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MQM threatens to quit govt, seeks action against ANP
KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Coordination Committee,
taking strong exception of the May 12 holiday announced by the
government, lashed out at President Asif Ali Zardari for “failing to
part ways with the criminal elements”.
It threatened that if the Sindh government did not detach itself
from the “criminal elements” of the Awami National Party (ANP), the
MQM would be left with no option but to quit both the provincial as
well as federal governments.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, the Coordination Committee
demanded action against the ANP for allegedly supporting and
protecting the Taliban in Karachi. It demanded of Chief of the Army
Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI chief Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha
to take action against certain bigwigs of the PPP government in
Sindh, alleging that they were extending open support to the ANP
“which is involved in land grabbing and armed activities”.
The committee asked why the ANP did not have the courage to give a
strike call in the NWFP where their own leaders were murdered, but
they were adamant to observe strike in Karachi. The committee
demanded of the government to declare holidays on October 31,
December 14 and December 27 when the Urdu-speaking people were
murdered.
It said that during a one-to-one meeting with MQM chief Altaf
Hussain, President Asif Ali Zardari was apprised of all the details
of the ANP activities and he had given assurance of taking action
but nothing had been done so far. The committee claimed that drug
dealers and land grabbers were still active in Karachi and there was
no one to stop their activities. The committee reiterated that
President Zardari had failed to stop the illegal activities of these
elements, while the Sindh chief minister announced a public holiday
on May 12 on the demand of the ANP. The committee asked why only
Karachi had been made the stage of all such activities and not the
NWFP, where the ANP leaders were being murdered.
The
News: Staff Report:Monday, May 11, 2009 |
