Warns that Pakistan is at a ‘critical crossroads’ and urges political parties to address growing political instability
MQM-P President Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui addresses a press conference at the party headquarters in Bahadurabad, Karachi on Sunday, accompanied by senior leaders Syed Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar, Aminul Haq, Anis Kaimkhani and others.
“Pakistan defeated India this year; now is the time to defeat its representatives,” Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, president of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), said on Sunday.
Referring to the events of August 2016, when the MQM-P abandoned its founder, Siddiqui said: “The MQM kept the sanctity of the state above personality; the PTI people will have to decide who is greater, their leader or the country.”
MQM-Pakistan coordinator Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui warned that Pakistan is at a “critical crossroads”, urging political parties to jointly address what he described as growing political instability and alleged foreign interference in national affairs.
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He spoke at a packed press conference at the party headquarters in Bahadurabad, accompanied by senior leaders Syed Mustafa Kamal, Dr Farooq Sattar, Aminul Haq, Anis Kaimkhani and others.
Dr Siddiqui claimed that the MQM-P had been deprived of its “true representation” in the 2018 elections, when its 14 seats in the National Assembly in Karachi were reduced to four. Despite this, he said, the party chose “legal and political” paths instead of confrontation.
He alleged that a “concerted campaign” was being carried out against the country and called on the government to identify and act against those involved. “Political parties must sit together and expose anyone working against Pakistan,” he said.
Referring to India, he commented: “This year we defeated India and now we will defeat their representatives too.”
Dr Siddiqui added that the MQM-P “never put any individual above the State”, distancing itself from its former founder. “If the PTI believes that its leader is bigger than Pakistan, it has to take a decision,” he said.
‘The army belongs to the entire nation’
Senior deputy convener Syed Mustafa Kamal accused the PTI and its leaders of “defaming the Pakistan Army globally” and trying to demoralize the institution. He said the military had shattered India’s “ambitions for regional dominance”, despite facing a much larger adversary.
“The army is not the property of any party; it belongs to the entire nation,” Kamal said. He urged PTI supporters to review their political strategy and said that criticizing military leaders simply because they “do not act according to the wishes of a party” was unacceptable.
Kamal added that even after facing “serious accusations,” the military still chose dialogue. “Ask the families in Karachi who spent years searching for their missing loved ones. You are lucky that the state is still talking to you,” he said.
‘The narrative constructed from prison is dangerous’
Dr Farooq Sattar said the PTI founder had been removed from office through a constitutional process and the PDM government was formed democratically. “His policy revolves solely around hostility towards the army,” he said, criticizing the language allegedly used by the KP prime minister.
He said the narrative emerging from prison was “something only a mentally unstable person could construct.” “His ego cannot be put above national security and unity,” Sattar said.
Referring to the post-Pulwama crisis, he questioned why the PTI government released Indian pilot Abhinandan. “Your own MNAs who attended a briefing at the National Defense University were labeled traitors, why?” asked.
The press conference was attended by members of the coordination committee, MNAs, AMP and officials from various wings of the party.
