MQM, PML-Q to stand by each other in Sindh, Punjab
KARACHI: PML-Q and MQM on Friday suggested a joint plan to weed out corruption, improve law and order in the Punjab and Sindh, end kidnapping for ransom and target killings in Karachi, increase security at the borders, and to get rid of international donors’ pressure.
A complete unanimity of views was observed between the two parties on major issues.
This was announced by Deputy Convener of the MQM Rabita Committee, Dr Farooq Sattar, after a meeting with PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed here at the MQM headquarter, Nine-Zero. The PML-Q team was given a rousing welcome. The meeting between the leaders continued for more than an hour.
Chaudhry Shujaat and his colleagues also held a telephonic talk with MQM chief Altaf Hussain. Talking to Ch Shujaat, Altaf Hussain said that the law and order situation in the Punjab was dismal. The provincial government had failed to protect the life and property of citizens.
He said that the Muslim League of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was the lone opposition party that was playing a positive role. He said as long as daring Pakistanis were alive, no compromise could be made on the integrity and solidarity of the country.
Altaf sought Shujaat’s cooperation in the Punjab, and said that now the PML-Q and Muttahida would be the future of the Punjab province. Ch Shujaat told Altaf Hussain that “your voice is of a good-hearted Pakistani’s voice who feels pain for the country.” Dr Farooq Sattar welcomed the PML-Q guests and said there were long-term relations between the two parties. He said the PML-Q and MQM had underlined the need to resolve the problems of the masses at grassroot level.
Sattar said Altaf Hussain had given a certificate to the PML-Q that it was the real opposition and said if there was any leader of the opposition in the country, he was Ch Shujaat Hussain. The MQM leader said that during the talks, the participants expressed their concern over the law and order problem, particularly in Balochistan, rampant corruption, shortage of gas and closure of industries in the Punjab, cases of missing persons in Balochistan, and stressed that a joint strategy be adopted by both the parties in resolving the issues of the people.
Sattar said Ch Shujaat had handed over their five-point agenda to the government and the Muttahida had presented their nine-point agenda to the government. The PML-Q leaders assured of all-out cooperation to the MQM in the Punjab, while the Muttahida will extend full support to the PML-Q in Sindh, and by virtue of this, not only both the parties but both the provinces will get closer to each other and possibilities of misunderstandings and conspiracies will be foiled.
Sattar said it was also decided that through a joint strategy, both the parties wanted to weed out cases of kidnapping for ransom and other crimes. The MQM deputy convener said Altaf Hussain wanted the country to move towards provincial autonomy and economic empowerment.
Later, speaking to the media after the meeting, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that relations between the PML-Q and MQM were being cemented and both the parties would enter the Senate and National Assembly collectively and after this, many would be disappointed.
Shujaat said that the Friday’s talks will show how practical both the parties were. He said many leaders had visited Nine-Zero several times but he had spent several nights here when Altaf Hussain was in Karachi.
Source: Pak Tribune
Date:1/22/2011
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