KARACHI, June 11: Alleging that criminal elements involved in extortion and kidnapping for ransom “are being harboured and funded” to crush his party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain asked the government and state institutions on Monday to “accept the reality and stop all conspiracies” against the MQM.

He said instead of accepting the MQM’s mandate, conspiracies were being hatched to limit it by arming its enemies so that they could kidnap innocent people and MQM workers and then slaughter them.

Mr Hussain was speaking by phone from London to a gathering of students organised to mark the 34th foundation day of the All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation (APMSO) here at the Jinnah ground.

He said Karachi had been made the centre of criminal elements and conspiracies against the MQM. “Karachi is the commercial centre of Pakistan, but here shops and business centres are being attacked with hand-grenades. There should have been firm action against criminals, but the operation was stopped midway and now the criminals are roaming freely.”

He said that there was no part of the country that was not disturbed. “The seeds of secession taking roots in Balochistan call for bold steps. People are on the streets in Punjab and it appears that the country is heading towards destruction, but the rulers are adamantly following their oppressive policies of subduing people by brute force of the state.”

Mr Hussain said the country had paid dearly for ridicule of voters’ mandate, recalling the dismemberment of Pakistan. “We are walking on the same path because we are still doing what we had been doing in East Pakistan. Mandate of people is not being accepted.”

Addressing the Pakistan People’s Party, Mr Hussain said that its leaders should keep in mind that they could not do anything without the MQM. “Your government will fall if the MQM parts ways,” he added.

The Muttahida chief reiterated his stance that the MQM did not want division of Sindh.