KARACHI: Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Mustafa Kamal on Saturday claimed that the establishment had called upon his party to form an alliance with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) upon farooq Sattar’s request.
Kamal told a press conference at the Pakistan House that he met Farooq Sattar because the latter had requested the establishment to bring the two on the table. He said that Farooq Sattar has been giving the impression that whatever decisions PSP takes are at the behest of the establishment. “Today, I want to tell all of Pakistan that … yes … the establishment called us and made us meet Farooq Sattar. When we reached, Sattar was already there and it was on his request that we were called. This did not happen a few hours ago. Sattar and his team have been calling us with help from the establishment for the past eight months,” he claimed, while confirming the speculation that the establishment had been calling the PSP to forge alliance with MQM-P.
“This is not a plan that is eight months old … it is a plan that started on Aug 22, 2016, when Farooq Sattar was put in charge,” he said, adding that he had contacts with the establishment only for solution to Muhajir people’s problems. “I am not their agent. If I was, I would not leave my senatorship in 2013.”
“It is MQM-P chief Farooq Sattar who meets the establishment. He also met former Sindh Rangers chief during his arrest on August 22 and on his release the next day, he formed the MQM-P. Now it is clear who is with the establishment,” Kamal said, adding that MQM-P leaders had been feeding ‘half-lies’ to media that Sattar had been kidnapped and later made to address the press conference announcing his party’s alliance with the PSP.
Kamal accused the MQM of still being close to the party’s founder, saying that they had not even once said a word against Altaf Hussain throughout the drama that unfolded in past couple of days. “I will end my party and ask my workers to return home … but I will not be a part of the MQM because the MQM was and still is Altaf Hussain’s, and will continue to be … Altaf Hussain is a traitor and a Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent,” he said. “An alliance happens between two parties. If I don’t believe in the MQM at all, how can I forge an alliance with them?” he asked.
Kamal, in a jibe at Farooq Sattar, said that his mother had passed away “but had she been alive, I would have never dragged her into politics.”
Kamal concluded his press conference by once again inviting MQM-P for talks, saying he is ready to hold discussions for the sake of lasting peace in Karachi. “There is no deadlock … we are ready for talks,” he said.
Published in Daily Times, November 12th 2017.
