Farooq Sattar’s recent threat to quit government has brought the internal insecurities of MQM-Pakistan to the fore. The apprehension that the establishment or other parties are trying to coerce its members away comes as the freshly split party finds itself on unchartered political territory, one without the “beacon” of Altaf Hussain’s guidance leading them in the “right” direction. Or do they?
If Salman Mujahid is to be believed, MQM Pakistan is not truly estranged from its former “Quaid”. The MNA recently alleged that certain leaders of MQM-Pakistan, including chief Farooq Sattar and MNA Kishwer Zehra are still in contact with Altaf Hussain. The tell-all also included accusations against Faisal Sabzwari, Khawaja Izharul Hassan, and the current Mayor of Karachi, Waseem Akhtar, suggesting that all, together with Farooq Sattar, had indulged in taking bribes from provincial departments. The duo of Faisal Sabzwari and Farooq Sattar, he suggested, had taken bribes from District East, the Mayor of Karachi from KMC, and Khawaja Izhar from North Karachi.
The claims were, of course, rejected by the party’s leadership, but if Karachi’s conditions are anything to go by, Mujahid’s accusations do not seem too far off the mark. It is possibly the truth in the expelled MNA’s statements that stung Farooq Sattar into action as well as into apprehension.
However, Sattar cannot be blamed too much for being paranoid. Though a melanoma in its own right, the presence of Altaf Hussain gave MQM stability and assurance, for he had led the party for thirty-two years before losing his marbles enough to produce the rant of August 22. He was an evil that the party and its members had grown excessively used to, and dependent upon. And now with Altaf gone, Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party threatening to break into MQM’s Muhajir vote bank, and other parties allegedly trying to coax its members away, Farooq Sattar and his party are behaving – and quite literally are – something the like of a headless chicken: flapping its wings around in a haphazard manner, without direction and without control.
It is, therefore, not hard to believe Salman Mujahid’s allegations that the party’s leadership is still in contact with its not-so-proverbial “head”. Patriotism aside, a man like Farooq Sattar, who had grown to find comfort in Altaf’s expansive shadow, can easily be expected to resume contact with his former captain in order to regain his bearings, especially with the elections coming up.
But the most important question for everybody associated with the party – and certainly, by extension, with urban Sindh – is: would Muttahida Qaumi Movement be able to survive the election season, this time around?
The party is no stranger to adversity, this much is surely true. It has survived long battles with the establishment, as well as all of Nawaz Sharif’s stints as the Prime Minister of the country. It famously strove through the Jinnahpur Conspiracy – which doesn’t entirely sound like a conspiracy after Altaf Hussain’s anti-Pakistan tirade last August – and braved “Operation Clean-up”. It has had many of its workers kidnapped and killed by the infamous namaloom afraad. However, through all its ordeals, it had Altaf Hussain at the steering wheel.
One may find Altaf a despicable man, and one would indeed be justified in one’s own right. However, his resolution in creating and leading the MQM through thick and thin – mostly thick – as well as his ability to successfully gain control of and terrorize a massive, sprawling, and diverse city like Karachi, tells the tale of a very resilient and steadfast – even if a resiliently and steadfastly evil – man. It is that resilience that MQM would miss sorely – at least so far as the elections of 2018 are concerned. It would be hard for the party to battle so many variables, all at once, with an infinitely weakened base. The three Ps of PPP, PSP, and PTI, together with the old enemy, the establishment, would certainly give MQM a hard run for its money come 2018 – especially, detrimentally for the party, in urban Sindh.
However… however, let us not be foolish enough to believe that this slump, no matter how steep, would term the end of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Let us not be foolish enough to believe that one telephonic rant – however unpatriotic, even “blasphemous” – would be enough to rid Pakistani politics of Altaf Hussain. He has ranted before, and he has been “forgiven” by the “generous” Pakistani public, before, as well. One can’t help but yield to the feeling that the city of Karachi would be forced, blackmailed, tortured, and terrorized into forgiveness, once again.
