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THE Rangers’ targeting of MQM leader Altaf Hussain’s command and control infrastructure in Karachi, on top of the ongoing criminal investigations in the UK, must be putting extraordinary pressure on his frayed nerves and it is showing.
The Rangers have been active in Karachi since before the official start of Operation Zarb-i-Azb in the country and have killed or captured militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and various factions involved in the bloody fight of the criminal underworld in Lyari in large numbers.
These ‘intelligence-based’ Rangers operations have also tried to bring to justice suspected criminal elements in most of the political and religious parties in the metropolis but rarely, if at all, one has heard protest of any noticeable magnitude.
But since the raid on the MQM headquarters, Nine-Zero, where the paramilitary force claims to have netted a rich catch of party activists convicted/wanted in serious criminal cases including murder, there has been a rising cacophony of protest undoubtedly orchestrated by the leader in north London.
Whereas the initial cries were to seek an end to mohajir ‘persecution’ (it has to be said, at the first sign of real pressure the party appears to have shed the muttahida façade and reverted to its attractive yet narrow ethnic appeal), later more serious elements were added.
It is time for the MQM’s London-based leader to understand what the winds of change blowing across the country mean.
And the latest, where Altaf Hussain, addressing party members in the US, sought international intervention including chiding India for remaining indifferent to the plight of the mohajirs took the cake in terms of adopting irrational, rash positions.
It was left to the party leaders based in Pakistan to clean up the mess. And, I must say, one feels terribly sorry for them that they are left to face the brunt of the media assault here and have to dig deep to be able to defend the indefensible publicly.
Regardless of the seriousness of the charges he faces in London, he also probably understands that with a battery of well-paid lawyers he has a fair chance of defending himself in the UK, where the onus of proving his guilt is totally on the prosecution.
However, given how the party is run, what the paramilitary force is doing at home is seen as far more inimical to the long-term interest of the leader and his close band of advisers in London: the dismantling of the unit or ward-level infrastructure which allowed the leader to keep his stranglehold over the party, despite having spent over two decades abroad.
The paradox is that Altaf Hussain still rules over the hearts of multitudes of his mohajir supporters as the last by-election to a National Assembly seat in his stronghold of Azizabad demonstrated. Yes, even the harshest critic of the MQM would have to acknowledge this support, which owes itself to his charisma in the eyes of his followers.
But his insecurity or whatever drives his thinking doesn’t allow him to convert the party into a ‘normal democratic entity’ and take part in politics like all other parties do. To him, somehow, militant muscle is integral to the survival of the party and more importantly his leadership.
The irony is that most political parties, particularly those operating in Sindh, have relied upon the support of armed followers to perhaps obtain a level playing field but violence isn’t central to their philosophy as it has been to the MQM’s.
It is no less ironical that almost all ‘democratic’ parties have strong, central or apex leaders and the entire party functions at their beck and call, but again reliance on armed cadres as a matter of routine is not evidenced elsewhere.
It is time for the MQM’s London-based leader, if he can, and other leaders of the party, to understand what the winds of change blowing across the country mean, particularly when Malik Ishaq and other religious militants are being mowed down in ‘encounters’ with the law-enforcement agencies.
The MQM needs to take the cue and abandon reliance on its militant wing, because sticking to its past policy will mean more and more pain for its rank and file and their families as the military doesn’t seem interested in easing its foot off the accelerator pedal. More significantly, the MQM’s diehard support base will ensure its survival without the need to constantly deploy muscle.
For their part, the Rangers can also be a little less macho in how they are operating. There is absolutely no need to bring senior central leaders such as Amir Khan to court in chains and blindfolded. Neither was there a need to seal a restaurant, no matter who was found dining there, as it fuelled the persecution perception of the MQM-supporting mohajirs.
The latest Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) crime statistics published in The News earlier this week demonstrated that major crime from murder-targeted killing to kidnap for ransom and extortion to carjacking to street crimes all had nosedived over the past months when compared to the same period last year.
In the long run, Karachiites will be swayed by what improves the quality of their lives rather than partisan political slogans. Crime has been a major concern for those eking out a living in the bustling metropolis for several years now. A consistently improving graph will only be welcomed by the citizenry.
Wouldn’t it be better for the MQM to be on the right side in supporting an improvement in law and order which’ll bring peace and tranquillity to primarily millions of its own loyalists and create a more conducive environment for more employment opportunities?
Any other stance, as we speak, appears doomed. Equally, efforts by outside forces to impose minus this and that formulae on political parties should not be attempted. Let them choose or let the law take its course. Politics in Sindh needs fewer, not more, martyrs.
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2015
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