MUZ A F FA R A BA D / PESHAWAR: Troubles for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement aggravated on Tuesday as the Azad Kashmir prime minister sacked its two ministers and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly adopted a resolution seeking institution of a treason case against MQM chief Altaf Hussain for making allegedly insulting remarks against the army and asking India and Nato to stop bloodletting of Muhajirs in Karachi.

Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed took the decision a day after he had given the MQM ministers a `72hour ultimatum` to dissociate themselves from their London-based leader`s alleged remarks.

`In exercise of the powers conferred on him under section 14 (3) of the AJK Interim Constitution Act, 1974, the Prime Minister of the Azad Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir has sacked Mohammad Tahir Khokhar, Minister for Transport; and Mohammad Salim Butt, Minister for Sports, Youth and Culture, from their offices with immediate effect,` said a notification issued by the Services and General Administration Department.

Mr Khokhar and Mr Butt were elected members of the AJK Legislative Assembly in July 2011 general elections for the second consecutive term from the constituencies of Kashmiri refugees settled in Pakistan, mainly Karachi.

The MQM has been an ally of the Peoples Party-led coalition government in AJK since the inception of the sitting legislature.

On Oct 22 last year, the party announced that its members would quit the AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan governments in protest against PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari`s outburst against Altaf Hussain. But the matter remained a mystery for a long time as the government neither accepted nor publicly rejected their resignation.

On Monday, the AJK prime minister had lashed out at the MQM chief for his `provocative and anti-state` remarks and said that while the people of India-held Kashmir were fighting Indian occupation forces with green (Pakistani) flags in their hands, `continuance of MQM members in the AJK government will be tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of freedom-seeking Kashmiris Sources in he MQM told Dawn that after the PM`s `humiliating statement` against the MQM and its ministers, Saleem Butt had suggested to the party`s parllamentary leader Tahir Khokhar to immediately quit the cabinet by sending resignation instead of waiting for dismissal. But Mr Khokhar advised him to wait till the passage of the 72-hour ultimatum.

Asked why they did not tender resignation immediately after the PM`s ultimatum, Mr Khokhar said they had already submitted the resignation.

`I had said at a press conference on Monday evening that the PM should not waitfor 72 hours and instead take action (against us) within an hour. However, I agree that we should have immediately declared that we do not want to be part of a cabinet whose leader (PM) asks us to dissociate from our leader,` he said.

Mr Khokhar said they would attend a joint sitting called by the government on Friday.

TREASON CASE: The resolution unanimously adopted by the KP Assembly urged the federal government to institute a treason case against the MQM chief and bring him back to the country through Interpol to face trial.

`This assembly condemns Altaf Hussain`s statement which is full of hatred and provocation against the army and the state,` said the resolution moved by PTI MPA Shaukat Yousafzai.

`This assembly deems Altaf Hussain`s invitation to India to intervene in Pakistan and urging workers to writing a letter to the United Nations for action in Pakistan is condemnable, said the resolution, supported by members of the treasury and opposition benches both.

It had the signatures of Shaukat Yousafzai, ministers Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, Imtiaz Shahid and Muzafar Syed as well as lawmakers from the opposition benches, including Syed Jaffar Shah of ANP, Munawar Khan of JUI-F, Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha of PPP, Aneesa Zaib Thahirkheli of QWP and Arbab Akbar Hayat of PMLN.

Before moving the resolution, Shaukat Yousafzai said that the MQM chief was spreading hatred through hisinflammatory telephonic speeches against the law enforcement agencies.

On May 4, the KP Assembly had also adopted a similar resolution asking the federal government to try Altaf Hussain under Article 6 of the Constitution for instigating his party`s workers against the state.

Our Staff Reporter in Karachi adds: MQM chief Altaf Hussain has said he never appealed to the Indian government or its army to stop oppression of Muhajirs in Pakistan.

In a statement released from London on Tuesday, he said those alleging that he had asked the Indian army or their government to save Muhajirs in his speech at the MQM`s 19th annual convention in the United States were distorting facts.

`I challenge all those who are saying that I asked the Indian army to come to Pakistan for helping Muhajirs to play these sentences from my speech at any forum in the world.

`I am ready to die if the accusers can come up with these sentences from my speech. If they fail to present these sentences, they should die in shame,` he said.

In a separate statement, Mr Hussain defended his decision to urge his followers to approach the United Nations for investigation into `oppression and atrocities` against Muhajirs.

`If asking my workers to write letters to the UN is wrong, then Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari should tell the nation as to why they had invited teams of the UN and Scotland Yard for investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto,` he wondered.