HYDERABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (Baha­dur­­abad group) senior deputy convener Amir Khan has said that Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) has been created by the establishment to divide Mohajirs.

“Thieves, [those of] china-cutting fame and characterless people are dreaming of leading Mohajirs,” he remarked while speaking at an Iftar dinner hosted by the party’s local chapter in Latifabad on Friday evening. He said Mohajirs would not vote for these people despite the establishment’s support for the PSP.

Reminding party workers of the controversy over MQM-P tickets for Senate election, Amir Khan said it was for the first time that voting was held within the party for a ticket and Kamran Tessori stood sixth but Dr Farooq Sattar insisted on awarding ticket to him. He said his [Bahadurabad] group did not malign anyone but Dr Sattar and Mr Tessori resorted to character assassination.

Amir, Nasreen Jalil, Subzwari opt for staying out of election

He said Mr Tessori lied that it was he who got the party’s zonal office in Hyderabad reopened. “MQM-P is not that weak that it could not get its offices reopened,” he said.

Mr Khan said Dr Sattar was still welcome to retain office of the party’s convener though it was performing well without him. He said that now the authority for awarding party tickets and seats, as well as its registration, rested with three different people. He rejected Dr Sattar’s claim of having the authority to award tickets, reminding him that it was Dr Nadeem Nusrat who being the convener had authorised him [Dr Farooq Sattar] to “issue” tickets.

Amir Khan also warned the Hyderabad mayor and deputy mayor to mend their ways or face action, saying that in the other case party would have to take some decision [against them].

Speaking about his Feb 17 visit to Hyderabad, Mr Khan said he had met office-bearers of the party’s district chapter to dispel the impression of a division within the party. “Unfortunately, one member bugged the deliberations through his mobile phone in order to enable Kamran Tessori, who was sitting in Karachi, to hear the proceedings”. The Bahadurabad group’s deputy convener, Kanwar Naveed Jamil, observed that some short-sighted people tried to portray the party as a spent force but people of Hyderabad could not be hoodwinked. He said the MQM-P was here to stay.

Senior party leader and former leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hassan said that the party’s office-bearers were ready to give up their party positions for the sake of unity. He said it was “a fight for the survival of the nation rather than party positions”.

He said that if any party position became a cause of litigation, then such position should be given up. He said that Amir Khan, Faisal Subzwari and Nasreen Jalil had decided not to contest the elections.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2018