KARACHI: A massive rally organised by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement on Sunday appealed to Lahore High Court to review its order through which the court imposed a ban around four months ago on telecast of party chief Altaf Hussain’s speeches.

One of the speakers at the programme warned that people’s emotions could not be controlled if the ban was not lifted by Jan 27 when the LHC took up the matter again.

A large number of people, women and children included, reached the M.A. Jinnah Road near the Quaid’s mausoleum from different city areas to participate in the demonstration.

Carrying placards and portraits of Mr Hussain, the participants shouted slogans against media blackout of their leader and the court’s decision and demanded an immediate end to the curb that, they said, restricted his freedom of expression.

Mr Hussain also spoke at the rally by phone from London and appreciated his workers and supporters for expressing solidarity with him.

Speaking on the occasion, senior MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar said that the huge rally was itself a rejection of the ban on Mr Hussain.

Referring to Article 19 of the Constitution, he said the ban on the media to not telecast Mr Hussain’s speeches and photographs was in violation of the fundamental rights of a Pakistani citizen. “The haq parast people do not recognise any decision to silence the voice of their leader... People have declared that the media ban is unconstitutional and undemocratic,” he said.

He said that a certain mindset was plotting against Mr Hussain by working on ‘minus-one formula’. “This mindset is not ready to stop although everyone knows the huge mandate the party has got in the local government elections belongs only to Altaf Hussain,” he said.

MQM leader Syed Shahid Pasha appealed to the LHC to withdraw the order and said that MQM would adopt all democratic means to protest against the ban if the court did not lift it on Jan 27.

Other speakers said that a cleric was challenging the state in Islamabad and he even refused to recognise the Constitution of Pakistan but the government never even tried to ban his tirades.

They said the MQM would hold a countrywide protest if the ban was not lifted. It would be very difficult to control sentiments of public if the media blackout of their leader was not lifted, they warned.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2016