Altaf Hussain doesn't represent all Urdu-speaking Pakistanis: Munawar

LAHORE: Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s London-based leader, Altaf Hussain, was not the representative of all the Urdu-speaking (migrant) Pakistanis, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawar Hasan said Saturday.

"After the partition of sub-continent in 1947, Muslims migrated to Pakistan and not to any particular province", said he in a statement issued here.

He said Urdu-speaking people were 'ideological' --implying that they followed the 'Ideology of Pakistan' or two-nation-theory, according to which, Muslims of pre-partition India were one big homogeneous nation without any ethnic distinctions.

Hasan asserted that Urdu-speaking people would never let Pakistan fall apart and these separatist calls were nothing but pursuance of Indian agenda.

"Demanding a separate province was tantamount to Balkanization of Pakistan. And dividing Pakistan further will only play into Indian hands", JI leader said.

Hasan also alleged that Altaf Hussain had strategically timed this particular statement in order to gain some vested interest.

"MQM leader's statement comes at a specific time and was aimed at achieving certain specific goals", said he.

Hasan said that it was not the first time MQM supreme had demanded a separate province.

"Dozens of similar separatist statements issued by Hussain were on record", said JI leader.

Munawar Hasan urged the government not to let anyone blackmail the state and take such anti-Pakistan statements to task strictly.