KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain said on Wednesday that Nine Zero was not a holy place but the residence of a political leader and he had no objection to a recent Rangers raid there.

Speaking from London to a big gathering at the Karachi’s Jinnah ground to commemorate the 31st foundation day of the MQM, he said the Rangers should have obtained a search warrant from a judicial magistrate before raiding his residence and his sister’s house.

The MQM chief against whom a colonel has lodged an FIR for threatening the Rangers personnel who raided the Nine Zero clarified that he never threatened the Rangers personnel.

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He criticised all those who were considering his ‘complaints’ as extending threats and asked them as to why they remained silent when other politicians used even harsher language.

“Did Imran Khan not challenge the writ of the government? Did he not order his Tigers to attack the police? Did Shahbaz Sharif not threaten to drag then president Asif Ali Zardari on streets? Was it okay for them to say such things?”

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He paid rich tribute to MQM worker Syed Waqas Ali Shah and alleged that he was killed by the Rangers when he tried to save the party’s women workers during the raid on Nine Zero.

Referring to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s criticism, he said the allegation of using derogatory language for the armed forces was untrue.

He said the government could take wherever it wanted the text of his speech as he had never threatened anyone.

He said the MQM neither had any militant wing nor had any unlicensed weapons.

Published in Dawn March 19th , 2015

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