KARACHI, Dec 21: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement's founder, Altaf Hussain, has advised President Gen Pervez Musharraf "not to repeat the mistakes of General Yahya Khan, and take steps to stop the negative propaganda against the MQM".

Speaking to party cadre telephonically, text of which was released by the party headquarters, Nine Zero, on Monday, Mr Hussain said: "If the scholars of Punjab will insist on Greater Punjab on the basis of same language and culture of East and West Punjab, then we also have the right to speak of Greater Sindh on the same basis, i.e. language and culture."

But he made it clear that he and his party couldn't even think of acting against the country, created by our ancestors. Mr Hussain declared categorically that Pakistan was created as a result of sacrifice of two million lives. "We are the generation of the creators of Pakistan, we cannot think of working against the country.

All our energies will be utilized unconditionally for the sustenance, security and development of Pakistan," he said, while urging the public not to pay attention to the negative propaganda against his academic discussions.

Mr Hussain said that Sindh should be given total autonomy, and elected representatives should be allowed to run the provincial affairs, adding that decisions about Sindh should no more be made in Islamabad.

He said the Pakistan People's Party had been in power twice, but it never convicted anyone for the murder of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, adding that the day the MQM would be in power, it would certainly bring murderers of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Murtaza Bhutto to justice.

Mr Hussain said that despite all the hurdles and obstacles, the MQM's elected representatives were working day and night for the development of the city, but their efforts were being ignored and credit was being given to others.

Elaborating, he claimed that the MQM's representatives had worked for years on the Karachi Mass Transit programme, and Sindh governor had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Chinese firm in this regard, which was supported by the Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, but suddenly, on recommendations of the bureaucrats from Punjab, the MOU was cancelled, and the decision of Sindh was nullified, while the contract for this important project was being awarded to another company.

Mr Hussain said that he was branded as an enemy of Pakistan and demand was being made to implicate him in a treason case, adding that he never bothered about the cases against him, and he would keep on bringing facts to light. He said he was being opposed by the same elements, who had declared Mujeebur Rehman and the Bengalis as 'traitors', when they were not.

Mr Hussain said that had a lesson was learnt from the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971, Baloch people would not have been bombarded in 1973, the army operation would not have been launched in the rural and urban Sindh in 1983 and 1992, respectively.

Mr Hussain alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched against the MQM by some 'secret powers', underworld criminals and religious extremists, to crush the party. Mr Hussain said that India and Pakistan were independent sovereign countries, and they should accept each other's existence and should resolve their differences by peaceful means rather than war.

He said if the people of Sindh considered Bhutto's hanging an atrocity, then for how long they would continue to bring such party into power, which always traded the 'murder' of Z. A. Bhutto.