Did the ‘Kamal moment’ matter?

The government has a responsibility

MQM did pretty well in the first round, considering that it was pushed into a surprise fight with a well prepared opponent. The party’s first punch, at the counter-press conference, was about a political ‘non-entity’ getting two straight hours of uninterrupted coverage while their party chief was barred from appearances altogether. The second, of course, was the timing of the assault – which is how they saw Mustafa Kamal’s return to Karachi. The Operation, the raid on Nine-Zero, then the mysterious confessions, and now this; surely the dots are connected, the party maintains. And, of late, it has minced few words about this trend, and openly asked alleged puppeteers to back off before more damage is done.

For the moment, therefore, the party has managed to turn popular attention towards alleged backers of Mustafa Kamal. Nobody knows, for example, why he kept his silence for so long. And why now, of all times, to come out in the open against Altaf Hussain. The day following the bombshell, at least, provided few answers about the type of politics to follow. It is too soon for the matter to fizzle out, of course, even if that is the most likely case considering Pakistan’s colourful political history.

However, also considering the nature of some of the charges levelled, a serious investigation can and must not be ruled out. It is true that at best Kamal just rehashed allegations that Altaf Hussain and MQM have faced, and deflected, for years. But this time there is one crucial difference. Kamal was far too high in the MQM food chain, and far too close to party bigwigs, for his accusations to be ignored out of hand. Since some charges are linked with national security, it is the state’s responsibility to see that they are settled once and for all. That, at least, must be a certain outcome of this drama, if not much more.