Daily Times

The beginning of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was the rise of the consciousness of an ethnic identity in the Muhajirs (those who migrated in 1947 from India) followed by a reaction to the purported suppression of their identity by the non-Muhajir. The end of the MQM in the foreseeable future is possible fragmentation followed by the crumbling of several fragments into oblivion. Only untainted and unalloyed fragments will survive.
The metamorphosis of identity consciousness into a fascist-cum-criminal organisation has not only marred the political face of Pakistan, it has also spoiled the true face of the Urdu speaking Muhajir community, especially that which inhabits Sindh. The community was known for its linguistic dexterity: how to pronounce a word in Urdu and which Urdu idiom is relevant to an occasion. The community was also known for its cultural excellence: what dress to wear on which occasion and how to behave with strangers. Today, the community is recognised by, if not known for, its serial killers, shooters, gangsters, goons, extortionists and what not. In his interview from Machh Jail, Balochistan, the story narrated by an MQM serial killer, Saulat Mirza, who was executed a few weeks ago for murder, spoke volumes for the tendency in the lower class of the Urdu speaking community to use crime to become a hero. That is, the more one indulges in crime, including murder, and gets away with it, the more one is adorned and exalted in the MQM. It seems that the underworld component of the Urdu speaking Muhajir community has taken over the mainstream. The community seems to be handicapped at the hands of the criminal gang called the militant wing of the MQM.
Against this background, there are certain questions that need to be answered. For instance, does the Urdu speaking Muhajir community yearn for its revival? Is the MQM a true representative of the Urdu speaking Muhajir community? What is the place of an ethnic party such as the MQM in national politics? What about those who nurtured the MQM? To the fore comes the name of the military dictator General Ziaul Haq, who, in 1984, made the launching of the MQM possible (when the MQM was called the Muhajir Qaumi Movement) to offset the separatist tendencies of Sindhi nationalists and the hold of the PPP in Sindh. In this way, a new identity (i.e. Muhajir identity) in Sindh was promoted to be pitted against another identity (i.e. Sindhi identity). Retrospectively, if the judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had not taken place, the voice of Sindhi nationalists would have been muted spontaneously and there would have been no need left to cultivate the MQM.
The second player resorting to political expediency was the next military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, who supported the MQM to seek legitimacy and perpetuate his rule at the helm of affairs. The May 12 incident (which took place in 2007 at the height of the lawyers’ movement) in Karachi was a stark reminder of the hand-in-glove collusion of General Musharraf with the MQM. Whereas one military dictator promoted the MQM, the other buttressed it.
In 1992, under the political regime of then Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif, an army operation was carried out in Karachi to cleanse it of criminal gangs. The operation was continued in 1993-1994 under then PM Benazir Bhutto. The MQM suffered the brunt of the operation. Now, in 2015, the Sharif regime is again trying to cleanse Karachi of criminal gangs and the MQM is the major victim. How ironic it is that military dictators endorse and inflate the MQM while elected leaders try to bring the MQM to its senses. The blame lies at the doorstep of military dictators who overlook its despicable activities and tend not to reprimand it.
One factor common between airing the interview of Mirza from jail and the publication of the BBC story from London is that the victimhood propaganda of the MQM may be forestalled. The MQM has always remained fearful of being pushed against the wall. This time it has been pushed beyond the wall. The raid of the Rangers to seize a cache of imported modern weapons and to capture hardened criminals from Nine Zero, the headquarters of the MQM, was a major blow to the legitimacy of the MQM as a national political party. The confessional statement of Tariq Mir, a senior leader of the MQM, given to London police in 2012 on how the MQM office in London used to receive funding from the government of India (or India’s intelligence agency, RAW) is the last nail in the proverbial coffin of the MQM. The fate of the MQM’s leader, Altaf Hussain, is writing on the wall.
In 1992, the media was not pulsating as much as the present. At that time, the discoveries taking place during the operation were not part of mainstream media. This point went to the disadvantage of the state machinery engaged in the operation and to the advantage of the MQM, which was able to restore its image in the eyes of its followers in the aftermath of the operation. This time, however, the media is vibrant and it highlights with zeal all that is being thrown up by the state machinery conducting the operation. This point is to the advantage of the state machinery and to the disadvantage of the MQM.
Khawaja Asif said on the National Assembly floor that identifying oneself as being a Muhajir (i.e. a migrant) after more than 60 years of the partition makes no sense. Similarly, exploiting the sentiments of those who belong to the lower class of Muhajirs to gain power is not justifiable in 2015. How long will the statehood of being a Muhajir continue? How long will the Muhajir word be available for exploitation to enter the corridors of power? The tightening of its image and the legal noose around the MQM’s neck is leaving it with fewer choices.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com