KARACHI, Aug 12: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain said on Sunday that citizens of Karachi and its businessmen had been left at the mercy of extortion mafia. And people at the helm of affairs were maintaining a ‘criminal silence’ on the ‘hidden support’ being enjoyed by the extortionists.

He was speaking from London by telephone at the annual relief programme of the Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation, the charity wing of the MQM, at the Jinnah Ground.

Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, diplomats, businessmen and other personalities attended the programme.

Mr Hussain said the country would never be strong if it supported terrorists. “The authorities should stop supporting terrorists.”

Referring to the law and order situation in the country, particularly in Karachi, he said that most businessmen were shifting their capital and leaving the country and those still living in Pakistan were demanding arms licences for their protection.

He said that members of the Hindu community living in Sindh were also migrating to India due to a sense of insecurity among them.

He asked the armed forces, the Inter-Services Intelligence, Rangers, police, the judiciary and political and religious parties to sit together and make efforts for making Pakistan a prosperous and peaceful country.

The MQM chief said that supporters of the government as well as the judiciary were right and therefore both the institutions should accept each other for the continuity of democracy in the country.