Sattar threatens to reveal Dubai property-holders' names after MQM ouster
''Minus one' was an accident but 'minus two' was being planned for a year,' he said
November 10, 2018
KARACHI: A former top official of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Friday night threatened to disclose the names of people who "have made and owned properties in Dubai".
Addressing a press conference here in the city's Pir Ilahi Buksh (PIB) Colony — his residence — after his unceremonious ouster from the party, Dr Farooq Sattar, the MQM-P's former convener, said the workers' trust had eroded due to the presence of spielers in the Rabita Committee.
"I invite the loyal party workers to leave the Amir Khan group," he said, referring to the group known as the Bahadurabad faction of the MQM.
"I will lay bare the secrets of people [who] have made and owned properties in Dubai in a week," Sattar added, explaining that he had challenged party leaders Amir Khan and Kunwar Naveed Jamil to call a meeting of the workers.
The former MQM-P leader further mentioned that his "fault" was that he "asked members to disclose their sources of income". That, he said, ultimately led to his exit.
"'Minus one' was an accident but 'minus two' was being planned for a year," he said.
Earlier in the day, the political party, already in tatters after having faced internal conflicts recently, issued an official notification to expel Sattar and advised workers via the Rabita Committee, its top decision-making body, to cut communication with him.
The decision was made after the Rabita Committee held an emergency session in Bahadurabad, with Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan saying the party’s rules and regulations were known to everyone and someone flouting them could not stay in the party.
Sattar had previously stepped back from the party matters after he was not issued a ticket for the by-election. He had also resigned from the Rabita Committee last month — something that came in the backdrop of his confirmation that he was consulting with his close friends over an offer he had received from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to join the party.
Differences between Sattar and another party leader, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, had intensified prior to the July 25 general elections, following which the MQM-P was split into two groups — the former's PIB faction and the latter's Bahadurabad one.
Following August 22, 2016 violence in Karachi, Sattar had taken over as the chief of the party's Pakistan faction and severed ties with the leadership in London.
