The return of ‘minus-one’

He came, he spoke, and he shook the political scene. The ex-Karachi nazim’s allegations may be a bundle of lies; they may be one hundred percent true, or they may be a mixture of truth and falsehood. One can debate their substance and validity for hours on end. But at all events, Mustafa Kamal has taken MQM supremo Altaf Hussain head-on and at the same time projected himself as an alternative to the maverick leader.

If the former nazim – and once a die-heart Altaf Hussain loyalist – is to be taken at his word, the MQM is knee-deep involved in criminal activities and has links with Indian intelligence outfit RAW. Kamal has further alleged that Ataf Hussain is not mentally fit, has amassed wealth through unlawful means, and has forced a generation of the Urdu-speaking population of urban Sindh – Mohajirs as they are commonly called – to become criminals and foreign agents.

The allegations against the MQM are not new. Nor is the attempt to create a schism in the party. In early 1990s, MQM Haqiqi was created. But to date, the breakaway faction remains an insignificant entity. Similar charges against the MQM and its supreme leader were levelled by the party’s self-confessed ex-hit man Saulat Mirza nearly a year ago.

But as the subsequent by-polls and local bodies elections amply showed, the startling ‘revelations’ didn’t create any dents in the party’s mass appeal. The difference, however, is that this time the top MQM leadership is in a bit of a jam. Altaf Hussain is facing cases in the UK. And then there are his health problems.

Since the birth of the MQM in 1984, Altaf Hussain has wielded total control over the party. At the same time, the party’s popularity in urban Sindh has largely been due to his charisma and it is Altaf who more than anyone else has held the party together during all these years. Hence, the MQM and Altaf Hussain have been synonymous. One can’t think of the MQM without its maverick leader who has been behind both the credit and debit sides of the party’s balance sheet. To appreciate the MQM’s strengths and weaknesses one needs to look at the genesis of the party.

The MQM was founded by Altaf Hussain, then a former student leader. At that time, strongman Gen Ziaul Haq was at the helm and the country was under martial law. It is widely alleged that the MQM was fathered by Zia’s regime with a view to further polarise society – a charge that the party vehemently denies.

The MQM was created on the slogan of recognising the rights of the Mohajirs. The party has had two overriding characteristics: in the first place, the MQM was the first – and remains to date the only – political party to have raised a voice for Mohajirs exclusively. Before the MQM, there were parties that worked essentially for other ethnic groups. Its essentially Mohajir credentials, notwithstanding the change of name from Mohajir Qaumi Movement to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, have enabled the MQM to maintain its electoral edge over urban Sindh. At the same time, this has held the party back from expanding its support base to other areas of the country. It remains largely an ethnic outfit.

Two, the MQM gave political representation to the urban middle class, which hitherto found it enormously difficult to reach the popularly elected assemblies in view of the cardinal role that money plays in national politics. Altaf Hussain has made no bones about his hatred of the ‘tyrannical’ feudal classes.

But the power of money and political patronage, which is strongly embedded in Pakistan’s political culture, has not been lost on the MQM either. It has as jealously guarded its urban Sindh constituency as a feudal lord would defend his fiefdom – by means fair or foul. Add to this Karachi’s status of being the nation’s commercial and financial capital with a large underground economy, and we have a strong incentive for the creation of a politician-criminal nexus. In the past, this nexus worked to the MQM’s, and other parties’, advantage. But now it seems the chickens are coming home to roost.

It is customary for Altaf Hussain’s detractors to attribute the MQM’s electoral exploits to politics of fear and intimidation. The fear factor may indeed have contributed to the party’s victory. That said, the party has won decisively even when it was on the wrong side of the powers that be – as in the recent local bodies elections.

In a democracy, the people are the ultimate judge. Despite all the allegations, they have been voting for the party – which is an endorsement of the electorate’s trust in the leadership of Altaf Hussain. At any rate, the popular mandate must be respected. However, this healthy political tradition hasn’t taken root in Pakistan.

Mustafa Kamal’s tirade against his erstwhile leader is, therefore, widely being seen as representing yet another attempt to apply the infamous minus-one formula to politics. In the past, this formula has been applied to the MQM as well as other major political parties, such as the PPP and the PML-N. But on each occasion, such efforts came to naught. Will this latest application of the minus-one formula share the fate of previous such endeavours?

The writer is a graduate from a western European university.

Email: hussainhzaidi@gmail.com