The party has to come clean
The MQM has two faces. To start with, it remains the major party in urban Sindh since its inception in the 80s. This has led both the PPP and PML-N to enter into alliance with it. After 2002 the MQM joined the coalition hammered together by Gen Pervez Musharraf’s agencies. The military ruler also used the MQM to crush his opponents. Benefiting from the opportunities made available to it the party extended its influence to AJK where till recently it had two ministers in the cabinet. Failing to make any impact in Punjab, it made its presence felt in Gilgilt-Baltistan during the last elections. The MQM presents itself as a mainstream party when it suits it and turns into an ethnic outfit without batting an eye when it helps.
The MQM, however, has a seedy side also. It claims that its workers, who reportedly got military training from India for terrorist activities inside Pakistan, were forced to leave the country during 1992 military operation. But who forced Altaf Hussain to travel to India from Britain to speak at a Hindustan Times function in New Delhi in 2005 where he declared the partition of India, and by implication the creation of Pakistan, the greatest blunder? Equally unfortunate was the creation of an armed wing to target political opponents as well as MQM dissidents. The May 12, 2007, killings in Karachi were the darkest blot on the party’s name. The MQM is also widely understood to be the first political party to indulge in widespread extortion in Karachi.
Despite their differences with the MQM, nearly all mainstream parties opposed accepting the resignations of its legislators. It is high time the MQM disbands and renounces its armed wing and bids goodbye to extortion and China cutting. To move forward along with other parties, it must renounce the use of violence in pursuit of its political objectives. What is more, it has to put brakes on the utterances of Altaf Hussain who often acts as a loose cannon.
