MQM is in hot waters
That Ch Nisar is examining the legal possibilities of Altaf Hussain’s extradition leaves no doubt about the government’s seriousness to bring back the MQM leader to Pakistan to try him in the case lodged by the Ranges. Judging from the Prime Minister’s remarks a day before his Karachi visit, Nawaz Sharif seemed to be fully supportive of the raid on Nine Zero where wanted target killers were arrested beside the recovery of a cache of lethal weapons. It remains to be seen, however, if the British government would be willing to hand over the MQM leader keeping in view the negative response from Islamabad and London vis a via earlier extradition requests. Once Hussain is in Pakistan the likelihood of other cases being registered against him cannot be ruled out.
Bringing back Altaf Hussain for trial could have repercussions in Karachi. The MQM is the most influential party in urban Sindh and its leader enjoys blind following. But MQM is also prone to bluff, which it has avoided this time. There was no violent reaction, typical of MQM, to the Nine Zero raid. Much will depend on the party leadership though. Will it act with discretion thus saving itself and the party or act irrationally? In case Hussain is brought back for trial, which remains uncertain, what one expects from an important parliamentary party is to pursue his case with the help of capable lawyers at its disposal. What it needs to do simultaneously is to purge the party of criminal elements.
Governments in the past have hesitated to take action against the MQM when needed on account of political exigencies or because they feared the party’s ability to shut down Karachi through violence. Barring two operations against the MQM, the general tendency was to avoid confronting it. How much of MQM’s electoral support is engineered through threats of violence and gerrymandering remains a matter of opinion. Much will become clear after the demographic survey promised for the next year and the subsequent redrawing of constituencies by the Election Commission.