MQM leader and founder, Altaf Hussain, warned the government to immediately stop the process of state suppression on lawyers and political party workers who were protesting the Presidential reference against CJ Iftikhar Mohammad Choudary. The MQM reserves the right to decide on its future line of actions if suppression is not curtailed, Hussain said Sunday.
He was making a telephonic address from London on the 23rd foundation day of the party. The address was heard simultaneously at the Lal Qila ground (Azizabad), in major cities of Sindh, as well as in Quetta and Lahore. Hussain declared that the MQM was part of the coalition of the government for the welfare and development of the country, but was not bound to support state terrorism. Altaf also condemned attack on GEO TV Islamabad and said he regretted the action and firmly believed in press freedom. He demanded that the president and the PM immediately release all the lawyers and political party activists who were arrested during recent protests. He urged people of to wait for the decision of Supreme Judicial Council in context of the Constitution. Hussain said that the time has come for government authorities and decision-makers to formulate policies in the larger interest of the country. He also demanded that the government announce provincial autonomy for the sake of the stability and integrity of the country. |