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KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said on Saturday that conspiracies were being hatched to topple the elected government and vowed that his party would protect the democratic process in the country.
Addressing a workers’ convention by phone from London, Mr Hussain said it was the democratic right of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to lodge a protest against or criticise the policies of President Asif Ali Zardari but while doing so one should demonstrate respect for the office of the president and refrain from using derogatory language.
A large number of MQM supporters had gathered in Karachi and 33 other cities and towns across the country to listen to Mr Hussain’s speech.
The MQM chief condemned the PML-N for using objectionable language against the elected president.
He assured people that MQM along with the Pakistan People’s Party would safeguard the democratic system.
He said the MQM would hold a rally in Karachi on Sunday in protest against the derogatory language that was used against President Zardari by the PML-N leaders at their public meeting in Lahore on Friday.
He said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had made a joke of Habib Jalib’s famous poem, as he himself lived in a palace unlike the poet who was the voice of the common man.
“Criticism is the democratic right of the PML-N but they should check their tongue, otherwise we know how to hold others’ tongue,” he warned.
Mr Hussain appealed to the PML-N leadership not to cross the limits for the sake of democracy. “Tomorrow if you want to hear mild response then start behaving and stop crossing the limits.”
He appealed to the leadership and workers of the PML-Q, PML-Functional, the PPP, religious and political parties and “the Haq Parast workers and leaders of the PML-N” to attend the MQM rally on Sunday to convey a message to the conspirators that they did not want derailment of the democratic process.
Mr Hussain asked the MQM workers and office-bearers to collect hides of sacrificial animals on Eidul Azha for the Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation in a disciplined manner.
