KARACHI, July 13: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement persisted with its corner meetings on Wednesday in its bid to ensure peaceful local body elections and nullify the alleged conspiracies of the religious parties to vitiate the atmosphere. On the second day of its mass contact campaign, the MQM held corner meetings in New Karachi Town and Gulberg Town where MNA Haider Abbas Rizvi, Abdul Waseem, Nisar Panhwar, Rehana Nasreen and heads of the town committees appealed to people to vote for Haq Parast candidates in the upcoming local bodies elections. In Landhi, MPA Talib Imam also made the same appeal and guided people how to exercise their right to franchise.
The MQM leaders informed them about “the conspiracies hatched by religious parties” and cautioned them not to be misled by such parties’ negative propaganda.
They pledged that Haq Parast members would serve the people with full vigour and responsibility after being elected.
In Gulberg Town, corner meetings were held at Dhobi Ghat and Roshan Bagh where local people expressed their full support to Haq Parast candidates. Addressing them, MQM leaders expressed their confidence that Haq Parast candidates would achieve an unprecedented victory.
Ms Rehana Nasreen of the MQM women wing addressed a corner meeting at the women park in block 2, Federal B Area, and also went door-to-door to campaign for Haq Parast candidates.
The mass contact campaign in Liaquatabad Town was initiated in MQM unit 156. Provincial minister Shoaib Bokahri visited Moosa Colony and met representatives of Asadi, Memon, Punjabi and Bengali biradris and sought their support. He assured them of initiating new development schemes for their wellbeing.
MMA CRITICIZED: MQM MPAs have deplored that by holding an all- party conference in Multan, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had shown its bias and enmity against Karachi.
In a statement, they said that as long as the City District Government Karachi was in place, Niamtullah Khan always praised this city and pretended to be the champion of its cause. But the moment the CDGK was dissolved, his and Jamaat-i-Islami’s anti-Karachi bias was exposed “as they launched a massive propaganda against this city by portraying a horrible picture of it.”
In this context, they quoted Niamatullah Khan expressing concern over law and order situation in Karachi and fearing that the city would plunge into another bloodbath during the upcoming local body election. This statement was made when certain experts had arrived here to look at the security arrangements for the scheduled visit of the England’s cricket team. Following that statement, England declined to play here, they claimed.
They alleged that in Multan also, the JI and Niamatullah Khan had spitted venom against Karachi. If they really had sympathy for Karachi, they should have organized their APC in this city and invited representatives of Karachi, they argued.
