KARACHI: Declaring that no one can separate Altaf Hussain from the party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has said it will hold a rally in the city on Tuesday to express solidarity with its London-based chief.

“We will remain peaceful and not respond to hate with hate as per the teachings of our leader,” MQM leader Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said in his address to workers who gathered at the party’s Nine Zero headquarters on Monday night to protest PTI chief Imran Khan’s remarks against their leader.

Also read: Imran vows to take Altaf Hussain to court, again

“We will hold a historic rally from Ayesha Manzil to Mazar-i-Quaid and the people of Karachi will show their love for Altaf Hussain,” he added.

Earlier, the MQM came down hard on the PTI chief for his diatribe against Mr Hussain and said it appeared that his allegations were part of a conspiracy against the Muttahida.

Speaking at a press conference, MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi said the PTI was a “political wing of the Taliban” as it never condemned their terrorist activities and instead wanted to open an office for the Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the PTI had tried to hatch a conspiracy to disrupt peace in Karachi, but workers of the MQM and the people of the city foiled this plan through “their patience and unity”.

Condemning what he called the abusive language used by Mr Khan against the MQM chief, Mr Rizvi said the PTI chief should do some soul searching before levelling allegations against Mr Hussain. “We condemn and reject all accusations of the PTI chief. Imran Khan is part of a big conspiracy that aims at destabilising the political system in the country,” he added.

He said the PTI had no problem with the MQM and sought “our support whenever it holds a public meeting in Karachi”.

He claimed that Mr Khan had not even visited the families of the victims of the Peshawar school carnage. He was in Karachi, but did not even bother to attend the funeral of his party’s leader Zehrah Shahid, the MQM leader said, adding that the PTI did not even lodge an FIR over the killing of Ms Shahid.

He said the PTI chief wanted to become prime minister at any cost and to destroy a national consensus against the Taliban and militancy. Mr Rizvi asked what steps the PTI had taken for the victims of the Baldia Town factory fire.

Dr Farooq Sattar said the MQM and Altaf Hussain were one and the same and any attempt to dissociate him from the party would never succeed.

Rauf Siddiqui said the MQM was not interested in sitting with the PTI at any forum.

The MQM workers, including women who gathered at the Nine Zero chanted slogans against Imran Khan and remained there for hours. They dispersed peacefully after Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announced that the party would hold a rally on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play