(Publish from Houston Texas USA)

(From Amir Muhammad Khan)

Karachi Province Debate and Historical Context of MQM

Once again, there has been a discussion about making Karachi a province. The revenue received from Karachi, which is 46 percent of the entire country’s revenue, has been on the minds of the relevant parties for some time. In the case of a province, if someone is happy that he will occupy it, he is really crazy. No patriot would want a province to be formed whose revenue is only his right. All the provinces of the leader’s Pakistan run with the help of each other, especially in economic terms. Yes, it is another matter that if those who raise the slogan of Karachi province point out any excesses and mismanagement in Karachi and raise their voice against it, then the taboos they mention can be reduced. The central and provincial governments can honestly pay attention to it without any linguistic animosity.
The MQM was founded by its exiled leader because of the atrocities committed against the migrants (according to him). The whole of Karachi used to sit and rise with one voice, but due to its involvement in terrorism and crimes, the MQM could not achieve that goal. The way its leader sowed the poison while sitting outside the country on Indian orders and with Indian funds became a crime for every MQM leader. And to stay in Pakistan, they had to separate from their leader, although many people believe that the network of those who separated is apparently still connected to London, by God Almighty.
The MQM was founded in 1984 by Altaf Hussain. Initially, it emerged as a student organization. It aimed to raise a voice for the political and social rights of the migrant community living in urban Sindh, especially in Karachi and Hyderabad. Later, the party presented itself as a national party. This party apparently had both positive and negative aspects. Regarding the positive aspect, the MQM gave political identity to the urban middle and lower classes of Karachi and Hyderabad, who previously considered themselves neglected. Issues like sanitation, transport, water, and urban amenities were prominent in the political agenda.
The PTI claims that it brought the youth into politics, but this statement, like its other statements, is baseless. In fact, the MQM was the party that first played a role in bringing the students and young class into politics, which energized urban politics. The MQM did not gain fame and respect. The allegations of violence and militancy against it were partly true and partly false. Extortion became common. Even the sacrificial skins that the Jamaat-e-Islami had claimed were not only collected by the MQM, but those who did not give the skins were also subjected to torture. The MQM intellectuals had a very childish analysis that extortion was the reason for the increase in crimes, which was unemployment among the youth, but which sage has said that you should make your own party unpopular with regard to criminal activities, if there is no employment, then start taking extortion?
MQM has been accused of extortion, target killing, and having armed wings at different times, which affected the law and order situation in Karachi. Due to the intoxication of power, MQM started clashing with the state. In the 1990s, there was severe tension between the party and the state institutions, which resulted in major operations and affected the political process. It seems that history is repeating itself; what happened to the MQM’s Shiraz is happening to PTI.
There were also leadership conflicts and internal divisions in MQM, and over time the party split into several factions, which weakened its political power and confused voters. Politics linked to violence, allegations of misuse of power, and clashes with institutions severely damaged the party’s reputation. The conflict in the leadership is still visible today. In the past, in Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui’s press conference, Farooq Sattar was writing something every two minutes and placing it in front of Khalid Maqbool Bhai, which was giving the impression that Farooq Sattar Bhai knew more. When this did not stop, Farooq Sattar held a press conference on the same topics the next day.

Coalition Politics, Power Dynamics, and Future Implications

When those who form governments hold elections, they know that no political party will be in a position to form a government alone. Just as a car has a safety tire called STEPNEY, similarly, in our country, any big party that cannot govern on its own gets help from these STEPNEY parties. With their participation, the government is formed. They also have the pleasure of getting privileges from the central government, or if they don’t, threatening to separate from the government. Since these few seats help in forming governments and also in toppling them. Some such parties, including MQM, are present in our country.
MQM gives a false impression of making Karachi a province and also fuels the Urdu-Sindhi conflict in Sindh. The slogan should be that the Sindh government of Karachi should also consider it a province of Sindh, and the people there should get a share in jobs without discrimination. In fact, the Sindh government itself has been unable to provide facilities to the people of Sindh in the past 17 years, so Karachi probably does not come on their agenda. But it is the responsibility of the MQM to reduce anger and demonstrate understanding and get facilities for its voters.
Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui did not give a good impression in yesterday’s press conference. He has also angered the PPP in the Sindh government and the Muslim League at the center, and the narrative of the PTI is not good. And they have strengthened it (this is called blackmailing). They said, “What kind of justice is this? The one who gets 170 seats is in jail, and the one who gets 80 is in the government. They even shot down a drone on themselves to humiliate the PPP.” This party is also enjoying two ministries.
The MQM chairman is talking about 170 seats. If this statement is true, then first they should give up their 18 seats. Since the PTI also says that they won all the seats in Karachi, then why did the MQM get them? If there are friends like the MQM among the allies, then the PML-N does not need enemies. The PML-N has a two-thirds majority. Now if the PML-N makes statements in panic, then things can get serious. But looking at the past performance of the MQM, it can be said with responsibility that the MQM is not going to do anything like this. It will remain in the national mainstream, since that is where the survival of small parties lies. The PPP is also an ally of the central party. It also does not make threats, but it is also used to the same salary, since it is a claimant to power in Sindh, which is a much smaller province than Punjab.

For more information please visit our National news.