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Mutahhida Qaumi Movement, once the epitome of togetherness in Pakistan politics, has now split in various different groups. In this year’s senate elections, MQM’s dismal performance left the political party on the verge of breaking down, after they only secured one general seat.
The lackluster show in the senate elections left party chairman Farooq Sattar angry and furious. A lot of MQM’s elected members in the provincial assembly were disregarded and abused by Farooq Sattar for selling their vote to the Pakistan People’s Party in the senate elections. A day later, one of the party’s most respected female members, Shazia Farooq, allegedly tried committing suicide.
Shazia Farooq, who was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), according to her father and son, swallowed a high number of sleeping pills to commit suicide. The SHO of Balida Police Station stated that no one from Shazia Farooq’s family had yet contacted the police and the family wants to handle things themselves.
Of recent updates, Shazia Farooq’s son stated that his mother was now out of danger and would soon be discharged from the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Outside the hospital while speaking to media, Shazia Farooq’s father claimed that the reason his daughter tried to take her life was due to Farooq Sattar. After the senate elections, Farooq Sattar had blamed her and other members for selling their senate vote to PPP, which broke her heart and she decided to bid the world farewell.
After the elections, Shazia Farooq along with Naila Munir released a video statement where they informed MQM workers and members that the duo had not sold their vote to any party, but had refrained from voting altogether. They also stated that the reason for the party breakup was not them, nor Farooq Sattar, but the new-boy Kamran Tessori, because of whom MQM suffered an embarrassing defeat in senate.
This indeed, is a sad situation, where seasoned politicians have to prove their allegiance to the party by attempting to take their lives. Shazia Farooq is widely known in MQM as a very strong woman, but Farooq Sattar’s claims of the MPA selling her soul for money proved to much for her, as she attempted suicide. The MPA’s son, Muhammad Farooq, told media that his mother did not sell her vote, but just cancelled it. He also said that people could say whatever they want, but everybody knows his mother’s sacrifices for the Tanzeem.
