KARACHI: Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori appeared embarrassed as he publicly clarified that his recent remarks about the ‘return of Bhai’ — a term commonly associated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement founder Altaf Hussain — were not related to the London-based leader.

In videos that went viral on social media, Mr Tessori was heard as telling a big crowd that recently gathered at the Governor House to attend an Independence Day concert that “Mein bar bar keh raha hoon, tumharay bhai wapas aa rahay hain… tumharay bhai, Karachi ko theek karnay,” [I am repeatedly saying that Bhai is making a comeback, your Bhai, to get Karachi fixed]. And the crowd roared in the affirmative when he asked whether they wanted “old MQM”.

Earlier, Mr Tessori had talked about the “return of old MQM to revive past glory” during a media interaction after his visit to Bhit Shah. When asked what he was alluding to, he said he would not reveal everything, but hastened to add: “Apkay hosh urr jaey gey jo honay ja raha hay” [You would be shocked to see what is going to unfold].

The governor’s back-to-back statements not only came as a surprise to senior MQM-Pakistan leadership, which parted ways with Mr Hussain following his August 22, 2016 incendiary speech, but also to the powerful circles behind an undeclared ban on the MQM-London.

An MQM-P source told Dawn that some elements within the party conveyed their concerns to certain quarters about the “wrong message the governor’s remarks were sending across the party and the masses”.

As a result, in yet another media interaction, the governor clarified his remarks and said that he was bound to follow the policy of the MQM-P, which had openly dissociated itself from Mr Hussain.

“Altaf Hussain sahab has nothing to do with the politics of MQM Pakistan [and] its leadership is not going to accept him [in their fold] as they openly parted ways with him,” he said, adding that he could not understand why such an impression his remarks were creating.

“There is no policy [regarding Mr Hussain’s comeback] and I cannot talk against the policy of the MQM-P,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2025