Resignations were MQM’s answer to minus-Altaf formula: Altaf

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief, Altaf Hussain has said that his party was against confrontation and that resignations of the lawmakers represented a response to the minus-Altaf formula.

“MQM is a democratic party and any decision regarding withdrawal of resignations from assemblies would be made after the party’s talks set to be brokered by Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman,” Altaf Hussain said while talking to a private TV channel.

He expressed grief and anguish over the demise of Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada and several other people in a suicide attack in Shadi Khan village of Attock. He sent his condolences to the bereaved family members and the people of Pakistan.

Altaf Hussain had MQM believed in terrorism, the law enforcers would have to face resistance in the ongoing operation in Karachi, particularly, in areas where Mohajirs are in majority. But, no such thing happened, he added.

He said every party has good and bad elements and a process of cleansing has been going in MQM since 1984.

Altaf Hussain said he talked to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman on the telephone and that the latter did present any condition for the negotiations.

He regretted that despite reminders to the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the monitoring committee was not constituted to oversee the ongoing crackdown on criminal elements in Karachi.