KARACHI: The Mutta­hida Qaumi Movement-Pak­istan (MQM-P) on Sat­ur­day announced postpo­nement of their prolonged sit-in on the main Fawara Chowk scheduled to begin on Sunday against “unjustified delimitation, fake voters’ list and less count of population in the National Census 2017” on the ‘req­uest’ of authorities amid security concerns for Pak­is­tan International Mari­time Expo and Conference (PIMEC) and 8th Multi­nat­ional Maritime Exer­cise Aman-2023.

However, the party admitted that the fresh decision would affect its principled stance to gear up its protest campaign against non-implementation of “Charter of Rights” it had signed with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after quitting the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government and joining the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) through vote of no confidence in April 2022.

The development came after back-to-back meetings of Sindh Governor Kam­ran Khan Tessori with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and MQM-P leadership were held. By the evening, the governor managed to convince the MQM-P to reach a decision and make it public.

Addressing a press conference with the Sindh governor at the party’s temporary headquarters in Bahadurabad, MQM-P convenor Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui announced the postponement of the sit-in with a message that the protest would return once the naval exercise was over. “We have always seen Pakistan as our first and last priority,” he said.

Warns of resuming protest after Aman-2023 maritime exercise if its demands not met

“We know the significance of this naval exercise and are aware that people from 58 countries are participating in this event. So we have decided to postpone the tomorrow’s [Sunday] sit-in. But at the same time, I have requested the governor to convey our message to the chief minister that we would soon be announcing a fresh date [for sit-in] and this time we would not go for any dialogue with the Sindh government. We have done enough talks. Now we have decided to get our rights only through protest and public movement,” he said.

The Sindh governor said that he had spoken to PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and both of them agreed to address the legitimate grievances of the party.

He hinted at a breakthrough between the two sides, saying he was informed by the provincial administration that a ‘draft’ had been prepared for implementation of all agreements between the two sides and soon it would be shared by the MQM-P leadership.

“As you all know that I was associated with the MQM-P and it’s the party that had nominated me for the office of the Sindh governor,” said Mr Tessori.

“I have already made it clear to the Sindh government that the MQM-P is no more interested in talks and they only want results. So I have been informed that homework on implementation of all conditions which were agreed between the MQM-P and the Sindh government is almost done. The draft is being prepared which would be shared by the MQM-P. So I hope that things would move forward.”

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2023