MQM must clear itself of charges: Asif

Khawaja Asif said the party cannot absolve itself by making Press statements and dismissing them as mere table story or recalling the charges it faced in 1992.

Islamabad — Defence and Power Minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif has that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) must clear itself of allegations made in a BBC report.

Reacting to the revelation made by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Wednesday that the MQM ‘received Indian funding’, Khawaja Asif said the party cannot absolve itself by making Press statements and dismissing them as mere table story or recalling the charges it faced in 1992.

“It is not 1992 but rather 2015 and the MQM has to prove its innocence,” he said being the first cabinet minister to offer comments on the BBC special documentary.

“Just issuing a statement that the BBC report is a table story is not sufficient,” he said and demanded that the party has to clarify its position in London by suing the BBC. The libel laws in the UK are very stringent, he added.

The minister said if allegations levelled in the BBC news story against the MQM proved correct then the party will have to face consequences, adding that if it is proved that MQM got funding from India then there will not be any difference between India and MQM.

Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Pervaiz Rashid said the government was examining the BBC report regarding the MQM.

“The government will decide about the future course of action after thoroughly examining the BBC report,” he said while talking to a couple of news channels.

The Foreign Office, he said, was also examining the report. “Allegations by the BBC against the MQM should be investigated,” said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s spokesperson Jan Achakzai.

He said India is involved in an organised proxy war in Pakistan, from Balochistan to Karachi to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), and RAW, India’s spy agency, has cultivated proxies and was providing funding, logistics, travel documents and training.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Ameer Sirajul Haq said the BBC report is sufficient enough to open the eyes of rulers.

He said in a statement that the rulers had been turning a blind eye towards the MQM during the last three decades due to political considerations. “The silence of rulers had entrapped our biggest city [Karachi].”

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