AFTER a two-month absence from the Senate, the National Assembly and the Sindh Assembly, the path has seemingly been cleared for the MQM’s return to these august houses. Following various ups and downs, the federal government and the MQM announced on Friday the signing of a memorandum of understanding that will lead to the setting up of a grievances redressal committee to look into the Muttahida’s complaints about the actions taken by the law enforcers in Karachi. This was a key MQM demand standing in the way of the party’s return to the elected houses. In particular, the party wants its grievances, related to alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, addressed.

The development shows that better sense has prevailed on both the government and the MQM, and that the path of rigidity has been abandoned in favour of political maturity. The two-year-old operation in Karachi has yielded results and violence has come down. However, throughout this period the MQM has raised serious objections about the alleged abduction, torture and killing of its workers and sympathisers at the hands of the law enforcers. While action must be taken against all militant and criminal elements in Karachi — regardless of their political linkages — it should remain within the bounds of the law and fundamental rights. Hence the Muttahida’s genuine grievances must be addressed by the state so that the operation is free of accusations of bias and high-handedness.

Looking at the bigger picture, the MQM’s return to parliament should be accompanied by some serious introspection — the party would do well to review its mistakes over the past three decades. Indeed, the MQM is a political reality in much of urban Sindh — a fact that must be acknowledged by both Islamabad and Rawalpindi — and arguably still enjoys a considerable vote bank despite its fluctuating fortunes of late. Yet it is also true that for long, the party has tolerated a militant wing within its ranks and used clearly undemocratic methods — enforced shutdowns, forcible collection of ‘donations’ etc — to establish its strength on Karachi’s streets. A clean break from such unsavoury activities is now advisable. To its credit, the party has worked for the civic uplift of Karachi, and has the ability to make use of its roots within urban communities to push forward a transparent development agenda as the only ‘weapon’ to win over the electorate. With local government elections in Karachi due in December, the focus will hopefully be on electioneering for the third tier of government. Will the local leadership rise to the occasion? With Altaf Hussain — the party supremo who is facing a money-laundering investigation in the UK — the MQM’s Pakistan-based leadership ought to be ready to take decisions should events so dictate. The Muttahida has plenty of seasoned hands within its ranks that are able to steer the ship in case it runs into choppy waters.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2015

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