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Tuesday March 19, 2024

End of a cult

By Iftekhar A Khan
September 01, 2016

MQM supremo Altaf Hussain’s remarks about this country and its institutions should have come as no surprise for anyone. In his past harangues, he badmouthed the country many a time but it was like triggering fireworks against the government and getting away with it. Encouraged by government inaction, on August 22 he kicked a bomb that exploded in his face.     

The main advantage Altaf Hussain has had was of his location in London. Beyond the reach of the law of his native country, he was able to control his party without a squeak from the captive followers. Even the TV viewers were held hostage, as they had no choice but to listen to Bhai’s sickening monologues for hours.

British author Owen Bennett-Jones wrote a lengthy article on July 29, 2013, in the Guardian:  ‘Altaf Hussain, the notorious MQM leader who swapped Pakistan for London’.        

“Anxiety about the MQM is not restricted to Pakistan. One member of the British House of Lords who has been openly critical of the MQM recently said if I went to Karachi now I would be killed.’ Another peer has similar worries: ‘This is one issue I don’t ask questions on. I have my child to worry about,’”

Were that to be the level of fear Altaf struck in the minds of the British MPs, what about the lesser mortals in Karachi?       

Bennett-Jones wrote how the British intelligence harboured Altaf as its asset: “The MQM is British turf: Karachi is one of the few places left on earth in which the Americans let Britain take the lead. The US consulate in Karachi no longer runs active intelligence gathering operations in the city. The British still do. When it comes to claiming a place at the top table of international security politics – London’s relationship with the MQM is a remaining toehold.” The writer of course was much discreet in choosing his words.    

Intriguingly, Altaf Hussain chose London to live a life in self-exile. London had, in the past, surfaced in assorted conspiracy theories against Pakistan. Such theories were typically branded as the ‘London Plans’. While Altaf Hussain had no source of verifiable income in London, he owned a rambling mansion in Mill Hill and office at Edgware. Years later, when the police raided his house and office to investigate Dr Imran Farooq’s murder case in which Altaf Bhai had allegedly been involved, it found 150,000 British pounds at the party’s Edgware office and 250,000 poundsat his house.   

Living in London, Altaf Bhai had been looked after by his party in Karachi – much to the relief of the UK immigration department, which usually acts tightfistedly in granting visitor visas, lest the visitors prove to be a liability on the British economy.

To the envy of rich Brits, Bhai lived better than many of them. He had the best of everything. Yet he always sat in a sparsely appointed room with blue shade on the back wall when addressing his followers in Karachi via video link. The idea was to mislead followers that dear leader lived frugally in London.

The public perceived the MQM as a party patronised by the establishment. It was mostly true when Generals Aslam Baig and Pervez Musharraf held the military reins. Not realising the times had changed, when Altaf took chances with the present chief, who plays with the straight bat, Bhai’s world came crashing down.   

Ours is the only country whose leaders, living thousands of miles away from home, control their parties by remote control. Altaf conducted his party affairs from London for decades; Asif Zardari does it now from Dubai.

Altaf’s outburst has landed the Pak Sarzameen Party in a precarious situation. Mustafa Kamal apprehends that the Karachi chapter of the MQM led by Farooq Sattar will encroach upon the political space the PSP seems to have enjoyed in the last few months. The chairman of the PSP has never been as visibly upset since the launch of his party as he has been in the last few days. The show goes on.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore. Email: pinecity@gmail.com