KARACHI, Dec 12: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has refused to side with the government on Kalabagh dam or any other issue which was against the interests, hopes and aspirations of the people of Sindh.

Addressing Haq Parast parliamentarians on Monday, Mr Hussain said that the MQM stand was clearly understood by all sections of the Sindh population, including intellectuals, writers, columnists, teachers, historians, critics and political analysts, who all were aspiring for progress and prosperity of their province. They were also been witness to the firm stand taken by the party on other crucial issues, like the NFC Award.

He said the MQM had taken a principled stand on the question of the award, and stuck to it. No other political party had taken such a principled stand on the subject before, he said.

He felt happy that conspiracies of the past to create urban-rural divide in Sindh and widen the gulf between them had not only been foiled, but the unity that existed among them today had never been seen before.

Altaf Hussain said that people of Sindh had seen through the game and were no longer willing to fall in the trap of the conspirators.

He said that Urdu-speaking Sindhis on the MQM side were equally sincere, loyal and faithful like the old Sindhis, who had made the province their abode centuries and thousands of years back. “They know well that they have to live and die, and sink and swim together. Their destiny lay with the survival and progress of the province,” he remarked. It should, therefore, be very clear that MQM would oppose Kalabagh dam and all other projects which the majority of the people of the province did not approve or against which they had reservations.

He directed party workers, whether Urdu-speaking Sindhis, Sindhi-speaking Sindhis, Punjabis, Baloch, Pakthoon, Seraikis, or Kashmiris, to fan out to every nook and corner of the province to convey the MQM message, and ask people not to give weight to conspiracies, disinformation or propaganda which would obviously be aimed at destroying their unity and undermining their interests.