Saleem Shahzad hits back after MQM suspends him

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s former senior leader Saleem Shahzad has announced that he will expose the corruption that allegedly exists within the party and will make important disclosure in this regard.
Speaking to The News from Dubai over telephone after the MQM suspended his basic party membership, Saleem Shahzad said that the party leadership was already aware that he had decided to resign from the basic membership of the party.
The MQM said in an announcement that Saleem Shahzad has been suspended for violating “party discipline” and made it clear that the party didn’t have anything “directly or indirectly with the business dealings of Saleem Shahzad”. The MQM stated that the veteran leader’s membership has been suspended for “indefinite period”.
Saleem Shahzad was sidelined by the MQM along with several senior leaders including Raza Haroon, Anees Advocate, Anis qaimkhani and others following the general elections in May last year. Saleem Shahzad then left for Duabi where has been working in the real estate sector for a local businessman. He has no property or business interests in London and it is believed that his family lives in a property owned by the MQM.
Saleem Shahzad revealed: “I had informed the party about my decision to resign from the basic membership of the party and to separate myself completely from the party. There is a corrupt lobby within the MQM that has been against the diehard ideological workers like myself who helped found the party and remained loyal to it through all kinds of tribulations. These elements are involved in extortions, killings, smuggling and lawlessness. I have a long list of what I am going to expose before the nation in coming days. I will reveal names of the money-making mafia,” the former Rabita committee member said.
Saleem Shahzad, who worked with Altaf Hussain since the foundation of the party as a student group and has served in some of the most senior positions, said he will “expose those who have made billions using the platform of the MQM through deception and without any accountability in the party”.
He said “corruption” within the MQM has become a serious issue and he will do everything to “expose those who are in the party not for ideology but to make money at any cost and to mislead the party leadership”.
When asked if he plans to form his own party or join an established party, Saleem Shahzad said he would reach London soon where he would make important decisions after meeting his trusted colleagues. Saleem Shahzad has been suspended from the party quite a few times in the past but this time the parting of ways seems to be permanent and there is every sign that Saleem Shahzad is not going to ask for a reconciliation or mediation with the party leadership. “Enough is enough,” he declared.