Altaf threatens electronic media with public boycott
KARACHI: The London-based chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement on March 11, 2004, threatened the country’s television channels with a boycott for failing, in his opinion, to project the poor people’s cause.
Altaf Hussain was obviously not too happy over the treatment meted out to his party by the electronic media. He served a word of caution to channels that if they failed “to invite the poor people to their programmes, the masses would be constrained to severe their links with them”.
The crowd listening to his fiery speech chanted: “We will do that, we will do that”. The Muttahida leader complained that the electronic media at times behaved in a “most irresponsible fashion”, an example of which was their repeated reference to the PPP and PML(N) as the two major parties of the country.
The channels conveniently omitted all references to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the third largest political party with 18 MNAs, 41 MPAs and 7 senators, said Mr. Hussain.
Their dishonesty, he contended, was evident from the fact that Muttahida meetings and rallies were shown sparingly and the camera work was often appalling. They refused to show the crowd and its enthusiasm, he charged.
Addressing a rally of fruit and vegetable vendors at the New Sabzi Mandi on the Super Highway, under the auspices of the Punjabi Pakhtoon Ittehad, Mr. Hussain asked: “Isn’t it strange that only the influential and the big landlords are invited to talk shows and debates on the electronic media, especially those privately owned?”
He asked why the intellectuals of the country had conveniently ignored the gang rape and murder of Sassi and Hajra in the Karachi’s suburban colony of Gadap. The newspapers published loads of material on the death of a landlord, but tended to downplay the offences against the poor.
When he asked the people whether they would be contributing one rupee each towards the fund for the establishment of a new channel, “dedicated to the cause of the poor and highlighting the misdeeds of Waderas and landlords who refused to allow schools and hospitals to be opened in their areas of influence”, the audience responded in a loud affirmative.
He asked his party’s coordination committee, parliamentarians, and members of the cabinet to pay immediate attention to the demand for the allotment of Sabzi Mandi shops to its genuine owners.
Mr. Hussain also issued a number of directives for the building of flyovers, roads within the Sabzi Mandi and outside it, provision of utilities, and dispensaries for the medical care of the poor vendors.
He said the day was not far off when the middle class segments of the society and waderas would rule a country founded through the will of the people and landlords would be held accountable for their crimes.
He criticized the religious leaders, saying that while they opposed the rights of the woman and issued edicts against a lady being the ruler in an Islamic State, they willingly sat with a female prime minister to “ate Halwa, manda.”
They were deadly against the women’s emancipation and yet sent their daughters to England and America for higher education. Mr. Hussain claimed that the Muttahida’s message had begun to spread far and wide. “Very soon our voice will be heard throughout the length and breadth of the country.”
Source: Dawn
Date:3/12/2004
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