Exorcising the ghosts of MQM
NAP’s successor ANP (Awami National Party) exists even to this day under the leadership of Wali Khan’s son Asfandayar Wali. The same applies to the MQM
It sounds almost surreal: MQM’s erstwhile supremo Altaf Hussain’s portraits being removed from his former fiefdom – Karachi. He had ruled the mega polis for over three decades by instilling fear amongst the populace by using mafia like tactics and at the same time enjoying messiah like adulation amongst his followers.
Perhaps 22 August was a watershed when Altaf Hussain went too far even by his own standards of speaking filth against Pakistan and hurling invectives against his opponents. But he had it coming ever since the Karachi operation was launched by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif three years back.
Thanks to the Rangers assisted by the police and the enabling environment provided by the Sindh government the MQM chief is no longer feared like it used to be before the operation. Even the erstwhile slavish media is no longer obliged to cover him ad nauseam. The last straw was the high court order banning his coverage in toto.
Altaf in his last harangue had asked his obsequious followers to attack a couple of electronic channels for not giving him coverage. This was nothing new. Virtually every news outlet in the past has been on the receiving end of MQM thugs.
In the early nineties when Nawaz Sharif was prime minister the so called ‘Quaid e Tehreek’ simply instructed his followers to choke the distribution of the leading English daily and Urdu daily of Karachi as he was not satisfied with their coverage.
I, as president CPNE (Council of Pakistan newspaper editors), along with president of the publisher’s body (APNS) Farhad Zaidi, had to go through the unpleasant task of visiting MQM headquarters Nine-Zero to get the ban lifted. It took 12 hours of negotiations interspersed by numerous monologues of the supremo to reach a settlement. Nonetheless the agreement was on his terms; when publishers of the two largest newspapers of the country were summoned to Nine-Zero and were forced to tender an unqualified apology.
Daily Nawa e Waqt, which chose not to kowtow to Altaf Hussain, had to face his wrath several times. A woman who had come to the newspaper’s offices ostensibly to place an ad perpetrated the first suicide attack in the history of Pakistan. On one occasion its office was rocketed and on another set on fire.
Cleansing Karachi is a difficult task. Admittedly spectacular results have been achieved. But the MQM still presents a conundrum for policy makers.
Its vote bank has perceptibly reduced in the past decade. But it remains the sole political party representing the aspirations of the mohajirs of Sindh. In fact by virtue of its representation in the parliament and Sindh Assembly it is the fourth largest political entity of the country.
On the other hand till now its leadership in Pakistan did not have the guts to cut the umbilical cord. Resultantly, deputy convener Dr Farooq Sattar had no option but to kowtow to instructions conveyed directly by the supremo or through his deputy Nadeem Nusrat directly from London.
There were occasions when Altaf, through his telephonic or video addresses from London, publicly humiliated the local leadership. At one point he urged his followers to beat up Dr Farooq Sattar and a few other members of the so-called Rabita committee.
The ‘minus one (Altaf) formula’ has been in the offing for a long time. But nobody till now had the guts to bell the cat.
Now the process has started, simply thanks to the supremo’s intransigence, the local leadership had been left with no option. In order to survive as a political entity the MQM can no longer carry the heavy baggage that comes with Altaf Hussain.
The supremo however is incorrigible. Subsequent to his diatribe on 22 August, he vilified Pakistan in much stronger language while addressing his followers in the USA. He even forced Babar Ghauri (a senior member) to recant pro-Pakistan slogans he uttered after the ‘Quaid’s’ speech in Karachi and to chant anti-Pakistan slogans to prove his loyalty to the chief.
However, what is worrisome is that Altaf Hussain despite sounding and behaving like a madman still has a captive audience. That is why perhaps Farooq Sattar is circumspect in his criticism of the supremo.
As deputy convener and parliamentary leader of the MQM the diminutive doctor has an onerous task ahead. On the one hand he has to very subtly work on the ‘minus one’ formula while on the other he must keep the essentially ethnic outfit’s vote bank intact.
Unfortunately, his erstwhile Quaid will not make things easy for him. And thanks to Altaf foul mouthing Pakistan and his third degree methods to silence his opponents’ de-Altafisation in the name of Altaf is not possible.
Right now largely owing to fear of the Rangers wrath Farooq Sattar is getting some tail winds. But with general elections less than two years away, ultimately he will have to rely upon the political process unfolding.
The enigmatic Amir Liaquat, after announcing his departure from the MQM, has claimed that he is receiving death threats from the party goons. He has declared that if he is killed Altaf Hussain would be held responsible.
If this becomes the norm rather than an exception it means that Altaf Bhai through his criminal network in Pakistan will keep on threatening those who have the temerity to defy him.
Law enforcement agencies in the metropolis will have to work doubly hard to break this network. Farooq Sattar also has the difficult task ahead of how to maintain MQM’s vote bank sans Altaf Hussain.
In the meanwhile the federal government as well as the provincial government should be engaging the MQM to address its genuine concerns. The reasons that led party stalwarts to go on a hunger strike recently should be looked into.
There have been calls for moving a reference against the MQM in the Supreme Court to ban it a la NAP (National Awami Party) by Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto in February 1975 after PPP leader Hayat Mohammad Sherpao was assassinated. Of course banning a political party with incipient grass roots support and constituencies never works.
NAP’s successor ANP (Awami National Party) exists even to this day under the leadership of Wali Khan’s son Asfandayar Wali. The same applies to the MQM.
If banned it will re-emerge under a new nomenclature. To exorcise the MQM from the ghost of Altaf Hussain might be the ultimate solution.
