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ISLAMABAD - Allegations of murder and money-laundering against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and his close aides have turned the party into a Karachi-based ethnic outfit as hardcore leaders have taken over the party's hierarchy and have limited operations to Karachi and Hyderabad, Pakistan Today has learnt.
An MQM source said that following the string of charges levelled against party's top leaders and raids by British authorities at the residences of Altaf, his key aides Saleem Shehzad and grilling of Altaf Hussain, Raza Haroon and others, the party leadership has been limited to Karachi and Hyderabad and the party’s old guards have been put in key positions who had braved the military operations of 1992 and 1994.
“Political isolation has forced Altaf Hussain to seek refuge among Mohajirs of Karachi and Hyderabad. Under the new strategy, the MQM operations have been limited to the party’s strongholds of Karachi and Hyderabad after its top leadership has been caught in the web of severe allegations,” the source said.
He added that the party's office-bearers in rural Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir had not been contacted for any directions and consultation.
“A new strategy is being deliberated upon at the party’s top level under which the Muttahida has been limited to Mohajir community, its original force since its foundation day,” the source added.
The source said that the party leaders had advised Altaf to ask the non-Mohajir party leaders to go on back foot, adding that the party's original shape has been restored with no non-Mohajir leading leader in the Rabita Committee.
“Under the plan, initially the MQM headquarters is raising the issue of atrocities being committed to Mohajirs by People’s Aman Committee (PAC). This policy may result in some racial riots leading to the strengthening of Mohajir community,” the source said, adding that the elements in the PAC and the PPP may help this process by igniting hatred and violence in urban and interior Sindh.
He said that under the plan, major non-Mohajir leaders in the party have already been sidelined while Nadeem Nusrat, Nasir Jamal and Dr Khalid Maqbool have been appointed deputy-conveners of the party’s 23-member Rabita Committee. Dr Nusrat, who has returned from the United States after an exile, has been given key post in the committee, ending the decade-long rise of the influence of Anees Qaim Khani and Hammad Siddiqui.
The new committee also includes Amir Khan, who has returned to the party shunning his ties with the party’s breakaway Haqiqi group, while Kunwar Naveed, the former Hyderabad mayor, and Wasay Jalil, the media expert, have been included into the new committee.
“We are unaware of any new strategy in the party but we have not been taken onboard on various key decisions,” a key MQM leader from Punjab said.
On condition of anonymity, he said that changes at the top level were first ever in the party’s history for which they had not been consulted. Expanding the party’s roots to Punjab and other provinces has been a long-time dream for the Altaf Hussain.
Of 671 candidates fielded by the MQM in the May 11 polls, 132 were awarded tickets for National Assembly seats in Punjab and 256 for Punjab Assembly while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the party fielded 21 candidates for National Assembly and 45 for the provincial assembly. In Balochistan, seven people were given tickets for NA and 21 for PA and in Sindh (Rural), 41 were fielded for NA and 86 for PA as compared to 20 people for NA and 42 for PA in Karachi.
Despite repeated attempts, no MQM leader was available for comment. - See more at: MQM limits itself to Karachi and Hyderabad | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia
An MQM source said that following the string of charges levelled against party's top leaders and raids by British authorities at the residences of Altaf, his key aides Saleem Shehzad and grilling of Altaf Hussain, Raza Haroon and others, the party leadership has been limited to Karachi and Hyderabad and the party’s old guards have been put in key positions who had braved the military operations of 1992 and 1994.
“Political isolation has forced Altaf Hussain to seek refuge among Mohajirs of Karachi and Hyderabad. Under the new strategy, the MQM operations have been limited to the party’s strongholds of Karachi and Hyderabad after its top leadership has been caught in the web of severe allegations,” the source said.
He added that the party's office-bearers in rural Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir had not been contacted for any directions and consultation.
“A new strategy is being deliberated upon at the party’s top level under which the Muttahida has been limited to Mohajir community, its original force since its foundation day,” the source added.
The source said that the party leaders had advised Altaf to ask the non-Mohajir party leaders to go on back foot, adding that the party's original shape has been restored with no non-Mohajir leading leader in the Rabita Committee.
“Under the plan, initially the MQM headquarters is raising the issue of atrocities being committed to Mohajirs by People’s Aman Committee (PAC). This policy may result in some racial riots leading to the strengthening of Mohajir community,” the source said, adding that the elements in the PAC and the PPP may help this process by igniting hatred and violence in urban and interior Sindh.
He said that under the plan, major non-Mohajir leaders in the party have already been sidelined while Nadeem Nusrat, Nasir Jamal and Dr Khalid Maqbool have been appointed deputy-conveners of the party’s 23-member Rabita Committee. Dr Nusrat, who has returned from the United States after an exile, has been given key post in the committee, ending the decade-long rise of the influence of Anees Qaim Khani and Hammad Siddiqui.
The new committee also includes Amir Khan, who has returned to the party shunning his ties with the party’s breakaway Haqiqi group, while Kunwar Naveed, the former Hyderabad mayor, and Wasay Jalil, the media expert, have been included into the new committee.
“We are unaware of any new strategy in the party but we have not been taken onboard on various key decisions,” a key MQM leader from Punjab said.
On condition of anonymity, he said that changes at the top level were first ever in the party’s history for which they had not been consulted. Expanding the party’s roots to Punjab and other provinces has been a long-time dream for the Altaf Hussain.
Of 671 candidates fielded by the MQM in the May 11 polls, 132 were awarded tickets for National Assembly seats in Punjab and 256 for Punjab Assembly while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the party fielded 21 candidates for National Assembly and 45 for the provincial assembly. In Balochistan, seven people were given tickets for NA and 21 for PA and in Sindh (Rural), 41 were fielded for NA and 86 for PA as compared to 20 people for NA and 42 for PA in Karachi.
Despite repeated attempts, no MQM leader was available for comment. - See more at: MQM limits itself to Karachi and Hyderabad | Pakistan Today | Latest news | Breaking news | Pakistan News | World news | Business | Sport and Multimedia
