Former Karachi mayor and a once beloved ‘son’ of Muttahida Qaumi Movement supremo Altaf Hussain Mustafa Kamal said on Friday he was not against the party or any person.
“We are not against any political outfit or person, neither are we worried about including any big names in our organisation,” the former mayor said while speaking to media.
In a fiery press conference in Karachi, the former mayor lashed out at the party supremo, accusing him of links with India’s premier spy agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), and using his workers to foment terrorism in the metropolis.
“We would not want to label anyone as being loyal to MQM or being a traitor to the party, Kamal added.
“ Anis Qaimkhani and I are not scared of death,” Kamal said when asked if they had any security concerns.
“We have security concerns just like anyone else in the country,” he added.
When asked about his response to MQM’s press conference in rebuttal to his, Kamal said, “We wish that those deteriorating law and order in the city may find the right path.”
The former mayor also said that he does not intend to move the court against Altaf Hussain, saying, “Media already has all the evidence against [the MQM chief].”
“We are receiving unbelievable amount of response from all over the world and every nook and corner of the country, we apologise for not being able to respond to each and every person right now,” the former mayor concluded.
Further, while responding to a question Anis Qaimkhani denied that he was behind the fire that broke out at Baldia Town factory.
During his press conference on Thursday, accompanied by former deputy convener Rabita Committee Anees Qaimkhani, Mustafa Kamal also announced to form his own political party and detailed its manifesto.
Besides accusing Altaf Hussain of having a hand in Karachi unrest and training his men from Indian RAW for the purpose, Kamal said MQM chief did not learn to be of service to his people, even after PTI gained significant votes from the party’s strongholds in 2013 elections.
Responding to the tirade, MQM’s London and Karachi leadership termed the statement “a move to divide the party” and vowed that a “minus-Altaf” formula will not be accepted.”
The leadership also urged that “establishment should refrain from providing refuge to those working for a divide in the MQM.”
Once a close confidante of Altaf Hussain, Mustafa Kamal ‘disappeared’ from the country’s political scene and went abroad silently in 2013 citing personal issues.Former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader and a once beloved ‘son’ of party supremo Altaf Hussain, Mustafa Kamal has announced to establish his own yet-to-be named party after blowing the whistle on Karachi’s most powerful political leader in a dramatic two-hour-long press conference.
In an unprecedented tirade against Altaf ‘Sahib’ (a notable departure from ‘Bhai’), Kamal accused him of working against the State and deceiving the people of Pakistan.
“Today we are launching a new political party,” a weeping Kamal said at a news conference. “Children have been slain and generations have been destroyed by Altaf Husain. This is my challenge.”
He was accompanied by senior leader and former Rabita Committee deputy convener Anees Qaimkhani.
“We intend to build a local government system in the country, independent from the provinces, with the powers reaching even the smallest union councils.”
He unfurled Pakistan’s flag and termed it “new party flag”.He denied being supported by the establishment. “I am not working on anyone’s agenda.”
Kamal served as the mayor of Karachi from 2005 to 2009. In August 2013, he quietly left the country, moving first to Tanzania and then settling in Dubai, informing party leaders through emails that he had left because of his wife’s illness and personal problems.
Days later, Qaimkhani also followed Kamal’s footsteps to Dubai. According to news reports, Qaimkhani left the party and the country after MQM chief Altaf Hussain criticised and rebuked him over Kamal’s departure.
“This is my first press conference since I left MQM,” Kamal said while addressing the media at his DHA residence in Karachi on Thursday.
The former Karachi mayor said he wanted to apprise everyone why they left the country in 2013, why they have come back and what they plan to do next.
“In 2013, for the first time a non-Urdu speaking party, PTI, received a number of votes in MQM strongholds,” he said. “We thought, the MQM chief would learn from this and correct himself but he did not.”
But instead, the MQM chief threatened to attack innocent PTI workers sitting at Karachi’s Do Talwar, he continued.
“The MQM chief has never learnt from past mistakes and will never change.”
“We told Altaf Hussain not to issue such remarks but since he has never accepted his mistakes, he disrupted the party structure on May 19, 2013 while he was drunk,” the former Karachi mayor continued.
The MQM supremo drank heavily and bluffed while he was in that state of mind, claimed Kamal.
“Is this what the Rabita Committee was designed and created for? To furnish excuses for Altaf Hussain’s bad words uttered on the media?” he questioned.
“For the last 30 years, just to save Altaf Hussain’s dignity and prestige, we kept on defending him despite all.”
“Let me tell you why I, specifically, left the party. I was scared, I was so scared that God knew what I was doing and that I could not stop all that had been happening. I thought that to keep myself at the minimum level of Iman [faith] I can at least distance myself from all this mess,” he continued.
“Our conscience had awakened and that is why we distanced ourselves from the wrongdoings,” Kamal added. “I also knew myself and my family had life threats and that we would be killed if we opposed Altaf Hussain.”
And it was then when Allah bestowed His blessings upon us that we understand that decisions such as life and death are with Allah and not with Altaf Hussain, he added.
The former Karachi mayor also claimed that “everyone knew Altaf Hussain’s people from the Indian and South African ‘setups’ were involved in killings in Karachi”.
I did not have any money nor any property, perks or privileges that I would worry about keeping and it was easier for me to wave goodbye to everything, he said.
Links with RAW
“Everyone from the establishment to those at the helm of affairs knew very well that Altaf Hussain had links with Indian spy agency RAW,” he alleged.
The first proof of Altaf’s links with India’s premier spy agency emerged when Scotland Yard found evidence from Dr Imran Farooq’s house after his murder, he continued.
Kamal said the “MQM has been taking funds from Indian spy agency RAW for the last 20 years.”
“We were a patriotic community, now we are called RAW agents.”
Delving into details regarding Scotland Yard’s questioning of MQM leaders, Kamal said, “Scotland Yard questioned Muhammad Anwar, Tariq Mir and Altaf Hussain and presented all the documents bearing witness to Altaf Hussain and other MQM leader’s relationship with RAW.”Politics over bodies
“Altaf Hussain wants establishment to kill innocent people so that he can play politics over dead bodies. But we have come to make people aware of the scheme,” the former Karachi mayor added.
He also questioned who made Saulat Mirza a murderer. “Who asked Saulat Mirza to kill Shahid Hamid?”
He broke down mid press conference and said party workers were not originally from RAW, but were made to work for the spy agency after they became members of MQM.
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