MQM did not send us any material: HRCP
KARACHI: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has stated that the MQM did not send it any material and that the phone calls that were made on May 9 and May 10 were made in an attempt to persuade the MQM not to take a confrontational stance.
The HRCP said that it welcomes comments and critique on all its reports. The MQM’s Farooq Sattar made some baseless allegations against the HRCP and its chairperson during a press conference, Vice Chairperson Kamran Arif said Wednesday in a statement.
He said that the reports compiled by the HRCP are independent of all influences and are not initiated at the behest of any group or individual. “The HRCP believes in collective decision-making by its representatives and those associated with the fact-finding process. All credible information is included,” he said.
He said that Sattar claimed that the MQM had sent some material to the HRCP, but, the HRCP has received no such material. Arif also rejected the allegations put forth against the HRCP chairperson, alleging that contact was made on May 11 warning the MQM of bloody ethnic violence. “This is also baseless. It is amazing that the MQM found it fit to disclose such a scandalous fact only after the publication of the HRCP report,” he said.
He explained that in several HRCP meetings, and other organizations, fears of the possibility of a nasty confrontation were expressed. These “fears,” he said, were based on the “troubled political history of Karachi and the press reports and information of the MQM having hastily called back its ministers from abroad”.
He said that it was in this context that the HRCP chairperson was asked to call the MQM and dissuade it from taking a confrontational position. Two phone calls were made — one on May 9 and the second on May 10.
Since the MQM claims that it has a recorded tape of the conversation, the HRCP has urged it to put it on record without any editing so that the entire exchange can be put into context. He said that the HRCP’s calls were made in an attempt to try and persuade the MQM to abandon its confrontational stance.
The HRCP has demanded investigations into the killing of innocent people and those responsible be brought to justice. “Militant politics are unacceptable,” he said. ppi
Source: Daily Times
Date:8/30/2007
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