KARACHI: In a bid to pacify the sentiments of its workers over the Sindh home minister’s diatribe against the party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement has given a 10-day deadline to the Pakistan People’s Party to distance itself from the views expressed by Dr Zulfikar Mirza.

Otherwise it will consult its workers before deciding whether or not to part ways with the government.

According to a statement issued here on Wednesday, an emergency meeting of the MQM coordination committee took place in Karachi and London simultaneously.

The meeting reviewed the latest political developments, separation of the JUI-F from the coalition, the attitude of the ruling party towards MQM, the “biased and provocative speech” made by Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza and the Muttahida’s efforts for promoting sectarian harmony during Muharram.

The MQM condemned the “unwarranted inflammatory speech” of Dr Mirza and “baseless allegations” made against the party, terming it a conspiracy to sow seeds of hatred between the permanent residents of Sindh and a nefarious attempt to divide the province.

The participants wondered that “if the bigoted and inflammatory speech of the home minister is not the policy of the ruling party, why no notice has been taken by President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani so far”.

The meeting unanimously called upon the PPP leadership and its central executive committee to clarify whether the “inflammatory speech of the Sindh home minister and the repulsive language used by him were his personal opinion or had anything to do with the party. In case of the latter, MQM will be free to take a decision about remaining in the coalition by consulting its workers, office-bearers and the public”.

The meeting termed the departure of the JUI-F from the ruling coalition its democratic right and called upon the People’s Party to treat allies as equal partners.

It further asked the government to remove the reservations of the allied parties.