NAUSHAHRO FEROZE, April 15: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has announced that he would openly support the presidential referendum if Gen Pervez Musharraf clearly promises to give the provincial autonomy to Sindh and Balochistan.

The announcement was made by him while speaking through telephone to a public meeting in Moro on Sunday.

Criticizing the leaders of the religious parties, Mr Hussain said that they had supported Gen Zia-ul-Haq’s presidential referendum but now they were opposing the same.

Terming the Pakistani establishment “Punjabi establishment”, he said that it had introduced “rule of minority” when East Pakistan was a part of the country and added, “now we demand the rule of minority”.

He deplored that non-local officials were appointed IGPs, DIGPs and DPOs in Sindh and Balochistan and demanded that only local people be given these posts.

He said that now Sindhi and Urdu speaking people were brothers and no one could create misunderstanding between them.

MQM chief said that today’s youth, intellectuals and journalists understood this and they should work together for the common cause.

He repeatedly said that G.M. Syed on different occasions had predicted that Altaf Hussain would fight for the rights of Sindh.

He invited the poor workers of the PPP and other political parties, who had rendered invaluable sacrifices for democracy but got nothing in return, to join the MQM.

He demand of the Sindh governor and President Gen Pervez Musharraf to release JSQM leaders, Basheer Qureshi and Niaz Kalani, immediately.