Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has called a joint sitting of the AJK Assembly and the AJK Council here on Friday to express condemnation of an alleged provocative and anti-state speech of Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain.
A day before the joint sitting, protest rallies would also be held at all district headquarters of AJK on Thursday against the Britain based MQM leader on the call of Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, according to an official handout issued here on Monday.
On the advice of Mr Majeed, his Minister for Finance, Chaudhry Latif Akbar, had submitted a resolution against Mr Hussain in the Legislative Assembly secretariat, the handout added.
It said that Mr Majeed had given an “ultimatum of 72 hours” to the two MQM ministers in his cabinet “to dissociate themselves from Mr Hussain.”
There was no clarification as to how the ultimatum had been conveyed to the MQM ministers and what action would be taken if they did not comply with it.
It may be mentioned here that the two MQM lawmakers – Tahir Khokhar and Saleem Butt – have been elected for the second consecutive term from the constituencies of Kashmiri refugees in Pakistan, mainly Karachi.
The MQM has been an ally of the Peoples Party led government in AJK from the inception of sitting assembly in 2011. In October last year, the party announced that its members would quit the AJK government like that of Sindh in protest against PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s outburst against Mr Hussain.
The announcement made by MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar notwithstanding, resignations of his party’s ministers in AJK remained a mystery for a long time, as neither the government accepted nor publicly rejected the same.
The duo did not surrender the perks and privileges admissible to cabinet members for a single day. But while Mr Khokhar stopped taking interest in the affairs of his transport ministry, his colleague continued to organise different events and programmes to promote sports and Kashmiri culture under his sports, youth and culture ministry.
In the handout, Premier Majeed said further stay of MQM ministers in his cabinet would be tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of Kashmiris, who were fighting Indian rule in the held territory while waving Pakistani flags.
While praising the armed forces as defenders of the honour and integrity of Kashmiris and guarantors of the stability of Pakistan, Mr Majeed maintained that the ‘venomous propaganda’ by Mr Hussain against the armed forces and other national institutions amounted to commission of treason, which no patriotic Pakistani could tolerate.
He asserted that PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari had upheld party’s tradition to offer sacrifices for the supreme interests of the country, and added that it was under Mr Zardari’s reconciliation policy that MQM was taken in the folds of AJK government in 2011.
However, ironically when Zarb-e-Azab and Karachi operations were launched by the army to purge the country of the menace of terrorism, “Mr Hussain was seen siding by the anti-state forces,” the AJK premier said.
He said people of Kashmir who had already declared Pakistan as their ultimate destiny could not afford any conspiracy aimed at weakening the country.
When contacted by telephone, Mr Khokhar took strong exception to the statement of Mr Majeed and said the PPP had no right to dictate to the MQM ministers about their political affiliation.
“This is a childish rather (sic) cheap move on the part of the AJK government… They have resorted to it to please some institutions and to cover up their corruption,” he said.
Mr Khokhar said he had come to know about the ‘ultimatum’ from some TV channels, and as yet he had not received anything from the government in black and white.
"Why is he giving ultimatum, he should take action whatever he wants," he said.
Tariq Naqash
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