Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi asks if TLP can be restored then why not MQM: sources

• Sources quote Khalid Maqbool as saying, “when TLP can be restored then what is MQM's fault".
• Akhter demands PM Imran Khan take a summary of MQM’s issue to the Cabinet.
  

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ISLAMABAD: MQM-P’s parliamentarian leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi has said that if the status of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) can be restored then “what is MQM’s fault” [that it cannot be unbanned], sources said Monday.

Sources privy to the matter added that the statement was made when the matter of the TLP’s de-proscription was brought under discussion during the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Monday.

“When TLP can be restored then what is [MQM's] fault,” sources quoted Khalid Maqbool as saying.

They said that the MQM-P leader referred to the clashes between police and TLP workers during recent protests in Punjab, saying that the “terrorist act of applauding [at a rally] is not bigger than martyring police officials”.

'MQM is a political party'

Speaking at the meeting, MQM-P leader Waseem Akhter said that “the MQM is struggling to resolve the issues of its people”, adding that workers of the party have been facing cases for the last five years but the party itself wishes to play its role on a national level.

“MQM is a political party but our offices are closed,” said Akhter.

He further said that there is a "sense of deprivation due to the closure of party offices."

According to Akhter, “MQM”, as an ally, has supported the PTI in every situation, whether good or bad, in the last three years.

“Thousands of workers are booked in false cases just for clapping [at rallies],” he said. “But MQM’s case is clear; it is an ally of the government.”

Akhter said that he believes that the TLP issue was settled amicably and demanded that PM Imran Khan take a summary on MQM’s issue to the Federal Cabinet.