MQM-London rejects Muhammad Anwar’s ‘baseless and fabricated’ allegations

LONDON: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) London faction on Sunday denied the 'baseless' and 'fabricated' allegations of MQM’s veteran leader Muhammad Anwar which were made during his interview on Geo and The News, causing ripples in Pakistan.

At Altaf Hussain’s North West London home, MQM leaders Nadeem Nusrat and former Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad met to review the scenario after Anwar, in an interview told this correspondent, alleged he had provided funds to the MQM leadership from the Indian government.

The former head of the diplomatic wing of the MQM and a member of the party's Coordination Committee, Anwar had alleged that the MQM had been receiving funds from the Indian government and he was asked by its leadership to coordinate with Indian contacts to receive it.

Anwar denied having anything to do with the murder of Dr Imran Farooq and said that it was Nusrat who introduced him to an Indian diplomat in the early 90’s.

After the meeting at Altaf Hussain’s House, MQM London issued the following statement: “The Coordination Committee of MQM has strongly denied comments made by Mr Mohammad Anwar against founder and leader Mr Altaf Hussain and MQM. The allegations levelled by Mr Mohammad Anwar in his interview with Mr Murtaza Ali Shah of Geo TV are baseless and fabricated. These allegations are not new for MQM because since inception it has been facing such kind of fabricated and malicious propaganda and has always rejected them in the strongest terms.”

Read also: Muhammad Anwar says MQM received funding from India

Speaking to this correspondent from Washington, Nusrat said he “rejected the baseless allegation”.

He said it was not possible in a country like Britain to force someone for a meeting with anyone against his will as the law protects any such actions.

Nusrat, who ceased all relations with Altaf Hussain around three years ago and left for Washington from London, claimed his group Voice of Karachi had raised issues of urban Sindh at the international level, highlighting injustice against the Urdu speaking Sindhis and that had earned him enemies who were trying to discredit him.

The struggle for the rights of urban Sindhis, he said, will continue.

Ibad denies Anwar's MI6 allegations

Former Sindh Governor Ibad spoke to this correspondent from Dubai and denied that he had told Anwar that the MI6 had passed him photographs of him.

Anwar had told Geo that Ibad repeatedly told him that British spy agency MI6 had provided two pictures allegedly showing him meeting with two suspected killers of Dr Imran Farooq in London. He said Altaf then sent Tariq Mir to Karachi to bring the two pictures and it turned out that both pictures were photo-shopped.

“Why would MI6 give any pictures to me? Nothing of this nature ever happened as such,” Ebaad said.

Anwar’s revelations made headlines in Pakistan because of his profile as the head of MQM’s diplomatic mission.

In an exclusive interview with The News and Geo at his home in Edgware London, Anwar revealed that “it was sometime in the early ’90s when Nusrat came to me and told me that he would like me to meet an Indian diplomat. He asked me to meet the Indian diplomat alone but I refused and told him that he should accompany too. It was at 7 o clock in the evening and it was raining heavily that day. Nadeem Nusrat, on my insistence, went with me to the meeting but stood outside the venue.”

Anwar had said he told the Indian diplomat that he would discuss issues with him only in the presence of his senior, Nusrat. The Indian diplomat told Anwar he had instructions only to speak to him and not to anyone else. "I told him that I will not speak to him on my own. After making a call to someone and after about half an hour’s argument, he received permission and then Nusrat joined us too. This is how I got connected.”

Anwar said that it was never his decision to meet Indian diplomats and deal with them. “I confirm that I was obeying orders of the party. I was asked to do what I did and I was connected by MQM with the Indian contacts. I never had any vested interests. We were towing the party line on India."