KARACHI, July 26: MQM leader Altaf Hussain has accused the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and certain other religious organisations of being involved in acts of terrorism and called for an immediate ban imposed on them.

Addressing party workers on the occasion of the 9th anniversary of the renamed MQM at the Khursheed Memorial Hall, Azizabad, on Wednesday night, he said the arrest of those allegedly involved in Allama Turabi’s assassination and the source of their supplies of ammunition had been traced to the NWFP, the province governed by the MMA of which Amir Jamaat-i-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmad was the chief.

“Ever since this revelation has been made at the state level, Qazi Hussain, Syed Munawwar Hussain, Prof Ghafoor Ahmad and others have become speechless and have no face to show to the people. They never got tired in levelling wild allegations against the MQM, but they now know that they cannot speak lies to the people.”

Mr Hussain also told the countrymen that the signatories to the so-called ‘Meesaq-i-Jamhooriat’ were sworn enemies of each other until yesterday but they had joined hands in a fresh bid to indulge in loot and plunder. He described the Meesaq-i-Jamhooriat as “Mazaq-i-Jamhooriat”, and felt confident that the people of Pakistan would not allow them to plunder the exchequer further.

He wanted to know that who among the two main leaders who signed the charter in London would be the future prime minister of Pakistan and if one of them got elevated to the post, will the other signatory tolerate him or her in the high office?

“This is a million dollar question, the answer to which the countrymen needed badly,” he said.

In the past, he recalled, both these leader had branded each other as ‘security risk’, adding that today, they had joined hands for their sinister motives.

Altaf Hussain made it clear to the government that if the MMA and the religious extremists involved in terrorist activities were allowed to go scot-free, it would be difficult for moderates to operate and guide the destiny of a country which had seen enough of loot and plunder.

He asked people to consider the point that eminent scholars and religious leaders like Mufti Shamzai had been assassinated after the formation of the MMA. “This is a serious statement and needs proper public attention,” he added.

The MQM chief insisted that MMA and other extremist religious parties were involved in suicide bombings in the country. He demanded that the NWFP Assembly be suspended forthwith and Qazi Hussain Ahmad be interrogated after being included in the investigations into the suicide bombings as well as high-profile killings.“These people were in the forefront, rushing Karachi and staging rallies and protests there… but now the world has seen that it is the NWFP under their control which turned out to be the source of all such heinous crimes.” Earlier, Mr Hussain tracing the long, arduous history of MQM – from the APMSO to its present shape since 1978 – paid glowing tributes to those who had withstood all pressures and suffered tyranny but remained steadfast.