KARACHI: Accusing the Jamaat-i-Islami of having links with Al Qaeda and Daish, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has said that the country will suffer if action is not taken against the Taliban and Daish.

Addressing a press conference at the party’s Nine Zero headquarters here on Sunday, MQM leader Wasay Jalil alleged that the government was deliberately ignoring the threat posed by the ISIS.

Criticising a recent statement of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in which he denied the presence of the ISIS in Pakistan, Mr Jalil said that the ISIS graffiti and posters could be seen across the country, including Lahore.

He urged the interior minister to tell the nation who were behind the graffiti and who were supporting Daish in Pakistan. It was quite clear, he said, that those who subscribed to the ISIS ideology were behind the wall-chalking campaign.

The MQM leader also criticised former JI chief Syed Munawwar Hasan for stressing the need for promoting the jihad culture. He referred to media reports that some suspected militants recently killed in a drone strike in the tribal area had ties with the JI.

Mr Jalil alleged that Mr Hasan’s statement and the killing of militants were enough to prove that the JI was closely linked to Al Qaeda and the ISIS.

He said that MQM chief Altaf Hussain had in 2008 warned against the threat of Talibanisation in Karachi, but no-one had taken it seriously at that time.

He said that now Mr Hussain had warned the nation against the ISIS threat and it was for people to form neighbourhood watch committees to keep an eye on extremists and terrorists living in their midst.

Mr Jalil called upon the president, the prime minister and the army chief to take immediate steps to meet the threat posed by the ISIS.

When asked if the MQM wanted a ban on the JI, he only said there were several religious parties in the country but action should be taken only against those who had been found to be cooperating with extremist and banned organisations.

Published in Dawn, November 24th , 2014