London
– 11 November 2000
The former Mayor and present Councillor from Rugby
Mr James Shera called Mr Altaf Hussain over the telephone and had a detail talk
lasting for over an hour. Mr James
Shera appreciated the efforts made by the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) for
the attainment the right of oppressed people and the religious minorities. Mr James Shera particularly appreciated
the Resolutions of 17 September 2000 at Acton Town Hall in London in which the
MQM demanded that all the religious minorities to be treated equally and
provided right of franchise under joint-electorate system. Mr Hussain said that Christians, Hindus,
Parsis, Qadianis and other religious minorities of Pakistan should be treated
equally and provided a right to adult franchise without any discrimination. Every citizen, regardless of his or her
religion or belief, should be treated as equal citizen of Pakistan. Mr Hussain further stated that the Founder
of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah clearly stated in his speech while
addressing the Constituent Assembly on 11 August 1947, “You are free; you are
free to go to your temples, your are free to go to your mosques or to any other
place or worship in this State of Pakistan.
You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do
with the business of State… …Now I think we should keep that in front of us as
our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be
Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in religious sense, because
that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens
of the State.”
Mr Hussain assured Mr James Shera that he is
committed to his political philosophy no matter how many fatwas (religious decrees) are issued against him. He said that he is determined to call a
spade a spade, no matter what. Mr James
Shera condemned the atrocities committed in Karachi and other parts of Pakistan
against innocent citizens, Mohajirs and the religious minorities. Mr James Shera and Mr Altaf Hussain agreed
to have further meetings to attain the rights of the oppressed people of
Pakistan and take positive steps to make Pakistan a truly democratic
State. Mr Hussain further stated that
he has the courage to put forward his point of view on all the forums whether
they are democratic or religious.
During the discussion, Mr Hussain expressed his willingness to meet the
religious leaders of the Christians including the Archbishop of Canterbury and
the Pope John Paul II to share his views and apprise them of his political
philosophy concerning the religious minorities.