KARACHI: A day after he called for a separate province for the Urdu-speaking people, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and his top lieutenants took pains to explain on Saturday that no demand for the division of Sindh was made at the public meeting in Hyderabad, the previous day, and that the party only wanted equitable distribution of resources.

Members of MQM’s coordination committee held a press briefing at the venue of a public meeting to be held on Sunday in Karachi’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal area at which they said that Mr Hussain did not want the division of Sindh. But, they added, certain elements by distributing provincial resources in an unjust manner were creating a situation that might force the people of the province’s urban areas to demand a separate province.

Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that the PPP was ruling the province and, therefore, it was its responsibility to stop the division of Sindh. “The ball is in the PPP’s court.”

He said some elements saw Mr Hussain’s love for democracy and Sindh as his weakness. More than half of Sindh’s population was being harassed after Friday’s event in Hyderabad. “We warn these elements to not push the situation to a point of no return,” he added.

Dr Farooq Sattar said that Mr Hussain had time and again openly opposed the division of Sindh and made it clear that he was a son of Sindh. However, it was the PPP which was plotting the division of Sindh by neglecting more than half of the total population of the province.

He accused the PPP government of taking measures against Urdu-speaking Sindhis just to fan hatred among the two ethnic entities of the province.

Aamir Khan lashed out at leaders of Sindh’s nationalist parties, particularly Ayaz Latif Paleejo, and warned that his party was ready to counter any “use of force with force”. “We can sacrifice our life for Altaf Hussain,” he added.

Later in the evening, the MQM chief told his party workers that “agents of the enemies of Sindh are spreading a negative propaganda against MQM and provoking peaceful people”.

He said the people of Sindh would reject such elements and foil their conspiracy to pit them against each other.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Saturday evening, the coordination committee said that the MQM never talked about disintegration of the country and Mr Hussain always talked about strengthening Pakistan.

It also said that the MQM did not support retired Gen Pervez Musharraf and that it only wanted all those who supported Gen Musharraf in imposing emergency should be tried, along with the former president, in the reason case.