MQM leader Raza Haroon joins Mustafa Kamal

“I praise Mustafa bhai and Anees bhai for their splendid initiative,” he said while addressing a press conference. He was flanked alongside Mustafa Kamal, Anees Qaimkhani and Dr. Sagheer Ahmed.

“MQM was formed against status quo and feudalism, but the party deviated from its objective to please a single person,” said the former information technology minister of Sindh.

The party was not formed to pacify just one person, he added.

Who is Raza Haroon?

Raza Haroon is a former member of the MQM’s coordination committee. He was elected as MPA to the Sindh Assembly in 2008 and was made minister for information technology.

He later resigned in 2012 after the Supreme Court ruled that legislators who had dual nationality couldn’t hold public office. However, he was re-appointed as an adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister.

He is a graduate of the University of Karachi and the Canadian School of Management.

“Our middle class people have now become members of the upper class”. He said his eyes were opened after March 3 (the day when Kamal had dropped a bombshell on MQM by announcing his disassociation and forming the new party).

Read here: Mustafa Kamal tears apart MQM chief, forms new political party

Without naming the party chief, Haroon said MQM leaders had to issue series of apologies when “happy hour begins during address.”

“You are asking United Nations, Indian spy agency RAW and NATO forces to come to Pakistan and later apologize for those remarks,” he said while referring to the MQM leadership.

He said the entire Urdu-speaking community is not the same…there are a few individual who are defaming the whole community.

He claimed that every MQM man is happy on ban of party chief.

“MQM has pressed ‘self-destruction’ button”

Haroon said ‘minus-one’ formula was being done from within the party. He said: “you have yourself pressed the button of self-destruction’.

He took exception to protests of MQM in Karachi for detention of party chief in London. “Why did they protest outside UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s office in London,” he asked.

The ex-MQM leader stated that there was no assembly in Pakistan where no resolution was passed against the party.

He said MQM was formed in 1984 but they didnt contest elections until 1987. “Same is the case with our party… we are in a phase to mobilize public”

When asked about veracity of the allegations levelled by the dissidents on MQM, Haroon said proving accusations right was the domain of institutions.

Party name to be announced on March 23

Speaking on the occasion, Syed Mustafa Kamal said he would announce name of his party on March 23.

Kamal said: “We would feel accomplished if our struggle saves life of any of the persons in the party.” He reiterated that he was not doing all that on someone’s directions.