-- MQM reacts strongly as PTI chief terms Altaf 'psychopath' and seeks to split party into pro-, anti-Altaf groups
The report was submitted to the Sindh High Court (SHC) by an additional attorney general, along with a statement of the deputy assistant judge advocate general of Rangers, Major Ashfaque Ahmed, last week. Speaking at a press conference here, Imran lashed out at MQM chief and vowed to move the court once again for his alleged involvement in setting the factory ablaze which claimed over 200 innocent lives.
The promise of legal action against Altaf is the latest of multiple similar declarations issued by Imran in the past. The PTI chairman had once made a similar commitment to launch a legal battle against Altaf in Britain but then he remained tight-lipped on the issue. He also demanded that all those involved in the Baldia Town inferno and the Model Town massacre should be tried in military courts.
Imran also declared the PTI would no longer participate in any forum that included the MQM. "We will take Altaf Hussain to court in London...the time has come for the people to stand up against his terrorism," he added. He said the accusations against the MQM were very serious and the prime minister should take action on the matter. "Nawaz Sharif has so far done nothing, but the time for action has come...the prime minister is duty bound to take action but he seems busy in wheeling-dealing to save his chair," he added.
"The Baldia Town factory was set on fire for its refusal to pay extortion money," the PTI chief said, adding that, "The government must take action on the JIT report... the people involved must be brought to book and punished". Imran also called upon members of the MQM to part ways with their leader, saying everybody in MQM is not a terrorist as there are some good people as well but they are really helpless before one man.
Strongly reacting to the allegations levelled by PTI chief Imran Khan against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, the local leadership questioned the moral character of the PTI chief, asking him why he had always sought MQM's support for the success of public gatherings in Karachi. "One could not forget the Sita White affair of Imran Khan that his daughter is still waiting for justice," said Haider Abbas Rizvi, member of the co-ordination committee. He was addressing a news conference at party's headquarter Nine Zero here on Monday.
Flanked by Dr Farooq Sattar and other party leaders, Rizvi termed the PTI a political faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Expressing full confidence in the leadership of Altaf Hussain, Rizvi said those are considering "minus-one formula" for MQM are actually living in fool's paradise. He termed Imran Khan's speech against MQM an act aimed at incitement of violence. "Imran Khan's speech against MQM is conspiracy to undermine the national consensus against terrorism developed after the Peshawar school tragedy, "he added.
Speaking on the Baldia Town Factory tragedy, he said, MQM is being charge sheeted once again at the time when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif are due to visit Karachi to review the ongoing Karachi operation against terrorists. He asked: "How many times did PTI chairman Imran Khan visit the bereaved family members of the Baldia Town fire incident?" He said the APS tragedy provided Imran an 'opportunity' to end his failed sit-in in Islamabad. He said that the "illicit and immoral" activities had been widely reported by national and international media.
He also termed Imran Khan a drug-addict or consumer of illicit drugs. "What had happened in PTI's sit-in was reported by media as women were repeatedly disgraced in his protests," he further said. "Scotland Yard will not act on your whims and wishes for it's no election tribunal for NA-122 constituency," he said in response to Imran's plans to visit the UK against Altaf Hussain.
"Activists of PTI attacked PTV and their cases are still pending with anti-terrorism courts," he said. Terming 9th February, 2015 "a black day" in the history of Pakistan, Rizvi nursed ambitions to become a prime minister by hook or by crook. He said that PTI never lodged an FIR against the murder of its woman party leader Zehra Shahid. "Imran Khan did not event visit her house after her brutal murder while present in the city," he added. MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar also spoke on the occasion.