Raza Haroon joins Mustafa Kamal, MQM dissidents

KARACHI: Senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Raza Haroon on Monday announced that he was joining former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal’s breakaway party after arriving from Dubai following a prolonged absence from the local political scene.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Kamal, Anees Qaimkhani, and Dr Sagheer Ahmed at kamal House, Haroon said that the MQM was no longer following the ideology for which he had joined the party.

“When the MQM was formed, it was against feudalism, it was for the middle class rights. All that ideology is lost somewhere,” he said.

“I joined the MQM because I believed in an ideology. That ideology is no more. The middle class members have now become upper class,” he said.

"On March 3, a true patriot stood up to evil, mustered strength and launched a new party," said Haroon referring to Kamal, announcing that he was joining his yet unnamed party.

Haroon said that the MQM had failed to deliver on the promises it had made to the people.

"Why did we (MQM) not move an amendment for the Mohajir quota. All we did was move in and out of coalition while we were in power," he said.

Haroon also criticised MQM chief Altaf Hussain. "The MQM leader uses such foul language, I change the channel when his speech begins, because I cannot hear it with my children."

Quoting the words of the holy Prophet (PBUH), he said: "The worst among you is one from whose tongue other people are not safe."

Like earlier dissidents, Haroon also accused the MQM chief of alcoholism. "Initially his 'happy hour' was only during the night, then it started in the day, and now there is 'happy hour' all day long,” he remarked.

All assemblies in Pakistan have passed resolutions against the MQM chief, he said.

Haroon accused Altaf Hussain of, on many occasions, writing to NATO and UN to send troops to Pakistan for help. "I ask: when will you come to Pakistan? What sort of a leader bashes national institutions?" he remarked.

Talking about a statement by MQM worker Tariq Mir to the London Metropolitan Police, Haroon said that only four people in the MQM knew about the party's links to Indian spy agency RAW. "Mind you, this statement (by Mir) was not under duress as the London police follows human rights laws," he said.

Explaining his two-and-a-half-year absence from politics, he said: "In the first year, I visited Altaf Hussain and asked him questions. But after the money-laundering case began, I stopped visiting him."

"I am a rational mind. Joining MQM was never an emotional decision. Leaving it is not an emotional decision either," he added.

A senior party leader, Raza joined the MQM in 1987 and like many other party activists suffered during a state-sponsored operation in the 1990s. In 1994, he moved to London but returned in 2007. He contested general elections and won a provincial assembly seat in 2008. He served as provincial minister of Information and Technology in 2009.

His long absence from politics in the city had sparked rumours that he was unhappy with several policies of the MQM.