These are unchartered waters for us all
The MQM Pakistan has a number of sworn enemies, the PSP being not the only one. Soon after the party dissociated with and condemned Altaf Hussain’s August 22 remarks, its opponents called this a fixed match. It was claimed that Farooq Sattar was incapable of cutting the umbilical cord with Altaf Hussain and his London Secretariat. It was maintained that the split was a tactical move and Altaf had himself given the suggestion to bifurcate the London and Karachi coordination committees to allow the party to wait out the storm. Similar reactions came when Farooq Sattar stripped four pro-Altaf London based party bigwigs of their offices after Nadeem Nusrat insisted that Altaf still remained the MQM chief.
Any doubting Thomas who witnessed the televised proceedings of the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday would agree that the stand taken by the MQM leadership on Altaf Hussain’s issue cannot be dismissed as drama. A party leader said he was deeply saddened to hear anti-Pakistan chants from a person he loved the most. Another said it was an extremely hard decision to part ways with ‘that man’ but the party did it. Finally MQM’s veteran Sardar Ahmad presented a resolution demanding the initiation of treason proceedings against Altaf Hussain.
Such is the reputation of the MQM that even those who tend to believe it has burnt its boats after the resolution against Altaf Husain would closely watch its behaviour in days to come. Many would maintain that this is the right time for the party to say goodbye to its violent past. They would expect MQM Pakistan to shun activities like target killing, extortion and china cutting. What is more the party has to abjure the demand for separate province that has created bad blood with the Sindhis. The MQM will have to work hard to wean away the party’s voters from Altaf Hussain. In case it succeeds, it would be remembered for adding a memorable chapter in the political history of Sindh.
