Demanding stern action against the culprits Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) has asked the Pakistan People's Party to assume responsibility of the "shameful" incident of manhandling of Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim at Sindh Assembly on Monday.
The demand came from PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and MQM Deputy Convenor Dr Farooq Sattar during a joint press conference here at the MQM headquarters Nine-zero on Tuesday. The statement said the MQM's investigation cell had identified those responsible for the incident but the two parties wanted the PPP to take action against them.
In the one-and-half-hour long meeting Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Mohammad Ali Durrani, Nisar Memon represented the PML-Q while Dr Farooq Sattar, Anwar Alam, Babar Ghauri and others represented the MQM.
Terming the incident as against the democratic norms Shujaat alleged the PPP for having an attitude contrary to its approach on national reconciliation. He hailed the MQM self-exiled leader Altaf Hussain for taking what he said a courageous stance on the manhandling of former Sindh Chief Minister.
He said had the MQM not intended to join the PPP in Sindh the incident would not have taken place. Dr Farooq Sattar terming maltreatment of the PML-Q leader as a conspiracy against democracy said that it had been a tradition of the MQM that it had always protested against such brutalities.
He said the MQM had identified the culprits but their names would not be made public as the PPP should itself identify the involved people and bring them to justice. In his speech, Dr Arbab Rahim said it was not he who was disgraced in the Sindh Assembly but it was the democracy, which was put into disgrace.
Arbab criticised the PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif for keeping mum on the incident and asked him if the Charter of Democracy was only for the PML-N and PPP? He rejected the PPP statement that the caretaker government was responsible for his manhandling and claimed that all affairs were being accomplished in Sindh as per orders of the PPP after February 18 elections.