Past, Present, and Future of MQM Party

It originated as solely an ethnic party, standing up for the rights of the Mohajirs.  Events that occurred before the formation of MQM and during, gave justification for its existence. The emergence of ’Mohajir nationalism’ arose as a result from political, economical and cultural factors.

Economic factor was largely due to the discrimination Mohajirs felt during Ayub Khan’s rule in the sixties. Under his rule, Mohajirs were eliminated from prominent positions in civil services, bureaucracy and local government. Ayub Khan was aware of the support Fatima Jinnah had from Mohajir communities and in 1964, allegedly rigged the elections that saw him winning the election. Furthermore he led a victory parade into the heartland of opposition territory in Karachi, which led to a deliberate clash between opposing groups and sparked a beginning of Mohajir – Pathan ethnic conflicts. Then Ayub Khan angered the Mohajirs when he shifted the federal capital from Karachi to Islamabad.

During the seventies, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto attempted to instigate a Mohajir – Sindhi clash when he passed a 1972 Language bill to restore Sindhi as an official Provincial language. This led to anti bill riots in Karachi and other Mohajir dominated cities of Sindh. A quota system was set up in employment and education, which fuelled further Mohajir – Sindhi polarisation. Admissions based on quota system and favouritism brought out a political clash amongst students of different ethnic groups. A student society became a centre for confrontation, bloody clashes and demonstrations.

All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) was created in 1978 as a result of burgeoning ethnic and regional expressions from other ethnic groups, Pathans, Punjabis, Sindhis and Balochis which formed a battleground in education and employment. APMSO was created to give a political voice to Urdu speaking students and safeguard their interests against other political, nationalist and religious student groups in the educational institutions. Due to the popularity of APMSO, another student group, Jamati-e-Islami (JI) clashed with them, creating further conflicts and attacks. Regular clashes between the two groups continued throughout the eighties and onwards.

In 1984, Altaf Hussain set up a Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM), which sought to assert the rights of Mohajirs and to give constitutional recognition to Mohajirs as fifth nationality alongside Punjabis, Pathans, Balochis and Sindhis. MQM represented the economical and political demands of Mohajir communities. It aimed to improve employment opportunities, education opportunities and safeguard Mohajirs interests. In 1988 elections, MQM won 13 seats in the National Assembly, making it a third largest political party of Pakistan.

In the early nineties, MQM split was into two factions after disagreement over moving away from being a party that catered to Mohajirs’ needs to a party that had vested interests in the needs of ninety eight percent of Pakistanis who belong to middle class and working class roots. Altaf Hussain had decided to change the party name from Mohajir to Muttahida, which was vehemently opposed by Afaq Ahmad, who felt they needed to retain their ethnic identity.

No sooner than that, an operation was launched by the military against Altaf Hussain and his party workers and supporters. It is believed that MQM faction led by Afaq Ahmad helped the establishment in hunting down MQM led by Altaf Hussain. This was supported by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Shariff’s governments, who were responsible for transforming Karachi into a battleground where thousands of innocent lives were lost. This deepened the hostility between MQM and the establishment. Propaganda against MQM in the media, helped create hatred against MQM and Mohajir communities who were allegedly blamed for ethnic conflicts in Sindh. PPP sent messages across Punjab that MQM were anti establishment and Pro-Indian. The operation clean up had successfully sowed the seeds of hatred amongst other ethnic groups against Mohajir community, who felt alienated and isolated. This was admitted in Altaf Hussain’s ‘Three Pronged Strategy’ policy statement (Isolation, Criminalisation and Demoralisation), in which he described the deliberate alienation of Mohajirs by the establishment through media propaganda, military operation and deliberate ethnic clashes that followed on from operation clean up.