ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti on Tuesday demanded that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) be banned in the wake of the recent allegations leveled by BBC against the party.

Responding to a question during a press conference held in Quetta, Bugti said: "I was the first person to publicly announce the involvement of Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) involvement in Balochistan and now RAW's involvement has been proven in the BBC's documentary on MQM."

The provincial home minister was flanked by Commander Southern Command Lt. Gen. Nasir Janjua, Inspector General of Balochistan Police Amlish Khan, Inspector General Frontier Corps (FC) Maj Gen Sher Afgun and other officials.

According to the report published by the BBC, which quotes an unnamed "authoritative Pakistani source", officials in MQM have told UK authorities that they received Indian government funds.

"The Muttahida Qaumi Movement should be declared a terrorist organisation. The BBC documentary has levelled serious allegations against MQM and the party should be outlawed in my view. Conspiracies to destruct Pakistan are evident not only in Balochistan but in Karachi as well."

Know more: India provided funds to MQM, claims BBC report

Earlier, president of the Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) Ayaz Latif Palijo demanded that the government impose a ban on the MQM in the wake of the BBC's allegations.

A Sindhi nationalist leader, Mr Palijo had stated in a press conference that the BBC report proved that MQM was against Sindh and Pakistan. He had also announced to launch a campaign calling for a ban on the party.

Will the government take action?

In response to the BBC report, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Pakistan will formally write to the United Kingdom and seek ‘access to facts’ revealed in a BBC report accusing the MQM of receiving funds from India.

He said it was the UK’s responsibility to assist Pakistan in this sensitive matter.

However Shaikh Rohail Asghar, a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA, told Dawn.com the government would take action against MQM if the British government officially endorses the allegations leveled against the party.

He said that since BBC is a British state-run channel and Altaf Hussain is a British citizen, "we are looking towards the British government to take a lead in this regard."

Asghar was of the view that the government doesn’t want to repeat the 'Jinnahpur' episode where allegations were leveled against the MQM and then withdrawn.

MQM defends itself

As calls to ban the MQM grow, party supremo Mr Hussain came forward to defend his party and himself.

In a telephonic address to party workers, the MQM chief said conspiracies were being hatched against him and “concocted so-called confessional statements” were being issued to malign the party.

Meanwhile, MQM leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan on a DawnNews show said that the BBC story was aired under an agenda. “BBC has been moving two kilometers ahead of Scotland Yard. The Met Police has not issued any statement,” he added.

He said that the BBC is not a credible news organisation.

He added that the MQM has faith in Pakistan's judiciary and institutions, and that he hopes they probe the matter. "Any miscreants should be brought to justice."

"No one can single out an entire political party," he said.

'Shots in the dark'

On the legal aspect of the demand, renowned Supreme Court lawyer and ex law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha in an earlier interview with Dawn said, “One needs witnesses, either in the form of personal accounts or legally verifiable documents, to prove a claim. Until that happens, neither government can take action against Mr Hussain and his party over these allegations.”

Read: ‘Allegations against MQM meaningless without proof’

He termed the latest revelations “shots in the dark” and said that a story based on anonymous sources carries absolutely no weight in a court of law.

He was of the view that the charge of receiving funds from an enemy country is quite serious and, if proven, can land Mr Hussain and his party in serious trouble. “But all this has to be proven in a court of law,” he said.

“Accusations against political parties are not new in our part of the world. In our country, we hear stories of various entities receiving financial assistance from Saudi Arabia and Iran day in day out, but I don’t recall any cases being filed based on these reports.”