Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief, Altaf Hussain, has appealed to the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and other judges of the apex court to review the judgement on the issue of dual nationality in the larger interest of the country and the nation.
He expressed these views while addressing a meeting at Lal Qila Ground in Azizabad here on Thursday via telephone from London. Addressing the gathering, Altaf Hussain said that he was expressing the sentiments of hundreds of thousands of Overseas Pakistanis who were always praying for Pakistan in difficult times and making efforts for its survival.
He said that Pakistanis living abroad had to go out due to circumstances. They got education and started businesses in foreign countries. These Pakistanis sent huge money to Pakistan in terms of foreign remittances that was the lifeblood of the economy of the country, he added. He asked if it was not sheer injustice to deprive these Pakistanis from their right of voting and not allowing them to contest elections. He asked what the rationale behind the federal ministry for overseas Pakistanis if overseas Pakistanis had nothing to do with Pakistan.
He said that even the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) had to leave Makkah when the persecution of the infidels increased. He not only left Makkah himself but asked his companions to migrate. Hussain asked whether acquisition of dual nationality takes away the right to be the loyal citizen of Pakistan. What the fault of those people who had to leave their homeland because of the tyranny of martial laws in order to save their lives. He said that even though these people acquired dual nationality yet their hearts continued to beat for their country. He said that holding dual nationality was permitted in various other countries as well. He said that Sonia Gandhi was the head of the ruling Congress party in India was not Indian by birth, yet she was allowed to take part in the election for the office of the prime minister. Father of the US President Barack Obama was not American by birth, yet Obama became the president of the most powerful country of the world.
He said that the issue should not be looked from the standpoint of differences between the executive and the judiciary. It should be looked into in a broader perspective. He said that the constitution had been amended in the past on several occasions, and it can be changed even today. Hussain assured the overseas Pakistanis that the MQM would continue to raise its voice for their rights at every forum.