KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain said late on Monday night that he saw a martial law in the country under the umbrella of the Constitution and appealed to the public to remain indoors after midnight today, DawnNews reported.

The MQM chief, in an interview to a private news channel, said the need of the hour was the sacrifice of one's ego and added that stubbornness could not save Pakistan.

He said that he saw bloodshed in the country if the government and protestors did not budge from their positions.

Earlier today, Altaf Hussain had directed MQM’s senior members and parliamentarians to reach Islamabad and hold meeting meetings with political and religious parties on emergency basis.

Speaking to Rabita Committee members and parliamentarians on Monday morning in Karachi, Hussain said, “The country is passing through a difficult time and the next 72 hours are very important … So MQM’s senior members and parliamentarian should use all their capabilities to steer the country out of political crisis.”

The MQM chief had made an appeal to scholars of all schools of thought and people to make special prayers for the welfare of the country.

Central Information Secretary for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Senator Mushahidullah Khan, talking to DawnNews said that his party had always advocated peace and never spoke of committing any bloodshed despite the use of bad language against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

He further said that had there been any ego issues then the rallies would not have been allowed to depart from Lahore in the first place.

He added that five demands put forward by Imran Khan had been accepted and the sixth one would be accepted if the rigging charges were proved.

Talking about the incumbent government's performance the Senator mentioned the the law and order situation of the country after launching of the operation against militants in North Waziristan.

He also mentioned an improvement in Karachi's law and order situation and the rise of the rupee value against the dollar.

Talking to DawnNews, Awami Muslim League leader Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said that Altaf Hussain's statement carried weight and added that the MQM appeared in the mood to make a decision within the next 24 hours hours.

He also said that the political situation of the country could turn further tense within the 72 hours.

The AML chief said that the military would have to take a decision in case a clash erupted.

Earlier during the day, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had directed Islamabad's local administration and the law enforcing forces to abide by the Supreme Court’s decision to evacuate Constitution Avenue, large contingents of police and security forces assembled outside the Parliament building.

The top court of Pakistan ruled earlier today that protesters of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) are hindering people’s right to free movement on Constitution Avenue and access to the court.

A five-member SC bench led by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk told the attorney general and lawyers representing both parties to work out modalities to ensure free movement of people in the area by Tuesday.

On Tuesday we want to be able to come to the Supreme Court through Constitution Avenue, TV channels earlier quoted the bench as saying.

Protesters belonging to Imran Khan's PTI and Dr Tahirul Qadri's PAT, camped out in the federal capital's Red Zone for almost a week, have been carrying out a protest sit-in against the government and alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections. Both sides have refused to leave before Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation.