MQM supremo losing control of Karachi: Bloomberg

LONDON: MQM founder Altaf Hussain is 'losing control of Karachi', which he used to run with an iron hand from his base in London.

Bllomberg in an analysis about ALtaf Hussain and Karachi, said 'after 24 years running Pakistan’s largest city from exile in a quiet suburban house in north London, Altaf Hussain may be finally losing his grip on power'.

His August 22 speech was the turning point, when MQM’s most senior member in Pakistan, Farooq Sattar, renounced Altaf’s leadership, the first time the party’s Pakistan lawmakers openly split from the group in London.

The MQM is fragmenting after a three-year military crackdown, the report added.

While commenting on splitting of MQM into many factions, the report quoting analyst Huma Yusuf stated that 'MQM is facing multiple pressures' and the breakup of party into London and Pakistan camps 'would lead to an intra-party tussle that could lead to instability, including violence'.

'Hussain’s increasingly erratic hold on power threatens to ignite a power struggle that would pit leaders of the city’s Urdu-speaking Mohajir majority against each other and against the military and police.’

The military campaign has reduced the ability of the MQM’s militia to shut down Karachi “because most of them have been arrested or have gone underground,” said Zia Ur Rehman, a Karachi-based journalist.