Zulfiqar Mirza's 'monstrous' allegations 'laughable as well as grave': MQM

Karachi, August 31(ANI): The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has levelled several counter-allegations against Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) leader Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza, who recently shook up the country's political landscape with his diatribe against the party.

Mirza, a former Sindh senior minister, had alleged that MQM leader Altaf Hussain had admitted in a meeting with him that he and his party were partners in a plot by the United States to divide Pakistan.

Mirza went on to blame the MQM for backing target killers, extortionists and kidnappers to maintain its political influence in Karachi through terror.

"The monstrous allegations made by Mirza about an alleged US plot to break up Pakistan with the MQM's help is as laughable as it is grave," said Faisal Subzwari, a member of the Sindh Assembly from Karachi, while addressing a press conference organised at Nine-Zero, the party's headquarters.

Subzwari also rubbished Mirza's account of a meeting he allegedly had with Hussain, where the party leader allegedly admitted to collaborating with the US government in a secret plan to break up Pakistan.

He questioned nearly every detail, including why the MQM chief would grant Mirza a private audience by asking senior MQM leaders such as MNA Farooq Sattar and Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad to leave the room.

"This would mean that the people who had been working with Hussain for many years were not worthy of his trust, and those who were meeting with him for the first time were so reliable that he could hold highly confidential talks with them. This is nothing but slander and a white lie," The Express Tribune quoted Subzwari, as saying.

Subzwari also levelled several counter-allegations against Mirza, blaming him for trying to create disputes between Karachi's muhajir and Baloch populations.

"There was never any dispute between muhajirs and the Baloch in Karachi before Zulfiqar Mirza became Sindh home minister," said the MQM leader, who also challenged Mirza to prove his allegations in court.

Subzwari also appealed to his party's supporters and sympathisers to maintain calm, asking them not to respond violently to what he described as 'inflammatory and absurd allegations'. (ANI)