MQM’s coming of age?

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

MQM’s coming of age?​

​

Posted by Murtaza Razvi in Featured Articles, Pakistan, Politics on 12 10th, 2009 | 11 responses

Of late, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is the only political party that has been making all the right noises on national issues, starting from its unequivocal condemnation of extremism to the considered stance on the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance. The mourning day observed this week across urban Sindh on the call of the MQM for the victims of the Lahore Moon Market terrorist attacks was but a call for unity against a common enemy so opposed to the Pakistani majority’s way of life.

A transformation seems to be afoot in the party’s maturing political orientation. It is fanning out of its stronghold of urban Sindh to reach out to the people everywhere, be it in Gilgit-Baltistan or the huge swathes of the middle class in Punjab. If it continues on this path of widening its public appeal by raising issues that affect the citizens in their everyday lives, the party can truly come of age and broaden its public appeal.

There is a growing awareness of the dreadful gap left in national politics by the PPP and the PML-N, the two largest parties, which seem only to retreat into their entrenched positions to the detriment of public interest and good governance. This gap needs to be filled by a third force seeking wider public support based on doing politics that reflects the people’s needs and aspirations.

It was in 1967 when such a gap between the ruling and the ruled first came to the fore in what was then West Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party sought to bridge that gap by transforming the social contract, and with it the political lexicon. Let’s not forget that Mr Bhutto, too, was groomed in the lap of the military establishment, but when his calling beckoned he rose to the occasion. His party became the voice of the silent majority that had not been heard. The Bhutto magic lingers to this day, though the spell cast by the party has considerably weakened as it was diluted over time in the hurly burly that characterised the party’s every stint in power.

If the MQM can succeed in widening its public appeal on issue-based politics today, it could rekindle the hope for better governance than we have seen in the past many decades. The party can do it because it has, over the past seven years, acquired the wherewithal for such a role. It has been a ruling coalition partner at the centre and in Sindh, besides having effectively run city district governments in urban Sindh. This has helped the party break out of the ghetto mentality which went into its genesis.

A new sensibility, coupled with responsibility and the subtleties of being on the other side of the fence – that is, on the ruling side – while continuing to voice the concerns of the underdog, is just the right mix that a party claiming to represent the middle class needs. Despite many misgivings that exist against the MQM today, and for which the party too has to foot some blame, the people are so desperate right now that they would be willing to give the MQM a chance to deliver where all others have failed. And on the delivery front, the party is standing on firm ground given the good job it has done in Karachi over the past few years.

But even before that, the political vacuum that has existed for over two decades now is one that has left many middle-class people detached from politics. The people are just waiting to give anyone a chance having an agenda that resonates with their own wishes, as in hoping against hope. It should be recalled that under the devolution of power plan promulgated by General Musharraf in 2001, the MQM was able to secure over 100 nazims’ slots in Punjab alone.

This was because there was a big disconnect between the Muslim League headed by the Sharifs, who had been thrown out of power in the 1999 coup, and the people’s expectations of a representative government. But later it was the Muslim League of the Chaudhries that became Musharraf’s new surrogate. The ruling clique’s feudal mindset and the MQM’s pro-establishment stance at the time culminating in the mayhem of May 12, 2007, in Karachi, when the then defunct chief justice was not allowed to enter the city hurt the MQM’s popularity in Punjab.

However, the people of Punjab have a short memory; if the post-1970 election results are anything to go by, they, more than Pakistanis elsewhere, have voted across party lines. This makes the electorate there a potent force, one that can be won over provided your politics remains relevant to popular sentiment which, in turn, a party committed to its convictions can steer in the right direction. Isn’t that what democracy is all about?

Consider, for instance, the MQM’s popular demand to continue the local government system after making necessary changes to the laws that administer it, rather than scrapping the representative system at the grassroots level altogether. The stance resonates with public sentiment not only in Karachi but across the board.

At a recent conference held in the high security zone of Islamabad, some 500 supporters of the local government system, including many nazims from across the four provinces, braved the odds of reaching the capital to push the government for not derailing the local government system. The PPP and PML-N’s stance on the issue is highly controversial if not outright unpopular. It is seen by the people as an attempt to strengthen the provincial governments’ traditional, feudal-minded approach to amassing all power in their big-brotherly hand.

As for the MQM’s position on local governments, it is this brick-by-brick laying of the social and political edifice from the ground up that can win the party wider public support. But a prerequisite for garnering a broad-based backing will have to be MQM’s credentials as a political force that is inclusive and national in its appeal, as opposed to parochial or regional.

In the months ahead, if the MQM continues to throw its weight behind the right gut feel that can give way to a wider public consensus on a given issue, like on terrorism and the NRO, it can enjoy national leadership in a fairly good time.

Murtaza Razvi is the Editor, Magazines, at Dawn.

MQM’s coming of age? — The Dawn Blog Blog Archive

=================

"Despite many misgivings that exist against the MQM today, and for which the party too has to foot some blame, the people are so desperate right now that they would be willing to give the MQM a chance to deliver where all others have failed. And on the delivery front, the party is standing on firm ground given the good job it has done in Karachi over the past few years."

I agree with that - I don't agree ideologically with the PML-N's rather conservative views, and the Zardari led PPP has been a total disappointment and shown itself to be incapable of doing anything while acting as a lackey of the US and allowing the US to walk all over it.

I would definitely be in favor of giving the MQM a chance at national leadership and seeing how they can do better.

 

[Bas_tum_Pak]

MQM as Leader of Pakistan Nation?

Which have Criminal Leader..
Altaf Hussain have number of cases against him - 72, with 31 on murder and 11 on murder attempts.

Altaf Hussain strongly holds that "the division of India was the greatest historic blunder in the history of mankind"

I can't Say Much about MQM here, I hate MQM Thats all

You should not be Allowed here to discuss on the Favor of any Disputed Political party

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

MQM as Leader of Pakistan Nation?

Which have Criminal Leader..
Altaf Hussain have number of cases against him - 72, with 31 on murder and 11 on murder attempts.

Altaf Hussain strongly holds that "the division of India was the greatest historic blunder in the history of mankind"

I can't Say Much about MQM here, I hate MQM Thats all

You should not be Allowed here to discuss on the Favor of any Disputed Political party

What the forum allows discussion on is up to us.

On the issue of the charges against Altaf Hussein, the leadership of the PML-N and the PPP also has corruption and criminal charges against them. None of them is blameless, so why only hold the MQM to such a standard?

At least Altaf Hussein has not been actually acting as Chief Minister, Prime Minister or President, and some of the top level MQM leadership is positions of governance has been from outside of the 'family'. The MQM Nazim in Karachi for example was picked from relative obscurity and without any connections. The same cannot be said of the PML and PPP, both of which continue to be feudal and/or family based political parties.

The MQM also has significant progress to show during the past several years in power in the urban areas of Sindh - what do they PPP and PML-N have to show?

Disparaging the MQM solely on the basis of one personality, Altaf Hussein, is not fair, especially when the other political parties have leadership that is arguably just as corrupt and criminal.

 

[Bas_tum_Pak]

What the forum allows discussion on is up to us.

On the issue of the charges against Altaf Hussein, the leadership of the PML-N and the PPP also has corruption and criminal charges against them. None of them is blameless, so why only hold the MQM to such a standard?

At least Altaf Hussein has not been actually acting as Chief Minister, Prime Minister or President, and some of the top level MQM leadership is positions of governance has been from outside of the 'family'. The MQM Nazim in Karachi for example was picked from relative obscurity and without any connections. The same cannot be said of the PML and PPP, both of which continue to be feudal and/or family based political parties.

The MQM also has significant progress to show during the past several years in power in the urban areas of Sindh - what do they PPP and PML-N have to show?

Disparaging the MQM solely on the basis of one personality, Altaf Hussein, is not fair, especially when the other political parties have leadership that is arguably just as corrupt and criminal.

I am Saying about any political party not only MQM

I am not asking about progress, I am telling you that if a Party that doesn't recognize Ideology of Pakistan then how can he rule whole Nation.

I am telling about Altaf Hussain because MQM runs under every statement of him.

If he is not Criminal why he is staying outside?

in 2007 The National Memorial Institute for Preventing Terrorism (MIPT), funded by the US Homeland Security Department, considers the MQM as a terrorist outfit and brackets it with dozens of other Pakistan-based militant outfits.

Qadianies have the right to Preach and built thier religious installations?
Mr Altaf hussain said YES.
More Click here

Altaf Hussain says creation of Pakistan was the ''Biggest Mistake''in World history in a speech in India.

There are Thousand of Evidences about MQM,
If a party or party leader is criminal and Corrupt,it is bad thing.
but if a party or party leader is saying wrong about ISLAM and Pakistan then it is Worse.

I don't love any party but Love Islam & Pakistan.

 

[skeptic9]

Is there a conspiracy theory in Pakistan that MQM was created by RAW?
I believe to have heard something...

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I am Saying about any political party not only MQM

Well you specifically criticized MQM, not all political parties.

I am not asking about progress, I am telling you that if a Party that doesn't recognize Ideology of Pakistan then how can he rule whole Nation.

I am telling about Altaf Hussain because MQM runs under every statement of him.

I don't believe MQM as a party does not recognize Pakistan as an independent and sovereign nation. If that was the case then Musharraf would never have formed an alliance with them and included them in his government.

I think the MQM and their workers were targeted quite viciously under the PPP government in karachi, and a lot of their inflammatory rhetoric ties back to those events.

They have however, as the article argues, made significant changes since then and have made a very concerted effort to become mainstream.

If he is not Criminal why he is staying outside?

Better the criminals stay outside instead of come to Pakistan under NRO's and Saudi influence don't you think?

in 2007 The National Memorial Institute for Preventing Terrorism (MIPT), funded by the US Homeland Security Department, considers the MQM as a terrorist outfit and brackets it with dozens of other Pakistan-based militant outfits.

Not familiar with that, but MQM Nazim karachi Mustafa Kamal has visited the US, and I doubt that would have been allowed if the MQM was considered a terrorist organization.

Qadianies have the right to Preach and built thier religious installations?
Mr Altaf hussain said YES.
More Click here

What is wrong with the Qadianis preaching and building their religious institutions? It is not our job to judge someones faith, only Allah's.

Is your faith so weak that it will be corrupted by the Qadianis just building their mosques and preaching? Don't be so insecure and intolerant. They are ordinary people who interpret their faith differently than you or I, they should have every right to practice and preach their faith with freedom.

Altaf Hussain says creation of Pakistan was the ''Biggest Mistake''in World history in a speech in India.

Again, possibly goes back to the persecution of the MQM in Karachi. But he should apologize for it if he did indeed say it.

MQM has shown that it can effectively govern, I think that giving them a chance as a national party is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[skeptic9]

Again, possibly goes back to the persecution of the MQM in Karachi. But he should apologize for it if he did indeed say it.

Actually he did say that. And called for India to take back the mujahirs as citizens....'hameen wapas le lo'

 

[deathfromabove]

Again, possibly goes back to the persecution of the MQM in Karachi. But he should apologize for it if he did indeed say it.

 

[Kasrkin]

The MQM has a lot of bad baggage. There is no doubt that they were a anti-Pakistani party in the 80s and the Army's action against them wasn't triggered without good reason. The ISI, however, broke the MQM from their more extremist elements in the Haqiqi group and what we have right now under Altaf Hussain is a tamed version. Altaf Hussain doesn't come back to Pakistan because he is afraid for his life from ex-party members, otherwise he could've just as easily made a deal under Musharraf. Personally, I don't have much respect for Altaf Hussain, its hard to once you hear him speak. I know what type of person he is given that my dad knew him from university days. I've lived in Karachi most of my life and I know what people who affiliate with the MQM are like. They are thugs, most of them anyway. They feel you should be intimidated by them due to their 'connections'.

BUT then again I reckon I would feel the same way about most political party loyalists in Punjab and other places of Pakistan given that political activism is not something that attracts a very many cultured people in our country. I have seen really decent people in Karachi speak highly of what the MQM has achieved, and its hard to deny it. It shows. I know that the MQM has introduced a new cadre of professionals in the party who, while still giving us much to criticize, are definitely a step up from the rest of our feudal and religious parties. The MQM has really gone out of its way to laud the military in its fight against the terrorists and that is something I must appreciate. I'd say they deserve a change, because lets face it we don't have very many options. The rivals to the MQM in Karachi were the JI and they basically ruined themselves by siding with the terrorists in the WoT.

So national leadership for MQM? It wont be easy, there is immense hate for them in Punjab and NWFP. They definitely have a shameful record. Islamists will never side with them. But I reckon pro-federationists might because the MQM has certainly changed in that regard. We live in tough times where people will turn to anything they see as remotely promising. Lets hope they're right this time.

 

[Awesome]

MQM can transform its national image overnight if it ditches Altaf Hussain. Put in that Karachi Mayor, Mustafa Kemal, as the new chief. Unfortunately every MQM leader would wet his pants with the mere thought about what Altaf would do to him if he even thought about it.

I hate this fact about Pakistani parties. They don't practice democracy within. Party leadership is passed from family to family, till a new party faction is created and then it essentially becomes another party.

People often emphasize upon the good the MQM is doing, as if that is supposed to excuse the bad. The good is just their public image. The real image is "The hafta tax, the enforced attendance of Altaf's phone call speeches, the gang violence, the promotion of a gun culture.

 

[shuakataftab]

Is there a conspiracy theory in Pakistan that MQM was created by RAW?
I believe to have heard something...

MQM/APMSO was created by a normal student in Karachi university as it started gaining popularity they were labeled as raw agents just because they were demanding for their rights. Just like ALL Sindhi and Baloch nationalists are labeled as raw agents without proper evidence

 

[EjazR]

yWAj7Awj2ks[/media] - Altaf Hussain calls creation of Pakistan the Biggest Mistake

An article I came across that clarifies the statement, so certainly the next sentence is not in the video clip where he reiterates that Pakistan is a reality

Touching on Taboo | Partition a Blunder | The Pakistani Spectator
Lahore: MQM chief Altaf Hussain has said the Partition of India in 1947 weakened Muslims, as it divided their power. In an interview with Najam Sethi on Duniya News, Altaf said there would have been no Partition had the Congress accepted Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s 14 points. Altaf said few people knew that even Allama Iqbal had not demanded a separate Pakistan in his famous Allahabad address in 1930. “He had, in fact, demanded the creation of Muslim states in the Muslim-majority areas,” he said, adding that Iqbal’s son justice (retired) Javed Iqbal could confirm this. [Duniya News]

If we view partition from the perspective of Muslim unity it was indeed one of the biggest blunders in the history of mankind since it divided Muslims however it benefited tiny percentage of Muslims who were already settled in the land of pure, who never had to migrate at all. For rests it’s no better than India where everybody has to struggle hard for his basic rights.

Was partition blunder or not it still a debatable topic but I would like to explain whether Altaf Hussain who in his recent interview justified his disputed statement in which he called partition of the subcontinent a blunder. Lots of hue and cry being heard mainly from our not so conversant population of Pakistan, anti MQM factors across the country are also spicing up the issue and trying to capitalize their politics.

In my opinion no one can give expert opinion on Partition than the ones who have witnessed pre-partition situation and experienced the bloodshed during migration however I would like to clarify under which circumstances MQM leader has called partition a blunder.

In Today’s Pakistan Muslims are fighting and killing each other on the basis of tribal and linguistic affinity, sectarian strife is worse than ever before. Mosques and Madarssas are flourishing businesses. The advocates of Jihad are killing followers of the faith as they leave places of worship, we are the only country who can always legally kill other Muslim who has different beliefs than our version of Islam. A truism reiterated in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. For further evidences let’s look at the plight of 300,000 Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh for four decades in their passage to the chosen land — Unwanted by both Bangladesh and Pakistan, led by an unknown destiny. Who suffered? MUSLIMS

So where Muslim of sub-continent stands today — What Pakistani Muslims have achieved? Pakistani Muslim is competing with Indian or Bangladeshi Muslim in poverty, illiteracy, and religious hatred. In fact Pakistan is step a head in terms of sectarian enmity. Moreover, the rights of the people who migrated to Pakistan from Muslim Minority Provinces of the Subcontinent were usurped and they had to face highhandedness and injustices in Pakistan. Even today they are directly or indirectly branded as “Indians” when they raise voices for their rights. Talk about the Muslims of Balochistan, they are spending miserable life since the very creation of Pakistan but no Govt paid head on their basic problems. Again “MUSLIMS”

In the light of above facts if some leader merely “criticizes” partition and comment on disintegration of Muslims he’s called traitor and advised by our so called patriots that Altaf Hussain should immediately leave Pakistan. Interestingly these advices come from the ones who and their forefather never experienced migration. Their idiotic reason for being patriotic is since their ancestors living in Pakistan since ages that’s why they are “Pure Pakistanis”

Right after questioning partition on the basis of provided facts Altaf Hussain said: “since it happened we now need to live peacefully with each other” but no one noticed that part.

IMO A leader must not misguide his people for whatsoever reason. Altaf’s statement in anyway doesn’t go against interest of Pakistan and Pakistanis, rather it’s a matter of concern for the “establishment” to realize their mistake and give due rights to rest of the Pakistanis so that they don’t have to question creation of Pakistan again.

The spirit and essence of Altaf Hussain statement is that we must accept the ground reality without blinkers.

In the end I would suggest those Pakistanis who are calling Altaf Hussain traitor or Indian to use their common sense, stop being patriotic to an abnormal extent and try to digest the fact that partition of subcontinent is a debatable issue. Pakistan is our very own country hence its our right to criticize or praise it. No one has the right to curb our freedom of speech.

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” — Winston Churchill

 

[moni]

Well...then i think zardari is better than altaf hussain if someone is thinking of giving him a chance to lead Pakistan. Moreover, how much chances do we need now?? The Pakistani nation has no chances to give to anyone, We have to be our leaders ourselves now.

 

[Creder]

Thats a good sign but too bad they still have a criminal mass murderer for a leader


as far as future government is concerned PML-N are going to own the next elections hands own

 

[kidwaibhai]

I think his comment that creation of Pakistan was a blunder was a stupid statement was and will be. On the other hand things are not as bad as the author in the Pakistani spectator portrays. There are a lot of Immigrants that came and prospered in pakistan more then those they left behind in India.
When it comes to supporting the MQM i would have to say i would vote for them in the next election if i could. I think the more they get exposure in other parts of pakistan the more people will like them. If they want to became a truly
national party they have to include other ethnicities in there cadres especially Punjabis. I think they can make great inroads if they focus in southern Punjab because i think it is very underdeveloped and it is ripe for the picking.