Protest to continue until Altaf's safety assured: Sattar

Published June 4, 2014
Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Farooq Sattar. — File photo
Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Farooq Sattar. — File photo

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Farooq Sattar said Wednesday that the party would continue its protests until the government did not obtain a guarantee from its British counterpart that their chief who had been arrested by authorities would be protected, DawnNews reported.

The MQM leader said Hussain’s health was his biggest concern at the moment.

He also said that no charges had been pressed against the MQM chief, adding that detention without charges contradicted the tenets of justice.

Sattar said nobody could be arrested for questioning in Britain.

He also refuted the news that Hussain’s bail application had been rejected, saying that it was simply a baseless rumour. He said lawyers representing Hussain would submit a bail application today.

Sattar said several of the country’s top political leaders had expressed solidarity with MQM, adding that everyone had declared the matter as that of a sensitive nature.

The MQM leader said Karachi’s traders and transporters had also promised them full support.

Later, speaking to DawnNews, Sattar warned that if their chief was harmed while being held in custody by British authorities, then the matter would slip out of control.

He demanded of the government to obtain Altaf’s life assurance from its British counterpart while underscoring that if anything were to happen to the party chief, then it would be difficult to handle matters.

Sattar said the British authorities should either register a case against Hussain or terminate the case based on evidences provided by the MQM.

He said the party had donors in Karachi who would go to court and record their statements.

Opinion

Editorial

Reserved seats
Updated 15 May, 2024

Reserved seats

The ECP's decisions and actions clearly need to be reviewed in light of the country’s laws.
Secretive state
15 May, 2024

Secretive state

THERE is a fresh push by the state to stamp out all criticism by using the alibi of protecting national interests....
Plague of rape
15 May, 2024

Plague of rape

FLAWED narratives about women — from being weak and vulnerable to provocative and culpable — have led to...
Privatisation divide
Updated 14 May, 2024

Privatisation divide

How this disagreement within the government will sit with the IMF is anybody’s guess.
AJK protests
14 May, 2024

AJK protests

SINCE last week, Azad Jammu & Kashmir has been roiled by protests, fuelled principally by a disconnect between...
Guns and guards
14 May, 2024

Guns and guards

THERE are some flawed aspects to our society that we must start to fix at the grassroots level. One of these is the...