The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) ( ur, , ), previously known as Muhajir Qaumi Movement, is a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

political party in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

that was founded by Altaf Hussain in 1984. Currently the party is split between 2 main factions. MQM-London faction is controlled by Altaf Hussain from London, while MQM-Pakistan is run by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui based in Pakistan. Its

electoral symbol An electoral symbol is a standardised symbol allocated to an independent candidate or political party by a country's election commission for use in election ballots. Usage Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on ballot p ...

was a

kite A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...

. It was founded as a student organization,

All Pakistan Muhajir Student Organization The All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organization (APMSO; ) is a Pakistani student organization notable for creating a political party: the Mohajir Quami Movement, now called the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London#History, Muttahida Qaumi Mo ...

(APMSO), in 1978 by Altaf Hussain. APMSO gave birth to the Muhajir Qaumi Movement in 1984. In 1997, the MQM removed the term

Muhajir Muhajir or Mohajir ( ar, مهاجر, '; pl. , ') is an Arabic word meaning ''migrant'' (see immigration and emigration) which is also used in other languages spoken by Muslims, including English. In English, this term and its derivatives may refer ...

(that denotes the party roots among the country's Urdu-speaking community) from its name and replaced it with ''Muttahida'' ("United"). The MQM was generally known as a party that once held strong mobilizing potential in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, having traditionally been the dominant political force in the city. The party has kept its influence over Pakistan's federal government as a key coalition partner since the late 1980s (1988-1990, 1990–1992, 2002–2007, 2008–2013). However, MQM parliamentarians resigned from the National Assembly, Senate and Provincial Assembly of Sindh in protest against a crackdown on party supporters. In August 2016, after Altaf Hussain's 22 August speech, there was military crack down on the party.

Nine Zero Nine Zero (نائن زیرو) was the name given to the headquarters of Pakistan's political party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement founded in 1984. It was located in Azizabad, a sub-division of Federal B. Area, Karachi. The house was constructed o ...

, the party headquarters in Karachi, was sealed, the party's leaders including

Farooq Sattar Muhammad Farooq Sattar (; born 9 April 1949) is a Pakistani politician who is the founder & former leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, who split it from MQM founder and leader Altaf Hussain, he announced separate faction after rel ...

were arrested, and most elected parliamentarians in the MQM were forced to disassociate themselves from Altaf Hussain. MQM terminated

's party membership for party rules violations, and he then formed his own faction.

Background

Muhajirs were the Urdu-speaking Muslims, who migrated to Pakistan when the country was created after independence of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

in 1947. Karachi was then home to a very diverse set of ethnicities including

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

speaking immigrants,

Punjabis The Punjabis ( Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Panjābīs), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. The ...

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

, Baluch and foreigners from several South Asian countries. Muhajirs advanced in commerce and the bureaucracy, but many resented the quota system which facilitated Sindhis in gaining university slots and civil service jobs. It was this very ethnic rivalry that led to Muhajir political mobilization, which was further provoked by the stagnant economy and the condition of

Biharis The Biharis () is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic groups, Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magadhis. They are also further divided into a v ...

in Bangladesh concentration camps.

History

Founding

The first political organization of Muhajirs, called

(APMSO), was founded on 11 June 1978 by Altaf Hussain in Karachi University. On March 18, 1984, the APMSO evolved into a proper political organization—Muhajir Qaumi Movement. It was launched to protect the Muhajir community who perceived themselves as the victims of discrimination and repression by the quota system that gave preference to certain ethnicities for admissions in educational institutions and employment in civil services.

Late 1986 to 1990

In its early years, MQM drew enormous crowds, the epitome of which was the rally of August 8, 1986 at Nishtar Park, Karachi. Three years into its existence, MQM won the November 1987 local body elections in Karachi and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and had several mayors win unopposed.

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

(PPP) won the highest number of seats in the general election of 1988 and formed a coalition government in the Sindh Province with the help of MQM, which then had a larger mandate in urban Sindh in comparison to PPP whose majority of support came from rural areas of Sindh. A 59-point agreement, called the Karachi Accord, was signed which included statements about protection of the democratic system and political rights, urban development goals, and creating objective criteria for admission to universities and colleges. Within a few months of the agreement, differences surfaced and MQM ministers in the Sindh Cabinet resigned because the agreement was not implemented. Thus, the alliance broke up in October 1989 and MQM joined hands with PPP's opponents. During these times MQM made mark for public benefit initiatives. Khidmat-e-Khalq Committee, a social welfare initiative, was founded in 1978 which in 1998 transformed into Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF).

1990 to 1999

In the elections of October 1990, MQM emerged as the third strongest party in the country. This time, it made its alliance with

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League ( ur, ; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the right-wing platform in the country. The Muslim League (a different party) was the party of Pakistan’s ...

(PML) to establish a provincial government in Sindh whereas PML formed the federal government. During these times, small factions of MQM separated themselves on the main body of the party. The largest among these factions is MQM Haqiqi ( en, Real MQM), which was formed by Afaq Ahmad and Amir Khan. It is generally believed that MQM Haqiqi was formed by the collusion of Pakistani Government in power and the Establishment/

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

(ISI) to weaken MQM and was supported by successive federal governments and the military. In the years to come, federal governments switched between forming alliance with MQM and fighting against it to establish greater control over Karachi. From 1992 to 1994, the MQM was the target of the Pakistan Army's

Operation Clean-up Operation Clean-up, also known as Operation Blue Fox, was an armed military intelligence program led by the Sindh Police and Pakistan Rangers, with an additional assistance from the Pakistan Army and its related intelligence agencies. Planned ...

, The period is regarded as the bloodiest period in Karachi's history, with thousands MQM workers and supporters killed or gone missing. Although 14 years have passed since the alleged arrest or disappearance of MQM workers, families of the missing people are still hopeful after registering the cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The operation left thousands of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

The violence gripped urban Sindh politics in the late 1980s after General

Zia ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

's era, and finally in 1992, the erstwhile government of Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

passed a resolution in assembly to launch a military operation in Karachi to target 72 'big fishes'. The federal government gave the reasoning behind this operation, known as "

", as the government's attempt to end terrorism in Karachi and to seize unauthorized arms. Operation Clean-Up, which ostensibly sought to eliminate all terrorists irrespective of their political affiliation, began in June 1992. MQM perceived this operation as an attempt to wipe out the party altogether. Political violence erupted while MQM organized protests and strikes. The resulting lawlessness prevailed in the largest metropolitan city of Pakistan, which led to the country's president dissolving the National Assembly. During the 1992 violence Altaf Hussain left the country when a warrant was issued for him in connection with a murder. Since then, the political party is run by Mr Hussain from self-imposed exile in London. MQM boycotted the subsequent 1993 general elections claiming organized military intimidation but participated in provincial elections. MQM secured 27 seats in provincial assembly, in comparison to its political rival PPP which won 56 seats. This resulted in PPP forming both the provincial and federal governments. Whereas, MQM Haqiqi failed to gain any seats at federal or provincial level. Political violence gained momentum in 1993 and 1994. During the 1994 violence, heavily political killings were reported between MQM, MQM factions, and Sindhi nationalist groups. By July 1995, more than 1,800 people had been assassinated in Karachi. In 1997, MQM boycotted the general elections and officially changed the previously maintained name 'Muhajir' to 'Muttahida'( en, "United").

Accusations of violence

In the mid-1990s, MQM created widespread political violence that affected Pakistan's Sindh province, particularly Karachi, the port city that is the country's commercial capital. In the mid-1990s, the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and others accused the MQM and a rival faction, MQM Haqiqi, of summary killings, torture, and other abuses. The MQM-A routinely denied involvement in violence. The party's use of extra-legal activities in conflicts with political opponents have earned it the accusation of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. The party's strongly hierarchical order and personalist leadership style led to some critics labelling the MQM as

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

Jinnahpur Conspiracy

During

, MQM was accused of being anti-Pakistan and of planning a separatist break-away state,

Jinnahpur Jinnahpur refers to a plot in Pakistan to form a breakaway autonomous state to serve as a homeland for the Muhajir people. Overview Mohajirs were refugees who moved to modern-day Pakistan from modern-day India during Partition of India in 1947. ...

. However, later some senior army officers, Brigadier (R) Imtiaz and General (R) Naseer Akhtar, confessed that Jinnahpur was "nothing but a drama" against MQM for the military operation and there was no map of Jinnahpur. On October 19, 1992, Pakistani newspapers carried an ISPR press release, conveying Army's denial of the knowledge of the Jinnahpur plan. The ISPR, the public relations arm of the Pakistan Army stated, "The Army had no evidence concerning the so-called Jinnahpur plan, it is clarified that the newspaper story in question is baseless. The Army has neither handed over to the government any document or map as reported, nor is it in possession of any evidence concerning the so-called Jinnahpur Plan. It is also factually wrong that the matter was discussed at any meeting of the corps commander." Asif Zardari who was then President of Pakistan is said to have "said in a court premises in Karachi that the Jinnahpur scandal was created to malign the MQM."

2001 to present

In 2001, MQM boycotted the local body elections but in the 2002 general elections, MQM won 17 out of 272 seats in national assembly. In 2008 elections, MQM won 25 seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan and 52 seats in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh. In 2013, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) filed a Rs 5 billion defamation suit against

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

chairman

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

at the

Sindh High Court The High Court of Sindh ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of the Pakistani province of Sindh. Established in 1906, the Court situated in the provincial capital at Karachi. Apart from being the highest Court of Appeal for Sindh in ...

for issuing statements against MQM chief Altaf Hussain. In June 2014, the Metropolitan Police raided the London home of its leader, Altaf Hussain, on suspicion of money-laundering. Mr Hussain has lived in the UK since 1991. In 2008, ''

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

'' released a Global Cities Index which named Mustafa Kamal as Mayor of the Moment, along with

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Klaus Wowereit Klaus Wowereit (born 1 October 1953) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was the Governing Mayor of Berlin from 21 October 2001 to 11 December 2014. In 2001 state elections his party won a plurality of the votes, 29 ...

, and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

Wang Hongju Wang Hongju (; born October 1945) is a retired Chinese politician. He was the mayor of Chongqing, one of four direct-controlled municipalities in China, from 2003 to 2009. He served under Bo Xilai, who headed the Communist Party organization of t ...

. The party has won majority in the local government election of

and

and brought its mayor in Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. The mayor of Karachi, Wasim Akhtar has been put behind bars without any charge by anti terror court and is waiting Sindh High Court to grant him bail in order to resume his office as the mayor of Karachi. MQM has also brought its chairman and vice chairman in the municipal committee of fourth largest city of Sindh

Mirpurkhas Mirpur Khas (Sindhi and ; ''meaning "Town of the most-high Mirs"'') is the capital city of the Mirpur Khas District and Mirpur Khas Division in the Sindh province, Pakistan. Mirpur Khas is the 16th largest city in Sindh province and the 80th ...

Election Boycott 2018

MQM and its leader Altaf Hussain decided to boycott elections in 2018 due to military intervention in political affairs, MQM-P which is a separate party now would instead contest for elections using traditional MQM symbol kite. This would be the second boycott of general elections after 1993 and third boycott of all elections including local bodies election in 2001. The average turnout of Karachi constituencies was 40.4% in 2018 elections comparing to 55 percent in 2013.

Party structure

The party is led by Altaf Hussain under whose supervision, members of the Rabita Committee (also known as Central Coordination Committee) formulate the party's political program. It consists of 24 members from Pakistan and 10 from London, United Kingdom. The party's Karachi-based organizational operations are held under its Karachi Tanzeemi Committee. On 20 November 2011, Muttahida Qaumi Movement announced the formation of Central Executive Committee with its members drawn from Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa, Balochistan and Sindh. Addressing a Press Conference, Farooq Sattar, a senior MQM official, told that the purpose of Central Executive Committee is to assist MQM Coordination Committee and the party in organizational matters, policy-making and preparation of manifesto. MQM has several chapters across the world in the United States, Canada, South Africa, several European countries, and Japan. Currently, the heads of MQM North America are former Federal Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Ibad Rehman.

Controversy

MQM's Party leadership faced widespread arrests after Altaf Hussain's controversial speech and later attack on ARY channel which faced much criticism from the media and particularly from the establishment which was discontented by his words:'Pakistan Murdabad' (Death to Pakistan). On the orders of Chief of Army Staff

General Raheel Sharif General Raheel Sharif (Urdu: ; born 16 June 1956), is a retired four-star army general of the Pakistan Army who served as the 9th Chief of Army Staff from 29 November 2013 to 29 November 2016. After his retirement as Pakistan's army chief, he ...

Paramilitary forces immediately sealed MQM offices including Nine Zero. MQM's deputy convenor Shahid Pasha, parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar, Sindh assembly opposition leader Izhar ul Hasan and Rabita Committee members Qamar Mansur and Member National Assembly and ex Hyderabad Mayor Kanwar Naveed Jameel were arrested. Farooq Sattar who was released shortly, later disassociated himself from MQM founder and leader Altaf Hussain saying his statements were unacceptable and later presented and facilitated resolutions in Federal and provincial assemblies against his controversial speech, Farooq also claimed to strip MQM chief from constitution and powers. The crack down against MQM took a rapid turn when over hundred MQM Unit and Sector offices have been demolished and many MQM workers rounded up. On August 21, 2016, according to Election Commission of Pakistan, Nadeem Nusrat and not Farooq sattar was the leader of MQM. and According to Nadeem Nusrat, Minus Altaf formula is not acceptable. MQM leadership in Sindh Assembly declared that it wants MQM leader Altaf Hussain tried for high treason and also removed Nadeem Nusrat, Convenor of the party along with Wasay Jaleel, Mustafa Azizabadi etc. On 22 September 2016, MQM convenor Nadeem Nusrat termed the moves of Farooq Sattar against party rules and illegal and emphasized he is an elected Convenor and dissolved entire party infrastructure including Rabita Committee and ordered mass resignation of MQM parliamentarians from assemblies and to contest new elections on their own. In a media conference the spokesman for the United States State Department, John Kirby, stated that US was aware of the arrests of the MQM leaders and was closely monitoring the events.

Naming controversy

Although media refers to Muttahida Qaumi Movement as MQM-London, MQM has instructed media to use the original name Muttahida Qaumi Movement only where as Farooq Sattar led faction has adopted the name MQM-Pakistan.

Karachi Baldia Town factory

A private garment factory lit on fire and the flames ignited chemicals that were stored in the factory. The Baldia Town factory inferno case took a dramatic turn on Friday 7 Feb 2015 when a report by Rangers claimed that the MQM was behind the deadly fire that claimed the lives of at least 258 factory workers. MQM set fire factory to take

Extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

money from owners. A documentary film is prepared on Factory fire name Discount workers in year 2020

State Operations against MQM

Pakka Qila Operation (26, 27 May 1990)

Operation was launched by Sindh Police to target MQM workers in Pakka Qilla Hyderabad. Over 250 besieged innocent men, women, children was massacred during the operation which carried on for 275 hours before Pakistan army men eventually moved in.

Operation Clean-up (1992 - 1994)

Operation clean-up was started by late general Asif Nawaz after Jinnahpur conspiracy and major kaleem torture case.

Operation (1994-1996)

During tenure of Benazir Bhutto, interior minister General Naseerullah Babar conducted second operation against MQM between 1994 and 1996. Due to serious doubts over credibility of operation due to fake encounters, extra judicial killings and rise of killings in Karachi, Benazir Bhutto's government was dismissed by the then President of Pakistan, Farooq Ahmed Laghari.

Operation (1998)

In the aftermath of Hakeem Saeed's assassination, governor rule was imposed by

in the

Sindh province Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and military operation was initiated against MQM,

Karachi Targeted Action (2013 - present)

Due to rise in Target killing and organised crimes of extortion, kidnapping for ransom and increased crime rate of the city, Karachi operation began by the Nawaz Sharif government in 2013 with the intention of creating peace in the city. Even though it was claimed by the interior minister Chaudhry Nisar that the intentions of the operation were apolitical, there have been systematic crackdowns against MQM. In 2015 MQM's Headquarter Nine Zero was raided twice by the paramilitary Rangers and many top officials of MQM were taken into custody. On August 22, 2016, The Headquarter was sealed and hundreds of MQM offices were bulldozed. Many Journalists opine that Army establishment is behind the formation of PSP and MQM-Pakistan. Many MQM officials including Prof. Zafar Arif, Kanwar Khalid Yunus, adv Sathi ishaq, Amjadullah khan, Qamar Mansur, Shahid Pasha have been in detention since four months. MNA Kanwar Naveed Jameed, MPA Kamran farooqui have also been arrested by the paramilitary forces.

Human Rights Violations by the state

1994-1996 targeted actions saw gross human rights violations by the state organisations which included kidnapping for random, extrajudicial executions, disappearance, torture, fake encounters etc. The speeches and images of Altaf Hussain have been banned by the decision of Lahore High Court's justice Naqvi and Anti-Terror court has issued arrest warrants of Altaf Hussain numerous times. Renowned journalists have accepted that targeted operations are only against MQM. During Nine Zero raid, MQM worker Waqas Shah was brutally shot down by Ranger's 9mm pistol fire from point blank range. The video evidence released on electronic media confirmed the incident. Farooq Sattar's coordination officer Syed Aftab Ahmed was killed while in the custody of paramilitary forces. Initially the force denied torture and stated that he died of heart attack but it had to accept after social media publicised videos of torture marks on Aftab's body and autopsy report conforming death due to torture. As a result of operation, MQM claims 67 of its workers have been extra judicially murdered the paramilitary force while 150 are still missing and more than 5,000 are behind bars. The Amnesty International, US state department, United Nations Human rights commission has published several documents highlighting gross human rights violations during the targeted operation against MQM.

Electoral history

Post split election campaigns

MQM took part in local bodies by election from Union Committee 46

which was vacated by the death of counselor as independent candidate. MQM supported independent candidate Asif Baig defeated the candidate of MQM-Pakistan by a healthy margin.

References

External links

MQM Official WebsiteMQM USA Official WebsiteMQM UK Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muttahida Qaumi Movement - London Political parties established in 1984 Liberal parties in Pakistan Political parties of minorities Politics of Karachi Muttahida Qaumi Movement – London Muttahida Qaumi Movement politicians Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPAs (Sindh)