The founder of the MQM, Altaf Hussain, has been charged with terrorism offences in the UK and was subsequently arrested. This time Karachi responded differently as complete calm and silence filled the air as the news went by largely unnoticed.
The situation would have been much different just a few years back when the MQM yielded considerable influence and an element of fear in Karachi. The entire megapolis would have shut down on a mere phone call of the self-exiled leader with riots and political ensuing for several days.
The MQM founder once moving words eventually caused his downfall. The case against him relates to inciting violence when he made an incendiary speech against state institutions on August 22, 2016. As a result, his supporters went on a rampage destroying public properties, clashing with policemen and attacking several media houses.
The London Metropolitan Police has stated that the speech was relayed from London to crowds gathered in Karachi. The MQM leader has pleaded not guilty but has been placed under strict bail conditions. Ever since then, the MQM chief has been rendered insignificant in Pakistan’s politics having lost his dominance, while residents of Karachi have learned not to panic and lead their lives normally.
The MQM appears to be lost without its founder landing in an existential crisis with splits, factions, and a rift in party leadership. The party also received a drubbing in the general elections and now most of the seats in Karachi and other urban areas of Sindh it once held have been grabbed by other parties particularly the PTI.
Previously, the MQM dominated politics in Karachi for three decades due to its support from Urdu-speaking Muhajirs, but that sentiment also seems to have faded away. Many who still support the MQM founder are forced into hiding or are seemingly being hunted by law enforcement agencies. The party also has a checkered legacy in Karachi and is blamed for violence and riots in the city. It had been accused of involvement in terrorism, land grabbing, extortion, murders, and other offences.
Moreover, the ongoing murder case of Imran Farooq who was killed in London nine years ago is ongoing and may place the MQM leader in hot waters as critical evidence has been provided to the court recently. Pakistan has been repeatedly demanding action against Altaf Hussain and now British authorities have finally responded and MQM founder is now a pariah in Pakistan’s politics.
