Karachi, Oct 8 : Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain has warned that the country may have to face a 1971-like situation if certain quarters will keep trying to change the direction of national politics towards ethnicity and bigotry.

Speaking from London at the annual relief programme, he said similar situation prevailed among the religious and political leaders of the then West Pakistan before the 1970 general elections.

Urging politicians and the media not to divide the nation on ethnic lines, Hussain appealed to them to take measures for the solidarity of the country.

Referring to the East Pakistan debacle, he said people at the helm of affairs had accepted the disintegration of Pakistan and not to transfer power to the Awami League, as they did not want to eliminate the feudal culture in the country.

Today, some of our religious and political leaders are showing similar hatred and bigotry prevailing prior to the 1970 general elections,” the Dawn quoted him as saying.

Asserting that Pakistan was at a critical juncture, and required unity and solidarity, he said that for the last two decades, the MQM’s welfare wing had been serving the people without any discrimination. (ANI)