HYDERABAD: Former Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan convener Dr Farooq Sattar has urged the military leadership not to doubt loyalties of Mohajirs [Urdu-speaking people] in the wake of past incidents. They [Mohajirs] should be given their due space in politics.

He said those whose forefathers had created Pakistan should be allowed to play their role in the country’s uplift like their elders did in its creation.

Dr Sattar was speaking at the ‘Afwaj-i-Pakistan Yakjehti Rally’ outside the local press club on Friday.

He said that people of Hyderabad, Karachi and other parts of Sindh would not hesitate in sacrificing their lives for the defence of Pakistan. He said that PAF pilot Hassan Siddiqui had made the nation proud by downing an Indian aircraft.

“Pakistan armed forces are capable of doing so many things. If armed forces are protecting eastern and western borders, the MQM of 1986 will fight those who are trying to play in the hands of India and will make the country’s defence invincible,” he said, and asked those supporting India and so-called nationalists to talk sense.

Dr Sattar said that his party would empower women so that they could play their due role in the health and education sectors and in improving the country’s economy.

Youths, especially males, would have to concentrate on their education because use of mobile phone would not help solve problems, he added.

He advised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sit on the negotiation table and put an end to the 70-year-old bickering. He argued that a solution to the Kashmir issue must be found because this problem had stalled pace of development in the region.

He observed that the armed forces of Pakistan never got provoked by Indian aggression though their patience had always been tested. “The entire world realises that the Pakistan army is making peace overtures despite facing aggression” he said, adding that this had improved Pakistan’s image globally.

He called for resolving the Kashmir issue in line with the aspirations of Kashmiri people.

Dr Sattar said that apparently the Urdu-speaking community looked divided but it would become a cast-iron wall to defend the country.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2019