KARACHI: The Mutta­hida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has organised a rally in support of the recent verdict of the apex court that restored the National Assembly and vowed to make a comeback in the next general elections.

A large number of MQM workers and supporters, including women and children, took out small rallies from different parts of the city and converged at the Ayesha Manzil traffic intersection in Federal B Area late on Saturday night.

Chanting slogans and dancing to the tunes of party songs, the MQM-P worker were full of praise for the Supreme Court that had declared the ruling of the deputy speaker and subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly illegal.

The party said it had accepted the results of 2018 general elections despite the fact that its mandate was forcibly “snatched” and it waited for more than three years for justice with the people of urban Sindh.

Accusing its former coalition partner Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of betrayal, the party leaders believed that the decision to part ways with the federal government proved that MQM-P took a right path, as otherwise it would have been counted among those who defied the Constitution.

Speaking to the participants of the rally, MQM leader Amir Khan said that “all experiments” had failed and each one of them had proved that only MQM-P was the true representative of Karachi and its people.

“We tried to convince everyone but our argument was labelled as ethnic one,” he said. “It’s not the ethnicity. We are true representatives of Karachi and its people regardless of their ethnicity, language, religion, background or culture.”

“When we talk about urban Sindh it means every single person living in urban Sindh regardless of his /her ethnic origin. But it’s better late than never. The national political leadership has finally accepted this demand. They have realised that we [MQM-P] are right. And it’s all because of your [workers] patience and sacrifices,” he said.

He also questioned the Jamaat-i-Islami and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) for criticising MQM-P’s deal with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

He asked the leaders of the two parties as to why they were criticising the MQM-P when they already had made similar agreements with the same party that has been ruling the province for the past 14 years.

“I wonder how the Jamaat-i-Islami and PSP are criticising us for signing a pact with the PPP when they had already done the same,” said Mr Khan. “They had celebrated and offered prayers when the PPP had agreed to shake hands with them. Now they are criticising us.”

He said their criticism was only because they knew they would get no seats in the election if the MQM-P was given its due political space in the city.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2022