Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain has been under treatment for nearly three weeks in Britain due to coronavirus.
Altaf urged his followers to continue praying for him, saying he would speak to them again after recovering.
“May Allah protect everyone from this disease, COVID-19,” he was quoted by a news media outlet as saying. The MQM founder also appealed to listeners to “take precautions and help each other” in the times of a pandemic.
On Jan 23, the MQM from its official Twitter handle tweeted: “MQM founder leader Mr Altaf Hussain got ill. After the check-up, the doctor advised him to rest and suspend his political activities.”
Britain has had one of the world’s highest Covid-19 mortality rates and has recorded more than 106,000 deaths — the worst toll in Europe. The country is currently under a third national lockdown as it battles new strains of the coronavirus.
On October 10, Hussain was charged by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Services with the terrorism offence in a case related to his incendiary speech relayed from the UK to his followers in Pakistan in 2016.
After the speech, a crackdown was launched against the MQM and the government sealed its headquarter, Nine Zero, in Karachi. Later, MQM leaders in Pakistan also distanced themselves from him and removed his name from the party constitution, resulting in the formation of MQM-Pakistan.
