|
MQM’s fortunes
[DAWN] THESE are interesting times for the MQM. On Friday, the party’s politicians in the National Assembly did what even a few weeks ago would have been unthinkable: they supported a government-initiated resolution condemning party supremo the increasingly enormousAltaf Hussain..The head of MQM in Pakistain, who has lived in London and hasn't laid eyes on Pakistain since Caesar made corporal. Judging from the size of him,he may be a Hutt... and announced they were now ’disconnected’ from the man in London. A day earlier, the party had said it had written Mr Hussain out of the organization’s constitution. These developments -- surprising as they are -- come in the aftermath of the speech Altaf Hussain made on Aug 22. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... for those aware of the Muttahida’s history, this clean break with Mr Hussain, if indeed genuine, is pivotal. After all, not too long ago the party supremo’s word was law on the streets of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , with his cadres rushing to defend his every outburst, and carrying out his questionable commands with zealous dedication. But the anti-Pakistain rant seems to have been the last straw, pushing the Muttahida’s politicianship to the wall and forcing them to denounce their founder’s remarks. Today, the MQM stands at the crossroads more than ever before in its over three decades of existence. For neutral observers, the party appears to be a bundle of contradictions. It has frequently courted the security establishment, yet has also suffered the consequences when the men in khaki cracked down due to Muttahida ’crossing the line’. It has returned middle-class candidates to the assemblies otherwise dominated by feudal, tribal and financial ’elites’, yet has also ruthlessly plundered its constituents in the name of zakat, fitra and ’donations’. It has emerged as a secular voice of urban Sindh’s Urdu speakers, yet has unambiguously dabbled in political militancy. It has claimed to speak for the descendants of those who ’fought for Pakistain’, yet has also followed this up with talk of secession. On top of all these contradictions, it runs a powerful electoral machine in urban Sindh, one with a solid vote bank that even without the use of strong-arm tactics and electoral malpractices has genuine support, as the recent local government elections and various by-polls have shown. The million-dollar question is: will the MQM from now on purely concentrate on its political activities and forever forsake the gun? The answer to this question depends on the ’Altaf factor’; the MQM founder has been unusually quiet ever since his Aug 22 diatribe. Some have smelt conspiracies, saying the split is deliberate and cosmetic, while his London-based acolytes have trashed talk of a ’minus-one’ formula. It remains to be seen whether Altaf Hussain will go quietly into the sunset and let the Pakistain-based party rebuild itself. Or will the dreaded hard boy wing -- seen as still loyal to Mr Hussain -- try and wrest control from the political faction? The days ahead will reveal what path the Muttahida takes, and how this will affect Karachi’s politics, and the fate of the MQM in general. Posted by: Fred 2016-09-04 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=466609 |