Pak sends formal reference to UK govt against MQM chief

Karachi: Pakistan has sent a formal reference to the British government against self-exiled Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain for inciting violence in Karachi last week, interior ministry said on Tuesday.

An official of the interior ministry said the reference was sent by the ministry.

The official said that the detailed reference includes evidences that Hussain had given hate speeches against Pakistan and some media houses and incited his party workers to resort to violence and anarchy.

He said Hussain had as such violated Pakistani laws as well as British and international laws.

The ministry in the reference wants the British government to take action against those who are inciting people to violence in Karachi and creating a law and order situation, he said.

The reference pertains to the speech made by Hussain at a hunger strike camp set up outside the Karachi Press Club on August 22 where he made anti-Pakistan comments and urged workers to go to some media offices and teach them a lesson.

His remarks led to violence and one person was killed and several others injured in the Saddar area where offices of a large media house is located.

DG Rangers Maj Gen Bilal Akbar claimed that MQM unit and sector workers were involved in attack on media house.

The attack was facilitated by MQM Labour Division, he said, adding that it was a pre-planned act.

Since the incident, the paramilitary rangers and police have launched a crackdown on the MQM and razed dozens of its sector and unit offices and sealed hundreds more including the MQM headquarters 90 near Aisha Manzil.

Senior MQM leaders have distanced themselves from Hussain's remarks and the central leadership which ran party affairs from London where the MQM chief is in self exile since 1993.

The MQM emerged as a largely ethnic party in the 1980s. It has political dominance in the southern Sindh province's urban areas - notably in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur where a large number of urdu-speaking people reside.