I m against MQM not because I m against 'mohajirs' but I m against any brand of politics that divides us on race, religion, province, ethnic background.
One thing is sure. MQM did not get the rights for the people they claim they represent. In fact they did their politics based on those claims and always end up sitting in govt with the same people they claim their struggle is against! This has not happened once but several times.
When MQM feels the pinch, it always raises the slogan based on its ethnic identity. Pakistan needs leaders who unite. Pakistan needs to be one nation. We need people who bring us on one platform not divide us in provinces, cities and language we speak. Altaf Hussain does not fit this definition and therefore I can never accept him to be a leader.
This is naive. If you look at Pakistan, we are pre-disposed to politics on the basis of religion, race and ethnicity. This happens with or without the MQM or Muhajir in the mix. The biggest nonsense is our aversion to race and ethnicity. Embrace it! Accept it that we come from different ethnic backgrounds and then you build upon that. Why deny the natural tendency to affiliate oneself with a certain group on the basis of commonality? When was the last time I remember someone telling my fellow Punjabis or Pakhtuns to not identify themselves as such?
Secondly, you cannot pin the blame for "dividing us" on the followers of MQM. Their earlier generation migrated and came to Pakistan which already had a well established ethnic hierarchy. They tried to blend into it and found that it was not easy to blend in for outsiders. They arrived at a question which is, if everyone else is a Sindhi, Pakhtun, Punjabi, Baloch, Siraeki, Bangali then what is the issue and aversion to them being "Muhajir"? In my view a perfectly fair and legitimate analysis.
Forget Altaf Hussain for a minute. He got a platform and he took the leadership of a party. Even if he goes away, which he most likely will, do you think that the ethnic issue that riles you so much will also disappear?
Lastly, I think it is silly and almost stupid to lay charges of RAW and Indian connections to the MQM. It is done to gain favor with the masses who are usually very suspicious of India. The moment you lump any entity with India, its game over. No comeback for the poor chap or entity. Its a convenient ruse because once you lump them in the RAW camp, then they are traitors and any or all action taken can be justified. This is also a shame because Muhajirs, owing to the experiences of their migrating forefathers, have a very strong affinity to the ideals of Pakistan. They have a belief ingrained in their psyche that they left all behind for this Pakistan and when they hear crude taunts of being linked to RAW or India, it actually arouses disgust if not outright anger.
Many who are the most vocal in denunciation of the MQM and Muhajirs for their so called "RAW" linkages have a historical recollection that only goes back to the 90s and the emergence of the MQM. Most in the younger generation have no idea what transpired in Karachi in the 50s and since then. So I would say the dynamics are far more complex than this silly attempt to look at the MQM and the Karachi situation in a binary format i.e. all good or all bad. The vast majority of the Muhajir electorate votes for MQM so we cannot discount the party as a fringe. It is not. Yes it has its problems. It needs to recast itself. It needs to walk away entirely from the politics of violence, but that would happen when recognition is given to the platform that MQM claims to represent i.e. rights of its constituents, the urban Urdu speakers. I think there is a tendency to discount everything or all things MQM as bad. I specifically see this tendency amongst those who live outside of Karachi. Afterall MQM ran Karachi for 30 years. I have visited Karachi from various places in Pakistan multiple times and have not found it to be stifling or insecure all the time. Some of the best times in Karachi, from a security and trade standpoint were when the party was empowered by the center. It was able to do a lot of development work for Karachi. There will always be nay sayers. That is to be expected, however I stand firmly in the belief that like all other parties in Pakistan, MQM is not all bad. There are some very smart and capable people in its ranks and the party does have very strong grass roots connections with its constituents. For as long as other parties do not build similar connections with the majority of Karachi, MQM or whatever other variant thereof cannot be displaced.
