Altaf and the Establishment

Author and researcher Dr Kiessling, in his book on Pakistan, disclosed in a chapter on the 'Political Career of Altaf Hussain’, that the late General Ziaul Haq organised Muhajir politics out of fear as a result of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), 1983, and Benazir Bhutto's intention to return to challenge him.

"Zia was politically worried and instructed the ISI to organise Muhajirs politically to his advantage, which started with the concept of a “Muft bazaar” for which due funds were provided," revealed in his book, Faith, Unity, Discipline, the ISI of Pakistan."

It said that Zia was disappointed by Jamaat-e-Islami's failure to counter PPP in Sindh, which led to the formation of a Muhajir organisation. The MQM, in the past, had denied these charges and believes that it’s a product of a sense of deprivation among Muhajirs.

There is a lot for the establishment to learn as politics are about to reshape in Sindh, particularly in urban Sindh. Change always comes in a process, as happened in the case of the PPP. And in the years to come, the PML-N can also face the same fate.

The new political realities also come in process and not through any manoeuvring. For Altaf Hussain, lesson is very simple: Keep conspiracies aside and reassess his own politics and how and why he lost so many friends within and outside the party and lost the confidence of the establishment as well.

For independent observers, he has become the victim of his own creation and style of politics, and today he is completed isolated. Today, he has to decide about his own political fate in the given circumstances.

While his critics are convinced that the establishment was behind Altaf, and it used him for violent politics to keep pressure on the PPP, its supporters in the past believed that feudal lords and the establishment were scared of the rise of a middle class party.

Now, at a time when the civil and military establishment seems to be on one page over the fate of the MQM founder, and is using all channels to get him extradited from London through red warrants, the race for an alternative in Karachi and urban Sindh is in full swing.

What had been Altaf Hussain's relationship with the establishment in the last 38 years, had been discussed many times. But, for the first time, the man, who once ruled the minds of a large Urdu-speaking population called Muhajirs, is finding it difficult to make a comeback in politics. His own party is in complete disarray, divided in factions while he himself is facing most serious charges from murder to treason for his alleged links with Indian spy agency RAW.

Altaf Hussain, living in self-exile in London since January 1992, a month after the first split caused in the party by two of his strongest aides – Afaq Ahmad and Aamir Khan, who for the first time had raised the issue of financial corruption. Both, at that time were the In-charge of MQM two zones and controlled its sector and units. Altaf and his MQM dumped them as the establishment's men. Later on, after June 19, 1992 operation, Afaq and Aamir both did not completely denied these charges, but also branded Altaf as the same.

This split, which later resulted in violent politics among the two factions, the MQM and the MQM-Haqiqi, resulted in the killing of hundreds of their workers and some top leaders. But, the Haqiqi could not develop itself as a mainstream political force.

During the 1992 operation, Altaf Hussain also lost the confidence of party chairman, Azeem Ahmad Tariq, but again blamed the establishment for putting pressure on the party chairman to change his loyalty. The MQM chairman was underground after the operation and surfaced when the establishment promised him safety and security.

This group could not materialise and on May 1, 1993, Azeem Ahmad Tariq was assassinated. The MQM dissidents and police suspected the role of MQM (Altaf), while the MQM blamed the establishments.

The MQM survived all these years and won major elections. At the same time, it also started losing electoral credibility, after being accused of using its muscle power to change the results.

The MQM and the establishment enjoyed the best ties from 2001 to 2007, when former president, General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, fully accommodated it. The party has now lost the confidence of the establishment due to its alleged anti-state politics.

The year 2008 was the turning point when after Dr Zulfiqar Mirza’s outburst against the MQM, the party surprised its own leaders and workers by joining the PPP government. It was a suicidal decision of the MQM, and it paid for it in the form of a major split after 2013 elections.

The mini revolt in the party came when during an internal opinion poll, the majority rejected party’s decision to join the coalition government with the PPP. A reaction came in the 2013 elections when some eight million votes went to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which included votes from its stronghold, Azizabad and Federal B Area, as well.

When in 2010, Dr Imran Farooq, one of party’s founders and first secretary general, was mysteriously killed in London, fingers were pointed at Altaf Hussain, in the backdrop of his differences with him and the move for forming another faction. Altaf and his colleagues denied these allegations. The case is still pending, both in London and Pakistan and the recent decision to issue a red warrant against Altaf is linked with this case.

Dr Imran's own political history remains quite mysterious particularly his seven-year disappearance during 92 operation and his sudden appearance in London. But, he had developed differences with Altaf Hussain over running the affairs of the party.

In the end, it resulted in another split when some of the most trusted leaders of Altaf Hussain, including Mustafa Kamal, Anis Qaimkhani, parted ways with him after the 2013 general elections.

For the establishment, his chapter now stands closed after August 22, 2016. His party, MQM, now has been divided into four factions, an unofficial ban on him has made his job far more difficult. For his opponents, it’s a dark chapter of our political history and for the independent observers, he is completely down, but not necessarily out.

In 1992, former army chief, the late General Asif Nawaz Janjua, with the consent of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, decided to launch a military operation to eradicate MQM militants and end its criminal activities. The word used in the book for Sharif telling his COAS was “Paijau” and “Finish them”.

The Haqiqi factor diminished significantly when Musharraf came into power in 1999. He needed a partner for the destruction of Bhutto's political base in Sindh. He opted for Altaf Hussain and agreed that he should stay in London.

Similarly, on the establishment front, he enjoyed good relationship with the successive spy agency men dealing with political matters, such as Brig (retd) Imtiaz, Major Aamir to successive chiefs like the late Lt-Gen (retd) Hameed Gul and Javed Pasha.

If the establishment is accused of making the MQM and Altaf Hussain, it has also been accused of breaking the party and the mighty power of Altaf Hussain.

Thus, on the one hand, the MQM and Altaf Hussain, perhaps, become too powerful and, on the other hand it became a constant political problem for the PPP, which had been ruling Sindh. However, twice its governments were dismissed for being unable to control violence in Karachi, beside charges of corruption.

As a tug-of-war continued over Karachi in the aftermath of the vacuum created in the post-2013 Karachi operation. And the decision of civil and military establishment not to allow return of MQM faction, led by Altaf Hussain, efforts are under way to bridge the gap among other faction of the MQM minus Altaf. 

While certain official circles put their weight behind PSP, MQM (Pakistan) is still confident to retain its 2013 position. However, it has yet not been able to regain the confidence of the powerful lobby that they have no secret ties with the MQM-London, something which has also kept the PML at distance from the MQM-Pakistan.

The MQM-London's decision will be crucial in case they did not get the space to contest. What will they ask their voters? Will they give an open option but distance from the MQM-P and the PSP. In that case, the automatic benefices would be any anti-MQM alliance like JI and PTI or PPP, JI and PTI. 

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

Twitter: @MazharAbbasGEO