WHEN, at the peak of the operation against his party, the MQM, Anis Kaimkhani was arrested whilst in hiding somewhere in Lahore, a Karachi-based evening newspaper made the party chief Altaf Hussain’s statement its headline: “Umeed hai Anis Kaimkhani mayoos nahin karain gey [he will not disappoint us]”. This was around 1995.

Indeed, Altaf Hussain’s trusted boy from Hyderabad did not disappoint him even after torture in a ‘safe house’. He survived the coercion, although by that time many announced that he was dissociating from the MQM under pressure. I remember a frail Kaimkhani being thrown into a police van after having been remanded to police custody by a magistrate.

Then he got a hero’s welcome on his release from prison in Dec 1996.

Yet two decades later, Hussain’s trusted lieutenant left him in March 2016 by becoming a whistleblower. He created the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) with Mustafa Kamal.

Otherwise a dedicated party activist with unmatchable skills of organising, Kaimkhani transformed himself into a politician by donning the mantle of the PSP’s presidentship. Working like fury remains his hallmark.

After founding his party he worked like a man possessed to organise the PSP. Yet perhaps he didn’t understand that working/serving like a devoted activist is very different from leading a newly created party that seeks to dent the MQM stronghold, considered invincible until Aug 22, 2016.

Now, within a short span of two years, signs of fissures are evident; all is not well in the PSP.

Insiders say luminaries such as Raza Haroon, Dr Saghir Ahmed and Wasim Aftab feel a growing sense of disenchantment. While they haven’t yet decided to call it a day, they do maintain a safe distance from the party’s top leaders, who on the other hand don’t want to even notice their absence.

Unlike Ahmed and Aftab, Haroon is occasionally meeting his colleagues, despite reservations. “I have no comment over who is absent as we are working day in, day out,” says Mustafa Kamal in a brief discussion.

“Yes, there is an undeclared split [in the PSP] because we don’t learn from mistakes on the party leaders’ part. Our leaders are simultaneously in a state of euphoria and denial. They privately say the PSP belongs to only two persons,” concedes a party leader. “It is now like wasting energy if the community is not benefitting while local bodies’ polls are around the corner.”

“The PSP started off well and was growing fast,” confides a leader. “But arrogance outdid the consultative process. Arrogance is always linked with one’s stature. They don’t listen to the other’s viewpoint. Going for overkill in Altaf-bashing backfired as it didn’t go down well with the community we seek to represent.”

The PSP’s fall in the elections, minus the MQM’s dismal performance in the polls and the PTI’s major gains of 14 seats in Karachi, have provided the party food for thought.

The community finds no one to turn to after what happened in Pakistan Quarters and the anti-encroachment drive in Karachi. There is a feeling amongst these leaders that the PSP may not fare any different in the local bodies’ polls.

“We think that urban politics should remain intact and we must have a realistic assessment, sub ko jorna hay [everyone should be brought together]” says one PSP leader.

“But our leaders tend to take unilateral decisions like announcing a million-man march, shutting the door on Dr Farooq Sattar after the merger fiasco, or taking on others in the MQM. Mustafa Kamal is a nice brand but it needs repackaging. Both have put in blood, sweat and tears and I would not like to see them end up unsuccessful. But pragmatism is lacking and toadies seem to dominate. July 25 was a wakeup call and now we all [inclusive of MQM and Farooq Sattar] have to sit together to at least listen to each other.”

The endless rift within the MQM-P involving Dr Farooq Sattar and Dr Khaliq Maqbool Siddiqui, Amir Khan and Kanwar Naveed Jamil, and the poor poll results, are no less than a nightmare for the MQM either, worrying veterans such as Syed Sardar Ahmed.

He could not help writing a letter to both sides to ‘cease fire’ for 15 days, starting from Nov 11 and ending on Nov 27. Sardar Ahmed eventually announced he was quitting politics and the MQM on Dec 13.

Interestingly, sources say the MQM-P leadership has given Faisal Subzwari the go-ahead to meet Dr Saghir, while Dr Saghir awaits what Sabzwari has to say.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2018