The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered the authorities to ban every kind of media coverage to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain residing in London.According to the court orders for print and electronic media, Altaf Hussain’s images or video will not be used while reporting news regarding the MQM chief. The court will decide about Altaf Hussain’s nationality in next hearing. The high court issued these orders while hearing a petition seeking Altaf Hussain’s trial under Article 6 of the Constitution. During the course of hearing by LHC full bench on Monday, the counsel of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) told the court that all the TV channels, through a letter on May 1, have already been directed to ban broadcast of Hussain’s speeches. Expressing its displeasure, Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi observed that the PEMRA directive was not specific in nature. The judge ordered the PEMRA representative to issue a fresh advisory to all channels and newspapers for an immediate ban on Altaf Hussain’s photos and statements. At a time when his down-and-out party badly needs friends, Hussain’s uncontrollable tongue continues to add to opponents.
The government rejected MQM’s resignations and providing it a face-saving device offered talks to enable it to return to the lawmaking bodies. Initially accepting the invitation, the MQM abruptly opted out of the dialogue, presumably at the instigation of its chief. Altaf Hussain justified the act by implying that government negotiators had indicated during the talks that they could not concede the party’s demands because of the army’s pressure. The statement was seen by the government as a “malicious attempt to create ill-will and misunderstanding among the stakeholders”. A Finance Ministry spokesman strongly denied Ishaq Dar having discussed anything related to the army on the question of MQM’s resignations nor making any claims that the prime minister was resisting pressure from any side to accept the resignations. The MQM chief thus closed a window of opportunity through an inappropriate remark.
At a time when the party has fallen on bad days and can ill afford to annoy any erstwhile ally, Altaf Hussain has offered fresh provocations to PPP. In a totally uncalled for affront the MQM chief insisted that if Lahore High Court’s ban on his speeches is justified, the judgment awarding death sentence to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto should also be accepted. Equally inopportune was the threat to initiate movement in Sindh for a separate province. To crown it all Hussain has accused Zardari of having deceived him twice and got him foul-mouthed by his men. This has evinced a quick retort from Zardari. The PPP, he said, would never let anyone to bifurcate Sindh.
pk.shafaqna.com
