KARACHI, March 1: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain said on Wednesday that his party would nominate Sindhi-speaking candidates in Karachi in the elections to be held in October this year.

Addressing an annual convention of the labour division of the MQM in Karachi on telephone from London, he linked the implementation of this announcement with the party’s participation in the elections.

He said the steps was aimed at bringing down the differences and confusions between the two communities of Sindh which, according to him, had been divided by the establishment. He said it was time for both the communities to join hands in the larger interest of Sindh.

He said he had met the late nationalist leader G.M Syed in 1980s with the a view to developing better relations with the Sindhis, but same vested interests foiled all such efforts.

“Even then I continued my efforts and now I am happy that the differences between us have reduced greatly”, he said.

He expressed his sorrow over the killings of Sindhis and Muhajirs during the 1980s by what he called the “agents of the establishment” and asked the people to learn lessons from the past experience and not to fall prey to such conspiracies.

Altaf Hussain sought cooperation from the Sindhis to counter the growing influence of “anti-Sindh” elements in the province and said that the Muhajirs had “done their duty by washing out all such elements from Karachi”.

He criticized the role of former rulers who, he said, did nothing for Sindh and exploited it for their own interests.

He also praised the late Murtaza Bhutto and lauded his “services for the betterment of the country”.—PPI