ISLAMABAD: The MQM sharply reacted to the reports of Rs 450 billion government property sell-out scam on Thursday, saying the party would not allow anyone to dislocate those 3,128 government servants and poor people who were given eligibility certificates by the former minister Safwanullah as a part of an official policy.

MQM officials wondered why nobody was talking about the doling out of thousands of acres of land to the Defence Housing Authority scheme against token money. But now a storm was created in the media when the poor people of Karachi, who had sacrificed for the sake of Pakistan, were being targeted.

The MQM has also reminded the PPP government that none other than Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had committed to the people of Pakistan to give them the ownership rights and now noise was being raised when the poor people were given eligibility certificates by the previous government.

Giving first comprehensive point of view of the MQM since the scam surfaced last week, Senator Babar Ghauri told The News from Karachi that the party always stood by the poor and downtrodden sections of the society. Senator Ghauri said the party was still with those poor souls who were given these eligibility certificates so that they could live their lives with honour and dignity. Babar wondered that how could one point a finger at the MQM or its ministers who had given those certificates to those poor so that in any future policy, only the genuine allottees could be given the permanent ownership rights.

Babar explained that in the past, former prime minister Shaukat Aziz was approached to give ownership rights to government employees and others living in the government houses. He clarified that this policy was not confined to Karachi alone as the residents of G-6 Sector Islamabad and Lahore were also supposed to get ownership rights. But, he said, caretaker minister Dr Amjad wanted to get some political benefit, as he wanted to distribute those certificates with his own hands and this had delayed the process or the rest of the people from other parts of the country might have also been given the same certificates.

He said the policy was evolved with the intention to give ownership rights to all those government servants who were living in those government flats and houses for the last 50 years. Babar said these people had given sacrifices for Pakistan and they deserved the ownership rights. Ghauri said only the eligibility certificates were given, so that no fake person could get the ownership rights once the policy was executed.

Babar said the MQM was in favour of giving ownership rights to all the poor people of Pakistan whether they were living in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, the NWFP, Quetta or any other part of the country.

The MQM senator said even when the party delegation had met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani recently, it had once again raised the same issue with him. He accused that estate officer Sher Afzal Khan was brought on this position by the caretaker housing minister and he had filed a twisted inquiry report against the whole issue in Karachi.

Babar said the party would raise this issue with the prime minister and would not allow anyone to dislocate the present occupants of these government properties who were given eligibility certificates. "We always stand by the poor people of Pakistan and would not allow anyone to dislocate them at any cost," Babar Ghauri warned.