What happened to Imran Farooq’s widow?

LONDON: Dr Imran Farooq’s widow Shumaila Nazar – and her two sons Aalishan and Wejdaan – live in extreme poverty and Shumaila is on the verge of becoming homeless.

It can be revealed for the first time that Dr Imran Farooq’s widow not only faces extreme financial difficulties but also she has been looking for a house to rent for several months without any success.

Her physical condition is so bad that she uses aid to walk and has not recovered after she was admitted to hospital in November 2016 after her right jaw broke. Since the tragic murder of her husband Dr Imran Farooq nine years ago in Edgware, no one has unknown until now about the whereabouts of Shumaila and her sons but this correspondence found during investigation that Shumaila Imran Farooq lives in a first floor run-down, dinghy flat.

The flat is situated on top of a pizza shop and a mechanic’s workshop and its one end opens on a street, which is frequented by drug peddlers and homeless at night.

It’s a harrowing tale of what has happened to her: a former MPA herself of the MQM from a woman reserved seat who married Imran Farooq, the assassinated MQM leader, in London in February 2004 at a ceremony overseen by Altaf Hussain, the MQM founder.

This correspondence was recently alerted that Shumaila Farooq has become almost paralysed due to her health situation and has a medical assessment meeting set with a doctor to make findings about her health, enabling her for government subsidised medical care. Met by this correspondent outside the medical centre walking on crutches helped by her young sons, she politely refused to answer questions but her facial expressions told a story of thousands of words. She looked weak, traumatised, broken and helpless.

In the last nine months, she has visited offices of several estate agents trying to find a reasonable flat for herself and her sons but to no success. In one instance, she was asked to pay £4,500 towards deposit but she was unable to raise this money, this correspondence has seen evidence of correspondence.

The owner of the flat, according to sources, has issued three notices to Shumaila to vacate the flat where she is currently living, trusted sources who saw these notices revealed to this correspondent. It’s understood that Shumaila Nazar has no bank balance and not a penny to her son’s name.

It can be confirmed that Shumaila met two estate agents in the Barnet area, less than a mile from the MQM’s international secretariat, attempting to get a house locally on rent but she was turned away because of the fact that her monthly rent is paid by the local Barnet council and there is not a single property in the entire area that could be afforded within the rent limit that the local government provides her. Inquiries made with the local council confirmed that Shumaila gets £1,000 from the council, which she pays towards the privately rented flat, food and utility bills.

She has no other source of income and has never worked for a day because she has no one else to help with the pick and drop of her sons. Her sons Aalishan, 14, and Wejdaan, 12, are students at a local public school in classes 9 and 7.

Soon after the murder of Dr Imran Farooq on the Green Lane, the Scotland Yard moved out Shumaila and her sons from that area. She was moved to some unknown area for three years but according to sources, she has been living at the current address for nearly three years now.

When Dr Imran Farooq was murdered in London around six years ago, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain made a number of promises before Pakistani media about the welfare and future of Dr Farooq’s wife and sons.

Amidst tears and outpouring of grief before the media at the MQM secretariat on the early hours of September 17, 2010, hours after Dr Farooq’s murder, the MQM founder promised that he will arrange for the private schooling of Dr Imran Farooq’s sons and will look after the widow all his life. Altaf promised that he will look after the family of Dr Imran Farooq in the same manner that he will look after his only child Fiza Altaf Hussain. Altaf Hussain also announced during one of his public speeches that he will buy a house for Dr Imran Farooq’s widow and sons.

Nine years on, none of the promises made publicly have been fulfilled. In fact nothing ever was done towards the fulfilment of these promises. On the other hand, MQM leaders are fighting one another over properties worth millions but the woman who lost her husband to the MQM is almost homeless and suffering from abject poverty.

Sources within the MQM have confirmed that Shumaila appealed to many MQM-London leaders to help her but she was told that the party faced financial crunch and didn’t afford buying a 2-bedroom flat for her. Sources said that she requested to the MQM leader for help but didn’t get any positive response. She was told that the party faced cases in the UK and had to pay large amounts towards legal fee and maintenance of the international secretariat.

The fact is that the MQM has around 8 expensive properties in London and she could be given two rooms in any of these houses but this was not done at any stage and no offer was made. While families of senior MQM leaders, from Pakistan and the UK, have benefited from these properties and their families have lived in these properties but the wife of the party’s only overseas shaheed has been left to fend for herself.

The MQM leader is currently involved in dispute over two properties with the MQM’s former leaders Muhammad Anwar and Tariq Mir. It’s understood that the MQM has properties in other locations too and Shumaila Farooq could be helped easily for life if any of these properties in London was either transferred to her name or property sold anywhere else and money given to her to buy a flat in London.

The police recently dropped the money-laundering case against the MQM leader and withdrew the cash forfeiture application. The police have returned around £500,000 to the MQM founder in cash, which could be given to Shumaila to fulfil the promise that the party founder made over six years ago to Shumaila and her two orphan sons.