ISLAMABAD:

, founder of

(MQM), one of Pakistan’s main political parties, has requested Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, to grant him and his colleagues asylum in India.

Hussain, who lives in exile in the UK, since 1992, has also sought financial assistance for himself and his companions from the Indian PM.

In a video speech recorded by Hussain after police in London relaxed his bail conditions, he turned towards

for help. Hussain alleged that his assets — house and offices — were taken over in Karachi and asked the Indian PM to help him financially if he cannot risk providing him asylum.

Hussain further spoke about the decision of the Indian Supreme Court on

, saying that Muslims do not have a right over the disputed site.

“The current government of Modi has the right to establish Hindu raj (rule) and if Indian politician

and others do not like India, they should migrate to Pakistan where a Muslim homeland has been established for them,” he said.

In his request to the Indian government, the MQM founder said: “If India’s Prime Minister Mr Modi allows me to come to India and provides me asylum with my colleagues, I am ready to come to India along with my colleagues, because my grandfather is buried there. My grandmother is buried there and thousands of my relatives are buried there. I want to go to India to their graves. I’m a peaceful person. I promise that I will not interfere in any kind of politics but please allow me along with my colleagues to live in India.”

While several complaints were registered against Hussain in the UK over his speeches against Pakistan’s military establishment and spy agency, ISI, the

formally charged him last month for inciting violence against Pakistan in one of his speeches in 2016.

On August 22, 2016, Hussain, while addressing the MQM workers protesting outside the

against disappearances and extrajudicial killings of his party workers, had not only raised anti-Pakistan slogans but also called the country “a cancer for the entire world”.

“Pakistan is a cancer for the entire world. Pakistan is headache for the entire world. Pakistan is the epicenter of terrorism for the entire world. Who says long live Pakistan... it’s down with Pakistan!” the MQM founder had said.

The MQM has dominated politics in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi for three decades. Earlier known as the Mohajir Quami Movement, Hussain’s party started off as a political group, aiming to represent the Urdu-speaking community and descendants who migrated from India when Pakistan was created in 1947. After 1988 polls, the MQM emerged as the third-largest party in Pakistan.

In the early 1990s, the then government launched an operation in Karachi against Hussain’s party, accusing him and MQM of violent tactics for political gains. Hussain went into exile in the UK in 1992 after an arrest warrant was issued against him in a murder case and later obtained citizenship of the UK.

Despite a split in the MQM, he still wields considerable influence in the party and its main power base, Karachi.