The beleaguered MQM has a new enemy to contend with, and he is no other than Mustafa Kamal, once a blue-eyed boy of party supremo Altaf Husain and a former much-admired mayor of Karachi. Suddenly emerging from a three-year self imposed exile last week in Karachi, he held a marathon press conference to launch a blistering attack on the MQM chief.
It was a bravura performance, stunning in its content and style. In a two-hour tirade, Mustafa Kamal accused Altaf Husain of working for the Indian intelligence agency RAW for the past two decades. He also charged him with destroying two generations of Mohajirs and turning Karachi into a killing field. He alleged that the MQM chief was involved in the murder of party workers and delivered speeches and made party policy in a state of drunkenness. Kamal said that Altaf Husain is not mentally fit, has amassed wealth through unlawful means, and has forced a generation of the Urdu-speaking population of urban Sindh to become criminals and foreign agents.
Umpteen times has the MQM been reviled by political rivals as well as security agencies for indulging in criminal activities, but this is the first time that an MQM leader of the stature of Mustafa Kamal has levelled such serious allegations against the party. Talking about investigations into MQM leader Dr. Imran Farooq’s murder case, the former mayor said that Britain’s Scotland Yard took back with them a truck laden with documents from Husain’s house. Further, during the interrogations, MQM leaders Tariq Mir and Mohammad Anwar had confessed to having connections with India and receiving funds from RAW.
The allegations against the MQM are not new nor are the attempts to create a split in the party. In the early nineties, the MQM-Haqiqi was born but, to date, the breakaway faction remains a non-entity. Last year, grave charges were levelled against the MQM and its leader by the party’s self-confessed hitman Saulat Mirza. But as the subsequent by-polls and local bodies elections showed, the shocking revelations had no averse effect on the party’s mass appeal.
In the eyes of most political analysts, Mustafa Kamal’s assault against his erstwhile leader is another attempt to operationalize the notorious “minus-one formula.” Many times in the past, unnamed forces tried to apply this formula to the MQM but in vain. Will the latest attempt succeed?
MQM is a monolith and revolves round the personality of Altaf Husain. Since the genesis of the MQM in 1984, Altaf Husain has wielded absolute control over the party. He commands the total loyalty of the rank and file. It is his charismatic appeal that has held the party together all these years despite many ups and downs. In other words, MQM and Altaf Husain are synonymous.
What is the secret of Altaf Husain’s magic hold over the party? The MQM was created to protect and promote the rights of the Mohajir community in Karachi. The MQM was the first party in Pakistan to secure political representation for the Mohajirs in the political system of the state. Members of the middle class in Karachi, Hyderabad and other urban centres in Sindh were for the first time elected to the provincial and national legislatures and challenged the predominance of the feudal classes within the portals of power.
So far, only a few Sindh Assembly members have joined Mustafa Kamal. But there has been no mass defection and no rush to join Mustafa Kamal’s as yet unnamed party. The MQM’s top leadership has dismissed the defectors and the various accusations as part of a new conspiracy against the party, pointing the finger at elements within the security establishment. The MQM has also moved politically to counter the offensive launched by the rebels through a grass-root campaign to spruce up the mega city. The strategy is to drum up mass support for the party to deal with the emerging challenge. It seems the party is trying to put its house in order. The MQM has been running a well-organised party machine in urban Sindh for decades. It is remarkable that even when its militant wing was facing an onslaught by the security forces, it managed to maintain its electoral supremacy.
It remains to be seen how many cracks the rebel troika can cause within the strongly constructed party machine that has survived many rebellions during the last three decades. Unless the split within the ranks is genuine, it is difficult to see Mustafa Kamal defeating the MQM at the ballot box, especially given the perception that a “minus-Altaf” formula is being orchestrated from somewhere else.
It is too early to predict the outcome of the new tumult in Karachi’s politics. It depends to a great extent on how Mustafa Kamal goes about accomplishing the daunting task he has undertaken. Also, much will depend upon the response of the Establishment to the new situation. The developments in Karachi in the coming weeks will be interesting to watch.
It was a bravura performance, stunning in its content and style. In a two-hour tirade, Mustafa Kamal accused Altaf Husain of working for the Indian intelligence agency RAW for the past two decades. He also charged him with destroying two generations of Mohajirs and turning Karachi into a killing field. He alleged that the MQM chief was involved in the murder of party workers and delivered speeches and made party policy in a state of drunkenness. Kamal said that Altaf Husain is not mentally fit, has amassed wealth through unlawful means, and has forced a generation of the Urdu-speaking population of urban Sindh to become criminals and foreign agents.
Umpteen times has the MQM been reviled by political rivals as well as security agencies for indulging in criminal activities, but this is the first time that an MQM leader of the stature of Mustafa Kamal has levelled such serious allegations against the party. Talking about investigations into MQM leader Dr. Imran Farooq’s murder case, the former mayor said that Britain’s Scotland Yard took back with them a truck laden with documents from Husain’s house. Further, during the interrogations, MQM leaders Tariq Mir and Mohammad Anwar had confessed to having connections with India and receiving funds from RAW.
The allegations against the MQM are not new nor are the attempts to create a split in the party. In the early nineties, the MQM-Haqiqi was born but, to date, the breakaway faction remains a non-entity. Last year, grave charges were levelled against the MQM and its leader by the party’s self-confessed hitman Saulat Mirza. But as the subsequent by-polls and local bodies elections showed, the shocking revelations had no averse effect on the party’s mass appeal.
In the eyes of most political analysts, Mustafa Kamal’s assault against his erstwhile leader is another attempt to operationalize the notorious “minus-one formula.” Many times in the past, unnamed forces tried to apply this formula to the MQM but in vain. Will the latest attempt succeed?
MQM is a monolith and revolves round the personality of Altaf Husain. Since the genesis of the MQM in 1984, Altaf Husain has wielded absolute control over the party. He commands the total loyalty of the rank and file. It is his charismatic appeal that has held the party together all these years despite many ups and downs. In other words, MQM and Altaf Husain are synonymous.
What is the secret of Altaf Husain’s magic hold over the party? The MQM was created to protect and promote the rights of the Mohajir community in Karachi. The MQM was the first party in Pakistan to secure political representation for the Mohajirs in the political system of the state. Members of the middle class in Karachi, Hyderabad and other urban centres in Sindh were for the first time elected to the provincial and national legislatures and challenged the predominance of the feudal classes within the portals of power.
So far, only a few Sindh Assembly members have joined Mustafa Kamal. But there has been no mass defection and no rush to join Mustafa Kamal’s as yet unnamed party. The MQM’s top leadership has dismissed the defectors and the various accusations as part of a new conspiracy against the party, pointing the finger at elements within the security establishment. The MQM has also moved politically to counter the offensive launched by the rebels through a grass-root campaign to spruce up the mega city. The strategy is to drum up mass support for the party to deal with the emerging challenge. It seems the party is trying to put its house in order. The MQM has been running a well-organised party machine in urban Sindh for decades. It is remarkable that even when its militant wing was facing an onslaught by the security forces, it managed to maintain its electoral supremacy.
It remains to be seen how many cracks the rebel troika can cause within the strongly constructed party machine that has survived many rebellions during the last three decades. Unless the split within the ranks is genuine, it is difficult to see Mustafa Kamal defeating the MQM at the ballot box, especially given the perception that a “minus-Altaf” formula is being orchestrated from somewhere else.
It is too early to predict the outcome of the new tumult in Karachi’s politics. It depends to a great extent on how Mustafa Kamal goes about accomplishing the daunting task he has undertaken. Also, much will depend upon the response of the Establishment to the new situation. The developments in Karachi in the coming weeks will be interesting to watch.
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