According to details, MQM’s Member of Provincial Assembly Bilquees Mukhtar joined the ranks of Pak Sarzameen Party, as she was seated next to Mustafa Kamal during his press conference. Bilquees became the first woman to join Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party.
Press confrence of PakSarZameen Party pic.twitter.com/4YyCFUljea
— Syed Mustafa Kamal (@SyedMKamal71) April 6, 2016
Kamal hailed Bilquees during his press conference and hailed Mukhtar for being one of the very first members of the Rabita Committee.
“I used to remember how she used to wear joggers all the time since she was leading women’s rallies and campaigns all over the city,” he said.
Kamal also lashed out at MQM and said that the party was busy in issuing fake press releases from Pak Sarzameen’s name. Mustafa Kamal also said that him and his party was receiving a lot of support from Pakistanis.
“Just like out letterhead, there is also one other forged letterhead which is doing the rounds,” said Kamal. “People from all over Pakistan are coming forward to join us in droves.”
He also said that Pak Sarzameen Party and its members were not stooges of the establishment.
“We do not have the support of the establishment behind us,” he said. “If we did have establishment’s support, Nine Zero would have been sealed by now. We would have been sitting at Nine Zero and in sector offices. Massive fighting and bloodshed would have begun,” said Kamal.
Bilquees Mukhtar also spoke at the press conference and stated that she decided to join the party when she heard Kamal and his supporters speak the truth.
“These people and I have come forward to save the future of our women and children,” she said. Addressing MQM, she said “You promised us you would provide us with an identity, a community and a purpose. What identity did you provide us with? Target killers and agents of RAW? You pushed us ahead and we went further for you. What did you give back to the mothers and sisters who gave their future for you, rather than raise their own families?” she asked.
She also said that women who had supported MQM in the past days were now supporters of the party no more.
“Where are those women who used to support you back in the day, the same women who were beaten up with sticks and horses were run at them at Regal Chowk? Where are the women today who sacrificed their sons for your cause, watched them get arrested and injured by the police?” she asked.
She also said that she had cried a lot when Saulat Mirza was hanged and subsequently disowned.
“I cried a lot when Saulat Mirza was hanged,” she said. “And you disowned him in an outright manner by calling him a terrorist. These people that you called criminal used to be your asset at one point in time,” she said.
She also criticised the MQM chief for his language during his live addresses. “You have used such embarrassing and derogatory language in public that, leave aside our mothers and sisters, even respectable men of the household can’t repeat those words,” she lashed out.
Before ending her speech, Bilquees announced that she would resign from the post of Member of Sindh Assembly and would also give up her membership of Muttahida Quami Movement.
“We gave thirty-two to thirty-three years of our lives saying “Hum Na Hon Hamare Baad, Altaf. Now we will say Ham Na Hon Hamare Baad, Pak Sarzameen Shad Baad,” she said.
Mustafa Kamal, whose earlier press conferences have disclosed defections from the MQM in the form of dissident members such as Dr Sagheer Ahmad, Members of Sindh Assembly Iftikhar Alam and Waseem Aftab as well as former Rabita Committee member Raza Haroon.
Kamal’s earlier press conferences have been held on Mondays and Thursdays at mostly three p.m. and resulted in desertions from the MQM.
Just a couple of days earlier, former MQM member Muhammad Ali Brohi left his party and joined the ranks of Mustafa Kamal and his newly-formed political party, Pak Sarzameen Party.
Mustafa Kamal, who announced the name of his political party on March 23 this year, made an explosive entry into Karachi’s political scene when he conducted a press conference early last month and alleged that MQM chief Altaf Hussain was an agent of Indian intelligence agency RAW. Kamal also blamed Altaf for being responsible for the deaths of thousands of Urdu-speaking people in Karachi.
Pak Sarzameen Party has opened offices in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas as well. Pak Sarzameen Party activists were pelted with stones by MQM workers a couple of days ago. It is being expected that another MQM defection is likely to join Mustafa Kamal and his Pak Sarzameen Party today during the press conference.
