MQM needs to reinvent

Law Enforcement Agencies mean business this time

In the backdrop of the Rangers ongoing operation in Karachi, the raid on Nine Zero – the MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) headquarters – was not at all surprising. Undoubtedly the federal government was on board, and the Sindh government was also informed well in advance.

Rangers are technically under the administrative control of the federal government but are commanded by military personnel. The present DG ISI, Lt General Rizwan Akhtar, was its previous head.

Hence the military leadership was well aware of the situation at hand. Left to them perhaps the rangers would have moved much earlier to flush out criminal elements armed to the teeth taking refuge in the headquarters of a political party they ostensibly belong to.

Altaf Hussain, the MQM supremo, spilt the beans himself while addressing his workers over telephone from London in the immediate aftermath of the raid. He lamented the fact that these fugitives from the law were taking refuge at the party head office. They should have emulated their leader’s example by going far away, he added.

Apparently, Prime Minister Sharif wanted the Rangers to stay their hand till the Senate elections were over. Hence the paramilitary force moved just as Raza Rabbani was unanimously nominated as Chairman of the Senate.

Nonetheless, the ongoing putsch against the MQM is a political conundrum for the ruling PPP in Sindh. The MQM, after earlier quitting the Sindh coalition mainly owing to master Bilawal’s diatribes against them, had only recently agreed to come back in the folds. Resultantly the PPP and MQM contested recent Senate elections in unison.

Understandably the PPP, while not opposing the action, were at the same time reluctant to fully endorse it. The newly minted senator from Sindh and main liaison between his party and the MQM, Rehman Malik, kept on hemming and hawing about the raid.

Perhaps Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah was made an offer by the ubiquitous establishment that he or his bosses were in no position to refuse. In the case of not agreeing to the raid, governor rule was a real possibility in the troubled province. Now that all the stakeholders are supporting the action, PTI chief Imran Khan’s demand for governor rule in Sindh is without any justification.

Apparently, Prime Minister Sharif wanted the Rangers to stay their hand till the Senate elections were over. Hence the paramilitary force moved just as Raza Rabbani was unanimously nominated as Chairman of the Senate

Scores of people, including MQM stalwart Aamir Khan, rounded up from Nine Zero have been put under preventive detention by an anti terrorism court for questioning. In the coming days this would perhaps lead to more arrests.

MQM contradicted its own chief that arms and ammunition discovered from Nine Zero were licensed and not planted by the agencies. Even if the retrieved arsenal was licensed, why does a political party need it in the first place? Another probe that is bound to create ripples soon is the alleged involvement of elements associated with the MQM in the 2012 Baldia Town factory arson.

This is not the first time that MQM has been singled out in Karachi. In the mid-nineties Gen (r) Naseerullah Babar bravely launched an operation against the MQM on instructions from then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. But as soon as President Farooq Leghari ousted the PPP government the Muttahida was let off the hook.

This time, however, the military and political leadership is on the same page about ridding Karachi of scourges like bhatta mafias, assassins and arsonists. An effective operation was needed sooner than later as criminalisation of politics in the business and commerce hub of the country had crossed all limits.

It is perhaps with this intention that Nawaz Sharif, soon after taking over as prime minister, visited Karachi in September 2013. During the high profile visit he presided over high level meetings of all stakeholders, including DG Rangers, to chalk out a strategy to take action against criminal elements in the metropolis.

Despite ostensibly everyone being on the same page the Karachi operation was moving at a snail’s pace. Nonetheless in a clear break from the past, now the LEAs (law enforcing agencies), fully backed by the military and the federal government, mean business.

Altaf Hussain should have smelled the coffee long ago. But perhaps ensconced in his Mill Hill residence in London and not enjoying good health he seems not fully aware about the resolve of the state to clear Karachi of thugs and criminals.

Undoubtedly the MQM is a political machine that, despite ups and downs, has maintained its suzerainty over urban Sindh. But paradoxically bhatta mafias, criminals, murderers and thugs have thrived under its wings.

Scores of people, including MQM stalwart Aamir Khan, rounded up from Nine Zero have been put under preventive detention by an anti terrorism court for questioning. In the coming days this would perhaps lead to more arrests

Why does a political outfit having a complete stranglehold on its supporters need to operate like the Cosa Nostra in the US? Probes by Scotland Yard of Dr Imran Farooq’s murder in London in 2010 and money laundering betray a strong tendency to operate outside the limits of law, theoretically anathema for a political set up.

A red warrant for execution of MQM hitman Saulat Mirza, involved in the murder of journalist Wali Babar, has been issued. The manner in which the party intimidates the media is another sordid chapter in history of freedom of press in the country.

Former dictator general (r) Pervez Musharraf is the self-styled patron saint of the MQM. The party thrived under his patronage.

For the time being, off the hook from high treason charges against him, he has been eyeing the leadership of the MQM. Comfortably ensconced in Karachi it is an attractive proposition for him.

Notwithstanding Musharraf’s self-serving sense of grandeur the MQM needs to take a good look at its present tactics and its organisational structure.

Perhaps the time has come to reorganise the party on more democratic lines and to purge criminal elements from its ranks. Names with aliases like mota, burger, sar-kata, and kan-kata should have no place in a political machine that has firm roots amongst its constituents.

Why single out MQM alone? After all there are other criminal elements in the city operating with impunity. Karachi is infested with sleeper cells of the TTP is a case in point. Unless the operation against criminal elements is seen as even-handed and across the board, without making any exceptions, it will lose its efficacy.

Perhaps the Rangers want to flush out criminal elements of all hues and colours in a systematic and methodical manner. It can choose its timing and logistics according to its own exigencies. However, cherry picking in dealing with criminals and terrorists would not finish off the crime mafias that infest Karachi.