Islamabad
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) London, comprising just half a dozen top leaders including Altaf Hussain, has put itself to a gigantic test by calling on its federal and Sindh legislators to resign, a demand that has so far been largely disregarded by them to its great chagrin.
The response to the London chapter’s urging will establish how strongly Altaf Hussain still rules at least the MQM lawmakers. It will also prove Dr Farooq Sattar-led MQM Pakistan’s grip and standing up on its feet in the wake of the founder’s August 22 anti-Pakistan harangue.
The ruling was issued at a time when Altaf Hussain is faced with the worst-ever isolation and situation in Pakistan where his party has revolted against him and is reinforcing its disconnection, distance and dissociation with him day by day.
The demand was ill-timed because it became evident more than once over the past three years that Altaf Hussain has not been able to stir up the Karachi streets despite his ominous edicts. His latest announcement made on August 22 to hold a demonstration in front of the Sindh Secretariat met with total failure as there was absolutely business as usual in Karachi that day.
Apart from the apparently offstage hardcore elements, who had been bringing Karachi to a grinding halt on his wishes, the MQM in Karachi as a whole had also been playing a major part in making such protests a success. However, circumstances have forced it to bury this kind of agitation that brings miseries to the mega city and destroys business activities.
On the face of it, by seeking resignations the London chapter embarked on a risky adventure, without realizing that it no longer has a firm command over the MQM Pakistan as it had enjoyed since its inception. Maybe, the purpose of this extreme plea is to measure the sway of the London chapter over the party legislators even when they are not even taking Altaf Hussain’s phone calls and are denouncing him day in and day out.
However, the London chapter’s decision shows its desperation, frustration and fury over the MQM Pakistan’s consistent moves to ditch Altaf Hussain. It was made public after the MQM legislators in the Sindh Assembly supported along with all the parliamentary parties the approval of a unanimous resolution, recommending his trial under article 6 that provides death penalty.
There was a time when just a phone call, not an official statement read out or released by some senior Britain-based leader, from London was more than sufficient to make the MQM’s legislators instantly comply with. Picking up courage to confront was unthinkable, considering the subsequent dire consequences the defiant lot will face without a doubt.
Now more than two days have gone by after MQM Convener Nadim Nusrat, hovering around Altaf Hussain, issued the decree on the direction of his boss, directing the members of the national and Sindh assemblies to vacate their seats. Only member of the National Assembly Safyan Yousuf has abided by and sent his resignation letter to the London chapter.
The most apt comment on the resignation has come from Faisal Sabzwari, once a diehard Altaf Hussain loyalist, who stated that had they sought vote on the basis of the anti-Pakistan diatribe of Altaf Hussain, they would have been beaten with shoes in the elections by the voters.
Khawaja Izharul Hassan expressed the view that nobody would tender resignation for the satisfaction or on the wishes of anyone, and they have taken oath for the State of Pakistan not for any political party or individual.
As expected, the MQM Pakistan quickly dismissed as inconsequential the order of the London chapter and announced that no federal or Sindh legislator of the party would give up his or her assembly seat. It is a great challenge for Farooq Sattar to keep the MQM specifically its lawmakers as a unified force and obviate it from the onslaught from London.
There are no signs that the widening gulf between the two MQMs, which has gradually turned into an open confrontation and practical parting of ways, will alleviate. Rather it will intensify in the days to come. It goes without saying that anybody bowing before the London judgment will be treated in Pakistan as the one, who endorses anti-Pakistan tirade and activities of Altaf Hussain and the coteries surrounding him and sticking to what the founder had stated on August 22.
