan Attari and others insisted that the MQM must be banned and that sedition cases should be registered against all those who raised anti-Pakistan slogans.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

His stepping down comes a day after he apologised for calling Pakistan a 'cancer for the entire world'

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain on Wednesday "handed over powers to the Rabita committee in Pakistan", after drawing criticism for raising anti-Pakistan slogans and calling it a “cancer for the entire world”, media reports said. Hussain's stepping down comes a day after he apologised to the Pakistani military for the vitriolic comments. Dawn, a Pakistan newspaper, reported that senior MQM leader, Farooq Sattar, spoke to party leaders and lawmakers, and communicated his decision to disown Hussain's controversial statement and take over the MQM. "Keeping in view the statements by MQM leader Farooq Sattar and other MQM members, I hand over powers of reorganisation, policy-making and decision-making to the Rabita Committee,” Hussain said. The coordination committee will now have the power in policy-making, MQM spokesman Wasay Jalil said. "From now onwards, decisions will be made in Pakistan. This message is for the London office as well as for Pakistan office-bearers,” Sattar added. But Sattar's announcement failed to cut ice with other political parties as they continued to denounce Hussain for his anti-Pakistan remarks. Jalil had shared Hussain's apology statement on Twitter, saying that he was under 'mental stress' over the forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings of his party members. Parts of his speech that showed him addressing the workers of MQM protesting outside the Karachi Press club and raising anti-Pakistan slogans on Tuesday had taken the social media by storm. The MQM is a political party registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan in the name of Farooq Sattar. According to MQM, Pakistani's establishment has hounded the party for years, carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since 2013. Hussain had been running the party's day-to-day organisational affairs over phone from his office in Edware, London, where he lives in what some call self-imposed exile. However, death threats from the Taliban over the years are said to be the main reason behind his staying away from Pakistan. "I will continue to focus on improving my health in line with the coordination committee's suggestions," Hussain tweeted. Many sections of the international press have reported that this could be a compromise deal between MQM and the Pakistan Army that Hussain had attacked in his speech. On Tuesday, however, Khwaja Izahrul Hassan, leader of the opposition in the Sindh assembly, said that the MQM leadership in London had not been consulted before holding the press conference to indicate that the MQM in Pakistan was beginning to act on its own. Pakistan Sunni Tehrik leaders Maulana Noor Ahmed Qasmi and Khalid Hassan Attari and others insisted that the MQM must be banned and that sedition cases should be registered against all those who raised anti-Pakistan slogans. (WION with inputs from agencies)

MQM chief Altaf Hussain steps down over anti-Pakistan remarks

Pakistani paramilitary troops raided headquarters of a powerful political party in Pakistan&#39;s southern city of Karachi and detained several party leaders and activists through the night and early on Tuesday (August 23) following protesters&#39; attack on Pakistani TV station, a senior Rangers official said. 
 
Supporters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) fired shots at the office of a television channel in the afternoon on Monday (August 22) before ransacking the building, police said. 
 
The protesters belonged to the MQM, senior superintendent of police Saqib Ismail said. Media reported they were angry about a lack of coverage of a hunger strike. 
 
He said MQM workers fired shots at the ARY (News) office, ransacked the premises and set fire to a police mobile. 
 
The Sindh province government late on Monday decided to shut down all offices of the MQM. The rangers and police carried out a search operation for four hours and sealed MQM headquarters, popularly known as Nine Zero following the raid. 
 
Rangers recovered weapons from MQM headquarters, said sector commander of Rangers Brigadier Khurram Shehzad. MQM website was also blocked. 
 
&quot;During the search, we have recovered some weapons which include few SMGs and two pistols. After it&#39;s forensic test and study of the anti-state material which we have found, we will bring the facts to the media,&quot; Shehzad said. 
 
Earlier, five MQM leaders were taken into custody by law enforcement agencies while a MQM lawmaker announced resignation following provocative speech of Altaf Hussain that led to ransacking of media houses and clashes with police. 
 
The arrested MQM leaders included Farooq Sattar, Amir Khan, Khawaja Izhar ul Hassan, Sajid Ahmed and Amir Liaquat Hussain. Two of the leaders were released after brief interrogation, reported ARY NEWS. 
 
More than fifty workers of MQM were also rounded up from across Karachi, Geo news reported. 
 
The crackdown was launched after at least one person was reported killed and several others were injured during the violence. 
 
Local media said the protesters had rushed to the office of ARY shortly after the MQM leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, had criticised Pakistan&#39;s media in a telephone address for failing to report on his workers&#39; hunger strikes. 
 
The MQM has held sway over Karachi for years and law enforcement agencies, its opponents and many residents have accused it of racketeering, abduction, torture and murder in its bid to maintain power. The party denies links to crime. 
 
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called a high-level meeting today to discuss Karachi situation. 
 
(Reuters)

Pakistani rangers recovered weapons from the MQM headquarters. PM Nawaz Sharif has called for a meeting to discuss the situation in Karachi

Pakistani paramilitary troops raided headquarters of a powerful political party in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi and detained several party leaders and activists through the night and early on Tuesday (August 23) following protesters' attack on Pakistani TV station, a senior Rangers official said. Supporters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) fired shots at the office of a television channel in the afternoon on Monday (August 22) before ransacking the building, police said. The protesters belonged to the MQM, senior superintendent of police Saqib Ismail said. Media reported they were angry about a lack of coverage of a hunger strike. He said MQM workers fired shots at the ARY (News) office, ransacked the premises and set fire to a police mobile. The Sindh province government late on Monday decided to shut down all offices of the MQM. The rangers and police carried out a search operation for four hours and sealed MQM headquarters, popularly known as Nine Zero following the raid. Rangers recovered weapons from MQM headquarters, said sector commander of Rangers Brigadier Khurram Shehzad. MQM website was also blocked. "During the search, we have recovered some weapons which include few SMGs and two pistols. After it's forensic test and study of the anti-state material which we have found, we will bring the facts to the media," Shehzad said. Earlier, five MQM leaders were taken into custody by law enforcement agencies while a MQM lawmaker announced resignation following provocative speech of Altaf Hussain that led to ransacking of media houses and clashes with police. The arrested MQM leaders included Farooq Sattar, Amir Khan, Khawaja Izhar ul Hassan, Sajid Ahmed and Amir Liaquat Hussain. Two of the leaders were released after brief interrogation, reported ARY NEWS. More than fifty workers of MQM were also rounded up from across Karachi, Geo news reported. The crackdown was launched after at least one person was reported killed and several others were injured during the violence. Local media said the protesters had rushed to the office of ARY shortly after the MQM leader Altaf Hussain, who lives in exile in London, had criticised Pakistan's media in a telephone address for failing to report on his workers' hunger strikes. The MQM has held sway over Karachi for years and law enforcement agencies, its opponents and many residents have accused it of racketeering, abduction, torture and murder in its bid to maintain power. The party denies links to crime. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called a high-level meeting today to discuss Karachi situation. (Reuters)

MQM headquarters sealed by Pakistan forces for attacking TV station

Pakistani police charged the exiled leader of a major political party with treason and inciting terrorism on Tuesday, as his own second-in-command vowed to disown him a day after a violent protest in Karachi. 
 
Altaf Hussain,&nbsp;leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which rules Karachi, Pakistan&#39;s biggest city, was accused with a dozen other party leaders of shouting anti-Pakistan slogans at the demonstration Monday. 
 
MQM activists clashed with police and ransacked a private television station in the southern port city leaving at least one man dead and seven others injured. 
 
The violence erupted soon after Hussain gave a telephone address to supporters from London in which he castigated the media for not giving due coverage of his workers. 
 
According to a police report, he chanted &quot;down with Pakistan&quot; and called the country a &quot;bastion of terrorism&quot;. 
 
For over two decades, Hussain has addressed supporters through a loudspeaker linked to his London home telephone. 
 
Later Tuesday, Hussain&#39;s second-in-command Farooq Sattar, who was also briefly arrested after Monday&#39;s violence, said the MQM &quot;completely disowns&quot; Hussain&#39;s statements, accusing him of repeatedly embarrassing the party. 
 
&quot;We have decided to address his mental tension, or illness, or whatever condition he is suffering from,&quot; he said of Hussain at a press conference in Karachi. 
 
&quot;The MQM cannot afford to suffer this damage time and time again,&quot; he said, explaining what he claimed was a party decision to take control away from Hussain. 
 
&quot;It is MQM Pakistan, so it should be operated from Pakistan,&quot; he added. 
 
At home in London 
 
The MQM, run by Hussain from London -- and accused of using extortion and murder to cement its grip on power -- has long been blamed for ethnic violence in Karachi. 
 
It has clashed repeatedly with authorities who, according to rights groups, have resorted to hundreds of extra-judicial killings during a &quot;clean-up&quot; operation that began in 2013 in a city already plagued by violence. 
 
Last year Pakistani police registered a case under terrorism laws against Hussain over a speech criticising the country&#39;s powerful military establishment. 
 
Previous charges have not resulted in action or extradition requests against Hussain, who has lived in London since fleeing a military operation against his party in 1992 and is a British citizen. 
 
Hussain remains a highly influential figure in Karachi, Pakistan&#39;s economic centre and main port, though observers believe his grip on power is gradually diminishing in his absence and his party is no longer the force it once was. 
 
Earlier this year another party stalwart also turned on Hussain. Mustafa Kamal, a former MQM mayor of Karachi, broke away to form his own political party, taking several party leaders with him. 
 
Hussain was arrested in June 2014 by British police on suspicion of money laundering charges, but later released on bail, leading to speculation that his once cosy ties with London -- who viewed his party as a bulwark against Taliban terrorism -- were fraying. 
 
As well as the money-laundering case, British police are also probing the murder of MQM politician Imran Farooq in London in 2010. 
 
(AFP)

According to a police report, he chanted 'down with Pakistan' and called the country a 'bastion of terrorism'

Pakistani police charged the exiled leader of a major political party with treason and inciting terrorism on Tuesday, as his own second-in-command vowed to disown him a day after a violent protest in Karachi. Altaf Hussain, leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which rules Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, was accused with a dozen other party leaders of shouting anti-Pakistan slogans at the demonstration Monday. MQM activists clashed with police and ransacked a private television station in the southern port city leaving at least one man dead and seven others injured. The violence erupted soon after Hussain gave a telephone address to supporters from London in which he castigated the media for not giving due coverage of his workers. According to a police report, he chanted "down with Pakistan" and called the country a "bastion of terrorism". For over two decades, Hussain has addressed supporters through a loudspeaker linked to his London home telephone. Later Tuesday, Hussain's second-in-command Farooq Sattar, who was also briefly arrested after Monday's violence, said the MQM "completely disowns" Hussain's statements, accusing him of repeatedly embarrassing the party. "We have decided to address his mental tension, or illness, or whatever condition he is suffering from," he said of Hussain at a press conference in Karachi. "The MQM cannot afford to suffer this damage time and time again," he said, explaining what he claimed was a party decision to take control away from Hussain. "It is MQM Pakistan, so it should be operated from Pakistan," he added. At home in London The MQM, run by Hussain from London -- and accused of using extortion and murder to cement its grip on power -- has long been blamed for ethnic violence in Karachi. It has clashed repeatedly with authorities who, according to rights groups, have resorted to hundreds of extra-judicial killings during a "clean-up" operation that began in 2013 in a city already plagued by violence. Last year Pakistani police registered a case under terrorism laws against Hussain over a speech criticising the country's powerful military establishment. Previous charges have not resulted in action or extradition requests against Hussain, who has lived in London since fleeing a military operation against his party in 1992 and is a British citizen. Hussain remains a highly influential figure in Karachi, Pakistan's economic centre and main port, though observers believe his grip on power is gradually diminishing in his absence and his party is no longer the force it once was. Earlier this year another party stalwart also turned on Hussain. Mustafa Kamal, a former MQM mayor of Karachi, broke away to form his own political party, taking several party leaders with him. Hussain was arrested in June 2014 by British police on suspicion of money laundering charges, but later released on bail, leading to speculation that his once cosy ties with London -- who viewed his party as a bulwark against Taliban terrorism -- were fraying. As well as the money-laundering case, British police are also probing the murder of MQM politician Imran Farooq in London in 2010. (AFP)

Pakistan charges MQM leader Altaf Hussain with treason

A day after Altaf Hussain, chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) referred to Pakistan as &quot;cancer for the entire world&quot;, he apologised to Army chief General Raheel Sharif and Director General (DG) Rangers Major General Bilal Akber for his vitriolic comments. 
 
Parts of Hussain&#39;s speech that went viral on&nbsp;social media showed that he raised anti-Pakistan slogans while&nbsp;addressing the workers of MQM, a secular movement in Pakistan and a dominant political force in the capital Karachi, protesting outside the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday.

MQM spokesperson, Wasay Jalil, shared the apology statement by Hussain on Twitter. He also said the chief was under mental stress over the forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings of his party workers and that he uttered the words in anger.

&quot;From the depth of heart, I beg pardon for my remarks against Pakistan, the establishment, including General Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers,&quot; daily newspaper, Dawn, quoted Hussain as saying.

&quot;Being a Pakistani, I assure the Pakistani people, establishment, army, ISI, all higher authorities and leaders that I will never use such words again,&quot; said Hussain. 
 
Earlier on Monday, hundreds of MQM workers attacked the offices of different TV channels in Pakistan after Hussain asked them to protest against the censorship of his speeches in the media, leaving one person dead and over half-a-dozen injured. 
 
The party headquarters, &#39;Nine Zero&#39;, was sealed and its official website was taken down. At least nine of the party&#39;s senior party leaders, including Dr Farooq Sattar, the party&#39;s most senior parliamentarian were taken into custody.

He also urged authorities to &quot;end all steps taken against MQM&quot;. 
 
&quot;For God&#39;s sake, don&#39;t cut MQM from the national mainstream,&quot; he added.

Later, Hussain also requested the authorities to release the arrested leaders.

MQM has been dominating Karachi&#39;s political landscape for decades even as its leader Hussain lives in self-exile in north London. He is known for making fiery speeches to his supporters in Karachi from his London home.&nbsp; 
 
The party has long accused the Sindhi rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown&nbsp;in Karachi in 2013.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

The party chief, Altaf Hussain, had earlier called Pakistan 'a cancer for the entire world' and raised anti-Pakistan slogans

A day after Altaf Hussain, chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) referred to Pakistan as "cancer for the entire world", he apologised to Army chief General Raheel Sharif and Director General (DG) Rangers Major General Bilal Akber for his vitriolic comments. Parts of Hussain's speech that went viral on social media showed that he raised anti-Pakistan slogans while addressing the workers of MQM, a secular movement in Pakistan and a dominant political force in the capital Karachi, protesting outside the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday. MQM spokesperson, Wasay Jalil, shared the apology statement by Hussain on Twitter. He also said the chief was under mental stress over the forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings of his party workers and that he uttered the words in anger. "From the depth of heart, I beg pardon for my remarks against Pakistan, the establishment, including General Raheel Sharif and DG Rangers," daily newspaper, Dawn, quoted Hussain as saying. "Being a Pakistani, I assure the Pakistani people, establishment, army, ISI, all higher authorities and leaders that I will never use such words again," said Hussain. Earlier on Monday, hundreds of MQM workers attacked the offices of different TV channels in Pakistan after Hussain asked them to protest against the censorship of his speeches in the media, leaving one person dead and over half-a-dozen injured. The party headquarters, 'Nine Zero', was sealed and its official website was taken down. At least nine of the party's senior party leaders, including Dr Farooq Sattar, the party's most senior parliamentarian were taken into custody. He also urged authorities to "end all steps taken against MQM". "For God's sake, don't cut MQM from the national mainstream," he added. Later, Hussain also requested the authorities to release the arrested leaders. MQM has been dominating Karachi's political landscape for decades even as its leader Hussain lives in self-exile in north London. He is known for making fiery speeches to his supporters in Karachi from his London home. The party has long accused the Sindhi rangers of carrying out extra-judicial killings of its members since a crackdown in Karachi in 2013. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Pakistan party MQM chief apologises after anti-Pak remarks incite violence

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