KARACHI: MQM chief Altaf Hussain reinstated 19 party members on Sunday evening after they submitted apology letters.

The MQM chief has suspended the members including Nasreen Jalil, Dr. Saghir, Haider Abbas Rizvi and Abdul Rasheed after they failed to carry out the responsibilities and tasks assigned to them.

Altaf asked the party members to understand their responsibilities and take care of the family members of the MQM martyrs.

The reinstated members include Kanwar Naveed, Nasreen Jalil, Haider Abbas Rizvi, Mumtaz Anwar, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Kahaful Vohra, Tauseef Khanzada, Syed Shakir Ali, Saif Yar Khan, Adil Khan, Khalid Sultan, Nisar Punhwar, Yousuf Shahwani, Aslam Afridi, Amin-ul-Haq, Ahmed Salim Siddiqui, Abdul Rasheed Godial, Ashfaq Ahmed Mangi and Adil Siddiqui.

Earlier, a statement on the party's website said the members were suspended for their negligence in party affairs.

MQM Chief Altaf Hussain called a meeting of London and Pakistan Rabita Committee to oversee party matters on Sunday morning.

However, at the time of the meeting when the London secretariat inquired about the presence of party members at Nine Zero, they were told that only night shift members were present which included Deputy Conveners Nusrat Shaukat, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and another member of Rabita Committee.

Sources in MQM, however, cited other reasons for their suspension.

They said that rifts among the members on different issues and low collection of Zakat and other funds during Ramazan were among the major causes for suspension of the Rabita Committee members.

They said that the funds collected during Ramazan were lower than last year and the coordination committee members were directed to visit party offices to increase it.

However slackness from them failed to raise the amount, which prompted Altaf Hussain and the Rabita Committee in London to suspend them.