MQM has forgotten Dr Imran Farooq, widow says

LONDON: Shumaila Imran Farooq, MQM's former member of the provincial assembly and the widow of the party's slain founding member Dr Imran Farooq, has questioned MQM's leadership in a poignant reminder on her husband's  12th death anniversary.

Dr Farooq, who founded the party along with Altaf Hussain, was stabbed to death near his apartment in London on September 16, 2010.

In a tweet, Shumaila paid tribute to her late husband and reminded everyone how her life has throughout been miserable and painful since her husband's murder at his own doorstep in Edgware, West London.

Shumaila, who is a cancer patient and suffers from several other illnesses, said she has been left to rot on her own in her husband's absence.

"Oh my Allah please open such a door of mercy for me, the width of which could surprise me. There is no sunshine and no shelter in my life anymore. I am a cancer patient living in a one-bedroom house whose husband was killed 12 years ago and who travels on buses. Doctor Imran Farooq has been forgotten by his own people as well as others. Please remember me and my sons in your prayers," the former MQM MPA wrote in her tweet.

In another tweet, she questioned MQM on its disappearance.

"Where are the MQM people who have forgotten the families of their own martyrs. The biggest bitter truth of life is the loss of your loved ones. I wish the MQM people understood this."

On the 12th  death anniversary of Dr Imran Farooq, none of the MQM factions have neither issued any statements or tweets nor held any events in his memory. None of his former colleagues have also not mentioned him.

Dr Farooq's widow said that she has been living in a tiny, run-down one bedroom flat with her two sons Aalishan Farooq and Wajdan Farooq without getting help from any of the MQM factions.

The MQM-London — run by Altaf Hussain — has said it provided help to Shumaila for several years on a regular basis until the party fell on hard times and started facing serious financial issues. On the other hand, MQM-Pakistan has never bothered to speak to Shumaila or her sons and has not paid her a penny in any capacity. However, the MQM-P spent a huge amount of money in running a case against Altaf to take control of around four expensive properties in London.

Shumaila has been regularly visiting hospitals for her cancer treatment while her sons attend a local school.

Two years ago in June, a court in Islamabad sentenced three MQM men Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali, and Moazzam Ali to life imprisonment for Dr Farooq's murder in 2010, while Scotland Yard has closed the murder file.

Earlier this month, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected appeals of three convicts in Dr Farooq's murder case and upheld the life sentences handed down by an anti-terrorism court.

A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the appeals of convicts Khalid Shamim, Mohsin Ali, and Moazzam Ali.

An anti-terrorism court had earlier sentenced the three accused to life imprisonment and also ordered to pay a fine of Rs3 million (Rs1 million by each accused) to the victim's wife as compensation, but sources close to Imran Farooq's wife said she has not received anything as ordered by the court.

The Pakistani prosecutors in the case have made no effort to recover the money from the three convicts, according to sources close to Shumaila.