MQM-PPP’s 34-year tale of struggling against each other and working together

LAHORE: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has once again strongly accused the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Sindh of pre-poll rigging through engineered delimitation of constituencies in Karachi and Hyderabad, highlighting the continuing mistrust and suspicions that characterized the fragility of the relationship between them for the last 34 years.

Having three out of 100 seats in the Senate, seven in the National Assembly and 21 in the 168-seat Sindh Assembly currently, MQM and PPP are at daggers drawn with each other. Their long tale of alliances and break-ups is nothing new. In fact, the two political parties have hugged and stabbed each other so frequently that it no longer flashes headlines in local media. But it is not with the PPP alone, the MQM has had problems in co-existence with the Jamaat-e-Islami, PPP, PML-N, ANP, the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and the PTI etc as well during the period under review.

In the 1988 general elections, after the Benazir Bhutto-led PPP bagged the highest number of seats, it formed a coalition government with Altaf Hussain’s MQM in Sindh. A 59-point agreement, called the Karachi Accord, was hence inked, but within a few months, differences surfaced and MQM ministers in Sindh resigned, maintaining the pact was not implemented. The alliance formally broke up in October 1989 after dozens were killed at an MQM congregation by Sindhi nationalists. The union consequently fell apart in the wake of ensuing violence and Altaf Hussain lent support to Nawaz Sharif’s Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) instead.

In May 1990, the state-led “Pakka Qila Operation” was launched against MQM by the Sindh Police to target Altaf Hussain’s loyalists in Hyderabad. But during the October 1990 elections, MQM surfaced as the third largest party in the country, forming an alliance with the leading PML-N. In January 1992, Altaf left for London on an exile that continues till date and in June the Pakistan Army launched ‘Operation Clean-up’ to rid the port city of terrorism. A large number of MQM leaders went into hiding and the party offices were shut down. Besides, a breakaway faction the MQM-Haqiqi emerged from oblivion.

MQM then boycotted the October 1993 polls but held sway in the provincial elections. But it once again decided to forge an alliance with the PPP, putting aside all the past differences. In 1995, according to the July 29, 2013 edition of “The Guardian,” Benazir Bhutto sought the British government’s help to extradite Altaf Hussain, contending that he was involved in violent activities in Pakistan. “The Guardian” had reported: “The UK itself has questions to answer. It has resisted repeated Pakistani requests to hand over Hussain so that he can stand trial for murder in Pakistan. Altaf Hussain arrived in London in February 1992 and just three years later, Benazir Bhutto---the then prime minister – was asking for London’s help.” The premier British newspaper had quoted Benazir as saying: “I think the British government has a moral responsibility to restrain Altaf Hussain and say you cannot use our soil for violence.”

It is imperative to recall that on December 9, 1995, the mutilated corpses of Altaf Hussain’s elder brother Nasir and nephew Arif were found in Gaddap Town. Both were killed just days after Ehsan Shah, the younger brother of sitting Sindh CM, Abdullah Shah, was shot dead in Karachi. Apart from blaming Chief Minister Abdullah Shah, the MQM had also alleged that the Rangers had arrested Nasir and his son Arif on December 4 and 6, 1995 respectively. The Rangers publicly denied any involvement in this episode, but the MQM Coordination Committee Chairman, Ishtiaq Azhar, expressed apprehensions that Altaf Hussain’s brother and nephew might have been killed by the law enforcement agencies.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Abdullah Shah named Altaf Hussain and three others in the FIR of his brother’s murder. The MQM Chief had followed suit by accusing the incumbent President of the time Farooq Leghari, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, CM Abdullah Shah, Interior Minister Major General (retired) Naseerullah Babar and the-then Director General Rangers of being responsible for the murders of his relatives. Soon after the murders of Nasir Hussain, Arif Hussain and Ehsan Ali Shah (all residents of Karachi’s Samanabad locality in Federal B. Area), both MQM and PPP accused each other of the killings. This soon after led to another violent bout between the two parties in Hyderabad and Karachi which lead to 25 deaths.

During the 1997 polls, MQM won many national and provincial assembly seats and joined hands with PML-N but their short romance ended in October 1998. This time the murder of former Sindh Governor Hakim Sayeed led to the imposition of Governor’s Rule in the province.

In October 2002, the MQM became a coalition partner with the General Pervez Musharraf-led civilian set-up with PML-Q in the forefront. In May 2007, MQM was accused by the anti-Musharraf camp and protesting lawyers of instigating violence on May 12, 2007. The then-deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary and his cronies were left stranded at the Karachi Airport due to adverse law and order situation outside. Several dozens were killed in the violence on that day.

After the February 2008 polls, MQM again became part of the ruling coalition spearheaded by the Pakistan People’s Party but once again their marriage didn’t last long. Differences emerged soon after the Premier Yousaf Raza Gilani-led PPP government started shuffling the bureaucrats appointed by General Musharraf in April and posted Shoaib Suddle as head of the Sindh police. The MQM resisted and raised serious objections publicly against IGP Suddle’s appointment, accusing him of committing extra-judicial killings during the 1992 Karachi operation. Though the matter was resolved the paranoia kept compounding.

MQM and PPP again stood on opposite sides of the fence when the Gilani government decided to abolish General Musharraf’s local bodies system. The district governments were replaced with administrators to the sheer dismay of the MQM. Delimitation of Karachi’s constituencies and target killings also kept emerging as the bone of contention between the coalition partners throughout the PPP regime’s tenure from 2008 to 2013, and so did the National Reconciliation Order issue.

The MQM had opposed the NRO in November 2009, while the PPP hierarchy had tried to legalize it by making it part of the constitution. The Reformed General Sales Tax issue had also proved to be an apple of discord between them. The MQM had out rightly rejected this proposed tax and once against their horns were locked.

Last but not least, the-then Sindh Home Minister, Zulfiqar Mirza, accused the MQM of involvement in target killings infuriating Altaf Hussain and his lieutenants. They demanded the immediate removal of Mirza and gave a 10-day deadline to the PPP government. Eventually, MQM quit the federal cabinet on December 27, 2010, but continued to sit on the treasury benches. Interestingly, this decision was reversed by the party’s Rabita Committee only five days later and MQM parliamentarians joined the opposition benches bidding adieu to Zardari and his confidants.

In October 2011, just hours after Pakistan Muslim League-Q had announced it would not leave the PPP-led ruling coalition (as widely speculated), the MQM announced rejoining the treasury benches. Finally, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad and Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah announced that the MQM would rejoin the ruling coalition in both Karachi and Islamabad “in the larger national interest.” But this also didn’t last long and a few months later in February 2012, MQM quit the PPP-led Sindh and central governments, citing the ‘negative attitude’ of the ruling political entity as being the key reason.

In October 2012, when President Zardari called on Altaf Hussain in London, MQM and PPP again affirmed that they would remain together till the next general election.

In December 2012, Altaf publicly slated the judges of the Supreme Court in connection with a verdict pertaining to the delimitation of Karachi’s constituencies.

His remarks led to the issuance of contempt of court notice and he was ordered to appear before the court in person. In January 2013, Altaf had to file an unconditional apology, which was accepted by the apex court.

In February 2013, the MQM had yet again announced parting ways with PPP. During the May 2013 ballot exercise, MQM had won another enemy---the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. The vocal PTI supporters in Karachi’s posh localities raised a lot of hue and cry. A few weeks later, PTI’s Arif Alvi emerged victorious. Following the murder of PTI’s local stalwart, Zahra Shahid, Imran accused Altaf of her killing. A furious MQM served a Rs 50 billion defamation notice on Imran for levelling baseless allegations against Altaf Hussain.

In January 2014, PPP repeatedly invited its former ally, the MQM, to rejoin the Sindh government, and in February, the lawmakers from both parties were seen fighting on the Sindh Assembly floor. In 2015 MQM’s headquarters (Nine Zero Azizabad) was raided twice by the paramilitary forces and many of its leaders were taken into custody. In August 2016, the MQM Headquarters was sealed and hundreds of its offices were bulldozed by forces at the helm.

Various splinter factions of MQM are now struggling for a rebirth with their merger, a development being dubbed by ousted prime minister Imran Khan as the Establishment’s move to dent PTI’s popularity in Karachi. But this effort to unite all MQM factions and dissidents of yore under one umbrella won’t yield the desired results easily since there is a lot of bad blood running among the key MQM players.