The renowned journalist Owen-Bennett Jones has published a bold and brave investigative report on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and its Quaid, Altaf Hussain in the Guardian of July 29. This is the same report that, after releasing the film on the MQM, the BBC had refused to publish online. Aptly Titled “Altaf Hussain, the notorious MQM leader who swapped Pakistan for London”, some excerpts from the piece make for startling reading.
The story claims that there were a total number of seventy-two cases registered against Altaf Hussain including thirty-one allegations of murder which were dropped upon the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by General Musharraf. The MQM chief is also accused of using his speeches from London for inciting violence in Pakistan with threats hurled at anchorpersons, journalists, landowners and businessmen. One such statement threatens: “If you don’t stop the lies and false allegations that damage our party’s reputation, then don’t blame me, Altaf Hussain, or the MQM if you get killed by any of my millions of supporters.”In a startling revelation, the report states that “on two occasions British judges have found that the MQM is a violent organisation.”
The report also mentions the recovery of £ 400,000 from the MQM’s Edgware office and Altaf Hussain’s house in Mill Hill. About the prospect of success of the investigation, Owen claims:“Their investigation, however’ is complicated by the fact that the MQM has supporters deep within the Pakistani state who want to protect it, and more cynical actors such as Pakistan’s main intelligence agency, the ISI, which want to control it”.
The report also makes a mention of the letter written by Altaf Hussain to the British prime minister Tony Blair in which he had offered his services for staging demonstrations in Karachi comprising hundreds of thousands of people, sharing human intelligence and providing select groups to penetrate Afghanistan in the form of aid workers to enhance Western agencies’ intelligence information capabilities.
The report is a telling indictment of the authorities in Pakistan and the UK and assumes increased importance in the context of recent political developments in the country. In order to ensure victory of its nominated candidate for the office of the president, the PML-N’s top stalwarts travelled to 90 Azizabad to secure the support of the MQM parliamentarians. This comes after the PML-N had repeatedly and publicly accused the MQM for fanning violence.
In fact it was on Nawaz Sharif’s insistence that articles 13 and 14 had been added to the APC Declaration. Article 13 stated that “the APC holds General Musharraf, the Sindh governor, the provincial government and the MQM responsible for the carnage carried out in Karachi on May 12, 2007 and demands an independent judicial enquiry by a judge of the Supreme Court to ascertain and identify the persons involved” while article 14 said that “the APC condemns the recent acts of terrorism in the UK. It further resolves to write a joint memorandum to the UK government for initiating necessary legal proceedings against MQM chief Altaf Hussain for his alleged role in incidents of terrorism in Pakistan”.
All this is in addition to Nawaz Sharif’s disclosure that he, as the prime minister, knew that “MQM had murdered Hakim Mohammad Said in Karachi on October 17, 1998”. He further stated that “after the refusal of MQM to surrender the killers, I preferred to sacrifice the provincial government of Liaqat Jatoi instead of making compromises with those who had killed an honourable man like Hakim Said.”
It is in this background that PML-N delegation’s visit to 90 Azizabad to secure support for their presidential nominee has to be evaluated, there being some questions that the prime minister need to answer:
(1) Do you stick to all the statements that you made about the MQM and Altaf Hussain concerning their involvement in terrorism and murder or those were made merely to secure some political gains?
(2) Were articles 13 and 14 inserted in the APC Declaration of 2007 on your insistence and in spite of opposition from others including Benazir Bhutto?
(3) Having served in various capacities including the elected prime minister of the country on two occasions, if the statements you made were true and you knew of the role that the MQM and its leader had played in Karachi, why didn’t you proceed against the outfit and its functionaries in accordance with the provisions of law?
(4) If you believe that the statements you made on various occasions about the MQM are true, why did you allow your party stalwarts to solicit electoral support for your presidential nominee from the MQM and reportedly also held out an offer to them to join the federal government?
These are not small matters. These are serious, in fact grave issues. These concern Pakistan which is neither the prime minister’s personal estate nor that of the MQM and its leader Altaf Hussain. Pakistan belongs to its people who have shed their sweat and blood for it. They seek answers. They seek answers from the leaders who have repeatedly sacrificed Pakistan’s interests at the altar of political survival and financial gains.
It is a matter the Chief Justice should take notice of on a priority basis because it concerns the country that has bestowed upon him the unique honour. Now is the time for the SC and its honourable judges to adjudicate by being on the side of Pakistan, without supporting an individual or a group of individuals, no matter how powerful, no matter how strong.