The downfall of ‘Bhai’ – the bellwether

Altaf ‘Bhai’ Hussain has finally embraced the much-speculated, much-awaited perdition

From Mohajir Qaumi Movement to Muttahida Qaumi Movement, MQM has been both at the helm of power and at the receiving end of raw, undiluted vengeance that might of state can and did unleash from time to time

Once the most feared man in Pakistan, Altaf Hussain, has become a pariah in and around what was once his kingdom i.e. Karachi. The mighty ‘Altaf Bhai’ has fallen the way cult figures plummet, gradually and then suddenly, he is now forsaken by the very people to whom merely a week ago he was a father-figure, brother and ‘Quaid-e-Tehreek’ all rolled in one.

The tragedy of great men is that when their power and hold starts to wane, the passion of those who consider them great and indispensable also begins to subside and then all together diminish. History, then, is no doubt a tale of doing and undoing of great men. But it is also a fable where every great man perishes, either by swords, stones and bullets or by the pen of dissenting historians. But in beloved Bhai’s case, distance from his electorate saved him from the fate similar to Lincoln or John F. Kennedy. I guess, Bhai being far-far away in farangi land surely preserved himself from the wrath of those hands who tore apart every poster, every picture, every banner that had his face on it.

The same lads and ladies who once used to listen to Bhai’s ravings for hours at end, who were willing to do anything and everything on his slightest insinuation have distanced themselves from Bhai with such lightning speed that his name has become a curse in a city of many millions where it was once used for tasks ranging from silencing an inconvenient individual to siphoning off money from traders and wealthy citizens.

From Mohajir Qaumi Movement to Muttahida Qaumi Movement, MQM has been both at the helm of power and at the receiving end of raw, undiluted vengeance that might of state can and did unleash from time to time. MQM, more than any other party, has tasted both stick and carrot and knows the subtle differences between various sticks and many carrots. Ranging from city wide operations conducted against them to being partners in power both at federal and provincial level, MQM boosts of representing a mostly educated middle class that struggles with multiple issues of mohajir identity at various fronts.

One can statistically prove that no other party can rival MQM when it comes to being labelled as ‘traitors’ and ‘Agents of RAW’, hell-bent on undermining Pakistan from within. The cleanup operations and ‘Jinnahpur’ conspiracy of ‘90s still rear their ugly heads in daily political conversations. The formless, free-floating speeches of Altaf Hussain, that were once paid fervent heed by faithful and ridiculed by those who didn’t have the same feelings, increasingly became troublesome for the party itself. Couple of months back, folks on social media and Bhai bashers relished a clip from Bhai’s address where he was enunciating in detail the trials and tribulations surrounding birth of human life.

All said, done and ruminated. MQM, dearest sirs and ma’ams, is one of the most organised political parties of Pakistan. The party has roots, it has organisational structure, it has numbers required to bag seats at national, provincial and local level and most importantly it has resilience. The powers that be thought of pitting PTI against it but failed miserably. Then, quite recently, we witnessed Pak-Sarzameen Party assembled as an alternative, but the Kamal-Qaimkhani duo remained unsuccessful to sing Altaf Bhai’s swansong. Nature — the ultimate prankster — had some other plans, it decided that Bhai who loves to dabble seriously in singing when happy would announce the exodus himself.

I read somewhere that accidents don’t happen all of a sudden, they toil silently and when they come to the fore, disorder and chaos ensues. The present situation was in the making for quite a long time, the raised slogans, the crackdown, an interrupted press conference, the arrests, the night spent in custody, an uninterrupted press conference afterwards, the Brexit of Bhai and then success of Waseem Akhtar as Mayor Karachi happened so suddenly and in quick succession that it all felt like an hour and a half Hollywood thriller. The most recent news to come out of Karachi is that Bhai’s posters have been removed from inside and around Nine-Zero. Raise your hands if you can recall similar instances in history where statues and mausoleum of great men get bulldozed, razed and levelled by the populace who have lost their faith and interest or both and explore other available options and collectively gird up to make some other humanUbermensch.

I think that we in Pakistan are following a checklist. We are on a mission to tick people off from it. So far, we’ve successfully, completely and irrevocably ticked off Bengalis, now they have their own nasty little Bangladesh, where they eat fish and rice and poorly live their poor, pathetic lives. I hope our red pen is not desperate to tick off the boxes that have Mohajirs, Hindus, Balochs, Ahmedi, Sindhis or Christians written next to them.

As to Mr Altaf Hussain, he was just another bellwether — a sheep that has a bell hanging around its neck — other sheep follow because of the sound and noise, mistaken as leaders and being followed blindfolded, many times a bellwether loses contact with reality and revels in many mighty delusions.

To conclude, dearest sirs and ma’ams, I guess we’ll have a change in slogans and songs from now on, belief in the narrative paddled by powers that be will increase, being inquisitive will go out of fashion and being just another sheep in the flock, listening to the bell, following a new bellwether in hopes of reaching the promised Elysian Fields will become the new normal. You’ll know quite soon.