On September 5, a large number of people waving Pakistani flags attended a rally of the Pak Sarzameen Party in the Malir area, mainly aimed at showing presence and strength in the traditional stronghold of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

"I have chosen the Pakistan flag for our party as it is the flag of all Pakistanis," said Syed Mustafa Kamal, the PSP chairman, to the participants of the rally. "And I don’t want you to fight with any Pakistani, no matter how he or she is different from you."

During one week, the PSP has organised rallies and gathering in various other mohajir-dominated neighbourhoods, from where the MQM draws its main support.

Analysts believe that developments after the August 22 diatribe of the MQM supremo Altaf Hussain have made the PSP irrelevant after the MQM’s leadership in Pakistan announced to disassociate the party from Hussain, and decided that the party will now be run from Pakistan and not from London.

Kamal and Anis Qaimkhani, two key leaders of the MQM, on March 3, had levelled serious allegation against Altaf Hussain and later announced their own party -- the PSP. The party also succeeded in attracting a number of lawmakers and members who were initially given an identity by the MQM. Those who switched sides include people who served as the party’s unit and sector in-charges, while several others were parliamentarians. Also, leaders of other parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League have also joined the PSP.

However, a section of analysts believe that the PSP is neither here nor there because of the clever intrigues of the MQM’s leadership present in Pakistan, clearly disconnecting with London leadership.

The MQM leaders say the flow of the MQM workers joining the PSP has stopped. "Our quick response to August 22’s sudden situation has also stopped the floodgate," says Dr Farooq Sattar, MQM’s central leader. "And this is quite irritating for the PSP."

However, the PSP leaders do not agree with it and say that the announcement of disassociating Hussain from the MQM is a drama. "This is a fixed match," Kamal claims. "There is an understanding between Sattar and Hussain. The MQM will continue to be directed by its leader in London."

Read also: "There is now a complete disconnect with Altaf Hussain"

The PSP’s central leaders claim that a number of political activists, especially those of the MQM, will continue to join their ranks in the near future.

They may have their reasons for the optimism but the MQM has, on several occasions, alleged that the PSP was being backed by ‘certain quarters’ and has been established with the sole intention of splitting the united and integrated MQM’s mandate.

On the ground, especially in the mohajir-populated neighbourhoods of the city, situation is very confusing. There was a common perception that intelligence agencies have formed the PSP to weaken the MQM. A number of the MQM cadres, who were hiding because of their involvement in subversive activities, have been persuaded by the PSP leaders to move away from their militant past after giving them assurance of the government’s amnesty.

But the arrest of Qaimkhani, one of the PSP’s founding members, has stopped defection of the MQM workers into the PSP, inner sources tell TNS. Qaimkhani has served as MQM’s main man in dealing with the party’s original organisational grid, including sectors and units that supervise the daily and local activities of the party. His arrest also helped remove the perception of intelligence agencies backing the group. "Qaimkhani’s arrest has largely removed the perception that criminals who join the PSP or any certain party will be spared by the law enforcement agencies," says a senior police official on condition of anonymity.

However, the PSP has not tried to take part in the by-polls in the city’s various constituencies -- mainly fallen vacant because the MQM lawmakers resigned after joining the PSP -- to know their acceptance and popularity among the mohajir community. The MQM, even reeling from the ongoing operation, won all of the constituencies. But, it must be noted, its votes have been shrinking.

The PSP, according to some reliable sources, is planning to test the water in NA-255, a constituency comprising Landhi from where MQM’s MNA Asif Hasnain resigned after joining the PSP on August 28. After its complete influence in Landhi for over a decade, the Haqiqi faction had been losing strength since 2003, when the MQM, after supporting Musharaf’s military regime, had used government machinery against its rival. It sent Hasnain to oversee the expulsion of Haqiqi’s men from its stronghold and putting its head Afaq Ahmed behind bars. However, the ongoing crackdown has also provided MQM-Haqiqi an opportunity to return to their area.

Munir Ahmed Shah, a Karachi-based journalist working for an Urdu daily, says that one can gauge acceptability of the PSP among the mohajir community if they take parts in the polls. "Before the PSP, the PTI tried to make inroads in the community, but so far, we did not see any MQM’s substitute among them [community]," Shah tells TNS.

Most importantly, thanks to the ongoing crackdown, the situation in the mohajir populated neighbourhoods is largely peaceful and entirely different from that witnessed in the 1992 after the formation of the MQM-Haqiqi faction. Hundreds of activists and supporters were killed in violent clashes between the two factions and several areas of the city had become ‘no-go areas’ for activists for rival groups. In case of formation of the PSP, the city did not witness any significant violent clash between the two groups. Analysts believe that it is mainly because of weakening of the MQM.