MQM’s unjustified protest

The easy way: Send libel notice to BBC

As far as Pakistanis are concerned there was little new in the revelations made by the BBC Two programme Newsnight. Over the years newspapers have carried innumerable reports about bhatta (extortion) collection by the MQM’s activists in Karachi and about the money finally finding its way to London. With Scotland Yard in hot pursuit, Altaf Hussain himself recognised this in May this year and prohibited his workers from ‘collecting any sort of donations from the general public’. It is however yet to be determined if the wads of bank notes discovered in the MQM office in December 2012 and at Altaf’s home last month came from Pakistan or from some other country. As far as the incitement to violence on the part of the MQM leader is concerned, this too is nothing new. Threats to the MQM opponents like “We will prepare your body bags” or the remark “tearing open abdomens” replayed in the BBC programme are however thoroughly repulsive and provocative. These must have surprised many Britons also who witnessed last month the MQM protestors outside 10 Downing Street carrying placards that read “Altaf Hussain is the ambassador of peace” and shouting slogans in support of peace.

Altaf Hussain is a citizen of Great Britain, which has stringent laws against money laundering. It is now for the MQM chief to explain to the investigators the source of the money and how it reached him. There would be other questions too. If the money came from a legitimate source, why wasn’t it sent through the normal banking system? Why did Hussain keep so much currency at his home instead of depositing it in a bank as is the normal practice? If the money belonged to the party he heads, why was it hoarded in London rather than kept in Pakistan where the MQM could use it to conduct its political activity including taking part in elections? Britain also has strict laws against incitement to violence. Unlike Pakistan, one cannot resort to the language of the sort without being held accountable. To maintain that the objectionable words are being quoted out of context will not hold ground because the whole speech is now a part of the record.

The BBC has also claimed that it has obtained Altaf Hussain’s letter to the British Prime Minister written soon after 9/11 volunteering to provide British government secret information about the jihadi outfits. This has led an anchorperson to ask, and for good reason, why should Dr Shakil Afridi languish in jail for a similar activity? Instead of asking everyone to put an end to “propaganda” against Altaf Hussain, the MQM should send a notice to the BBC under libel laws if it believes the British network is spreading false information. Unless it does so, Pakistani media cannot ignore what is being broadcast or published abroad.