HYDERABAD, March 18: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain has demanded that the government should resolve Waziristan and Balochistan issues through talks and ensure transparent distribution of relief goods and money among quake-affected people.

He was speaking at a gathering of workers in the Pucca Qilla ground on Saturday to mark the 22nd founding day of the MQM.

He asked party leaders to organize a conference on Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and said 2006 should be celebrated as the year of Shah Latif in recognition of his services. He opposed retrenchment of employees of the Habib Bank and cautioned the government that the MQM would resort to strong protest if privatization of national enterprises continued at the cost of jobs of workers.

The Muttahida chief claimed that the middle class of Sindhis was with him and they would not fall prey to conspiracies of feudal lords. He asked the MQM leadership to organize a public meeting of Sindhis.

He said intellectuals should be invited to the Shah Latif conference. He said the MQM belonged to Sindh which was the land of peace and brotherhood and that it stood for religious tolerance and harmony among different communities.

Mr Hussain rapped nationalist leaders for launching what he called a propaganda that Sindhis were being displaced in Karachi and said the action had been taken against land mafia and encroachers and the city district government had also acted in a similar manner against Urdu-speaking people having unauthorized constructions in North Nazimabad. “I appeal not to get hoodwinked at their hands because we are struggling for rights of downtrodden people and imparting education in rural Sindh,” he said. He said his party wanted to ensure equal employment opportunities and progress in rural and urban areas.

He announced that the MQM would participate in the general elections in 2007.

He called upon the privatization commission not to sack workers of government and semi-government institutions of the country while privatizing them, adding that the MQM was not opposed to privatization but it was unacceptable at the cost of jobs of people.

Mr Hussain exhorted party workers not to get complacent and spread the message of the party in every nook and corner of the country. He claimed that the day was not far when MQM flags would be flying in every part of the country.

He was critical of looting spree and burning of vehicles during protest against publication of blasphemous cartoons. He claimed that the MQM was the only party which had sent middle class people to parliament.

The Muttahida chief criticized nationalists for opposing repatriation of stranded Pakistanis while maintaining a silence on the stay of Afghanis and people from the other provinces.