‘Path against humanity’: Mustafa Kamal recalls his affiliation with MQM
In an exclusive interview with Dialogue Pakistan, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Mustafa Kamal talks about Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Sindhudesh, the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and many other issues.
Speaking to our host, he said it was the path for the destruction of humanity while terming his affiliation with MQM as ”havoc” as he alleged people were killed on the basis of their ethnicities and languages.
“20 to 22 people were killed on daily basis,” he leveled serious allegations against his former party. He further added that the seeds of hatred had been sown in the city.
In 2016, MQM’s once blue-eyed mayor, Mustafa Kamal officially parted his ways with the party and launched his own political movement—Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP)—with the slogan of Izzat–Insaf—Ikhtiyar (Respect – Justice – Authority), for every citizen of Pakistan.
Earlier, Kamal had served as the mayor of Karach under the MQM when the party allied with the former president Pervez Musharraf– the country’s fourth and last military ruler.
He was widely praised for transforming the city while being recognised internationally during his five-year tenure as the mayor. He was also the member of Senate of Pakistan before resigning in 2013 as he left Pakistan due to “personal reasons”.
It was the starting point of the differences between Mustafa Kamal and his political saint or “Pir Sahab“, Altaf Hussain–the MQM supremo.
After three year, Mustafa Kamal returned back to Karachi and announced the formation of PSP as he heavily criticised Altaf Hussain and his party.
It was the time when the MQM was expressing its concerns regarding the ongoing operation against terrorism–targeting its workers and offices in Karachi, media trails, and judicial activism.
The PSP soon welcomed many of MQM’s leaders and worker as the latter accused its new-born offshoot for working under the patronage of the security forces who, according to MQM, were threatening its workers to either join PSP or face arrest.
In August 2016, MQM further broke down into two factions: MQM-Pakistan (currently an ally of federal government) and MQM-London (a banned organisation run by the party’s self-exiled founder, Altaf Hussain), following the incidents of August 22 which led to the unrest in Karachi.
Two years later, the PSP contested the 2018 general election in which it was unable to secure any provincial and national seat. However, the PSP chief has already challenged the PTI’s mandate in Karachi and raised concerns about the transparency of the election.
Watch Dialogue Pakistan’s full conversation with PSP chief and former Mayor of Karachi Syed Mustafa Kamal.
