KARACHI, Nov 16: The founder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain on Thursday lambasted the so-called champions of Islam for opposing the women rights bill, and announced that a rally will be held in Karachi on Friday to celebrate the occasion.

He also asked the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) to desist from resorting to strike or street agitation because such an exercises would be stoutly resisted.

“The MMA should hang its head in shame for refusing to resign from assembly seats,” he told a huge crowd at the party’s nerve center “90” to congratulate the people on the adoption of the historic women’s rights bill by the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The crowd chanted slogans of down with “mullahism” and “down with fake maulvis” and danced with joy as Mr Hussain gave details of the long struggle his party had gone through for women’s emancipation in Pakistan.

He said the MMA which had been threatening to resign their parliamentary seats in case the bill was passed, had gone back on its words. “We in MQM never believed in their threats. We knew from day one that the threats will ever materialize.”

Mr Hussein alleged that mullahs, fake maulvis, and MMA have been speaking lies. They wanted to play on the sentiments of the people but were never really sincere in their approach to solving the legitimate problems of the people, he said.

“If any attempt is made to organize strike or street agitation by the MMA, people of Pakistan would foil these attempts, he said, and made it clear that his party would stand in the way of attempts to deny the womenfolk their rights guaranteed by the society and the religion.He said MQM had often been dubbed as anti-Islam, but he wanted to know from the people and the critics as to how a party which comprised 98 per cent Muslims could have an anti-Islam people.