Altaf demands probe into 1992 operation against MQM

The News
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
By our correspondent
Karachi
All political parties should accept the mandate of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), because it is “the third-largest political party in Pakistan,” MQM founder Altaf Hussain said Tuesday during a telephonic address delivered to traders and industrialists of Karachi.
Hussain also demanded that the prime minister constitute an inquiry commission, comprising judges from the International Court of Justice, to inquire into the June 19, 1992, operation against the MQM, as well as the mayhem of May 12, 2007, and the “loot, plunder and murder” on December 27, 2007.
“The MQM has extended all-out cooperation in the larger interest of the country, but has received only cold shoulders. The party will never compromise its dignity or respect,” Hussain said. “The MQM withdrew its prime ministerial candidate, Dr Farooq Sattar, on the request of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, and also voted for the PPP-nominated prime minister in the national assembly.”
The MQM does not believe in a policy of confrontation, Hussain said, adding, however, that the people who think they can “push us into the sea are living in a fool’s paradise.”
Pakistan is not the property of a few families or feudal lords; it is the “country of 170 million people,” the MQM chief said. He lashed out at Pakistan Muslim League ñ Nawaz (PML-N) chief, Nawaz Sharif, and said that even though he (Sharif) had not accepted the mandate of Karachi in the 2008 general elections, “we accept their mandate wholeheartedly.”
Sharif has, meanwhile, continued to issue provocative statements against the MQM, particularly with reference to May 12, Hussain said.