Red alert for Altaf

It is not a 'red warrant’ but actually a ‘red alert’ for Altaf Hussain and a challenge for him to cope with a difficult situation when his party is facing an unofficial ban in Pakistan.

No other political leader in Pakistan has faced as many cases of multiple nature as the founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in his 38-year political career. Whether he is guilty or innocent and a traitor or a patriot? It is yet to be decided by a court of law, but, in Pakistan, perception is stronger than reality.

With an unofficial ban on his politics and speeches following his 'anti-Pakistan' slogans on August 22 outside the Karachi Press Club, the federal government now intends to bring him back from London through Interpol. If it is done, he can face very serious charges including sedition, murder, hate speech and money laundering. His trial would certainly be the second biggest after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s but he could get more media hype than ZAB, as the media was under censorship in 1978.

It may not be easy for the government to bring Altaf back for two reasons. First, he is a British national and second, some serious inquiries against him including the murder of Dr Imran Farooq are still pending with the UK police. There is no doubt that for the first time, the MQM founder is in deep trouble; perhaps, the worst in his long political career. He is finding himself in difficult circumstances, both politically and legally. In the past, he survived as two mainstream political parties rescued him. In other words, they 'used' him.

The trial of Altaf Hussain, either for hate speech or other criminal charges, can cover three decades and thus will be a test for both the government and the establishment, as he has been a key player of Pakistan’s changing political dynamics after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It is true that charges are too serious to get away with, but it is also true that he has also been used by successive military and civilian rulers including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He worked as an ally of political as well as military governments. The Pakistani establishment used him time and again. If he was brought up under General Ziaul Haq's establishment as alleged by certain quarters, he was also accused of playing in the hands of former army chiefs General Aslam Beg and General Pervez Musharraf.

The political scenario changed after 2013 when the Karachi operation was launched and Altaf misread the intention of both the PML-N and the establishment which came on the same page that no political space would be given to him. 

Interior Ministry sources have revealed that complete process would be followed to extradite Altaf Hussain through Interpol, despite some legal hitches. Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan was disappointed with the UK police when charges of money laundering were dropped against Altaf last year.

Altaf Hussain left Pakistan in January 1992, six months before the first army operation in Karachi. The then corps commander, Karachi, the late General Asif Nawaz who later became the army chief, wanted a massive operation in whole of Sindh, but, after the Tando Bahawal case in which nine villagers were killed, confined the operation to Karachi. 

Prior to the formation of the MQM, the ethnic and sectarian violence said to be 'engineered' but the party allegedly used arms and muscles to control Karachi and its office-bearers after the 1991 revolt of two of its key leaders Afaq Ahmad and Aamir Khan, considered ‘terror’ at that time. Hundreds of activists and leaders of both sides were killed in area control politics, but, since Altaf Hussain has the charisma and is considered by Muhajirs as 'father of Muhajir nationalism', the MQM (Haqiqi) could not made inroads in politics and was branded as pro-establishment.

In the Dr Imran Farooq murder case, the UK police refused to take all the three suspects into custody as they were only interested in the one who killed the former MQM secretary general in 2010. The life of Altaf Hussain revolves around these controversies and the biggest dilemma for him is that even his party's founding members now differ with his policies and style of politics. While he still enjoys following, particularly among the lower and middle classes of Muhajirs, some of those who worked with him for almost three decades now find themselves in a 'no win' situation. Those still close to him say Altaf believes his comrades could not sustain pressure while his critics say the biggest problem for him is his approach towards 'dissent' with him.

Saleem Shahzad is perhaps the last among the founding members of the 1978 batch of the All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO). After spending three decades with Altaf, he now looks a dejected and disgruntled man, fighting liver cancer. Azeem Ahmad Tariq and Dr Imran Farooq were killed while Kishwar Zehra, Zareen Majeed, Ahmad Saleem Siddiqui, Aminul Haq and other members of the founding team either lost the confidence of the MQM founder or distanced themselves from his politics. Some of them believe that 1991 was the turning point in MQM politics following their back-to-back victory in 1987 local bodies and 1988 and 1990 general elections. They believe these were the years when the MQM could have delivered, but it became part of political conspiracies and played in the hands of the establishment which first used it against the PPP and then ditched it during the 1992 army operation.

The MQM, since its inception, has been facing allegations of suppressing its political opponents through violent means and was held responsible for killing many of them including its own leaders and workers, the charge the MQM denied but failed in removing this perception. From 1978 to 2016, there were more than 250 FIRs against the MQM chief alone including those about murder, treason, money laundering and hate speech. Out of these, he had been convicted in one case in 1978 by a military court. He had been awarded nine-month jail for burning a Pakistani flag during a protest outside Mazar-e-Quaid.

While his party colleagues in London are confident that he would come out of the ongoing crisis and is unlikely to be indicted for Dr Imran Farooq murder or hate speech in the UK, they also believe that his British nationality may help him escape the extradition move of the Pakistan government. So, it’s not a 'red warrant' but a 'red alert' for Altaf Hussain and his future political career. Can he survive this time?

The writer is a senior columnist and analyst of the Geo News, The News and daily Jang.

Twitter: @MazharAbbasGEO