The MQM’s news clothes
Herald -- October 2000
By Idrees Bakhtiar
By seeking a new constitution in accordance with the 1940 Lahore Resolution, the MQM has firmly allied itself with the nationalist camp
After lying low for a long time, leaders and activists of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) have been showing signs of coming back to life ever since the military take-e-over in October last year. The last few months have been particularly productive for them. First, a book by the MQM leader, Altaf Hussain, in which he articulates his politics in great detail, was launched at the Karachi Press Club. This was followed by a gathering at the MQM central office, Nine Zero, which was addressed by Altaf Hussain via telephone. And, finally, the leader turned his 47th birthday into a political event by making some significant policy statements at a get-together at Acton Town Hall, London.
Observers in Karachi feel that the book launch as well as the gathering at Nine Zero were aimed at mobilising MQM workers who had been inactive of late. At the same time, the two events also served the purpose of demonstrating to the MQM’s detractors that the party still has more street muscle than any other political group in Pakistan, religious parties included. The two events may not have matched Altaf Hussain’s pre-exile shows in the city, but they were still impressive keeping in view the ban on political activities and the violent ‘clean-up’ suffered by the MQM in the early ‘90s.
Of the three events, the most important was undoubtedly the gathering at Acton Hall. Ostensibly organised to celebrate Altaf Hussain’s birthday, it went much further than being a mere celebration. For all intents and purposes, it was a political gathering, made all the more significant by the presence of nationalists such as Sardar Attaullah Mengal, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Imdad Mohammed Shah and others. All of them were especially invited to address the meeting.
Days before the gathering at Acton Hall, Karachi was gripped by speculations that Altaf Hussain was going to make some important announcement. The city’s street buzzed with discussions regarding what announcement could possibly be. And not without reason. While addressing his supporters at Nine Zero, Altaf Hussain had himself asked them to prepare themselves mentally for an important turn of events. This ensured that the expected announcement remained the subject of newspaper columns through the days leading up to the Acton Hall meeting.
The meeting did turn out to be a fairly important one even though it did not produce the dramatic announcement that the political and media circles were anticipating.
What Altaf Hussain eventually said was nothing drastically different from what he has been saying in the recent past. Critical of the “Punjabi ruler and the Punjabi establishment”, the MQM leader reiterated his stance against the Punjab’s dominance of the state structure – something he has been alluding to since the MQM parted ways with Nawaz Sharif’s government in the wake of Hakim Saeed’s murder.
What was significant, though, was Altaf Hussain’s description of the Partition as “the greatest mistake in human history”. He followed it up with a resolution demanding the reframing of the constitution of Pakistan in the light of the 1940 resolution, also known as the Pakistan Resolution. According to the state structure envisaged in that resolution, “… the areas in which Muslims are numerically in a majority … should be grouped to constitute ‘Independent State’ in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign.” The resolution, adopted by the 27th annual session of the All India Muslim League, was later amended by a resolution passed at the All India Muslims League Legislators Convention held in Delhi on April 9, 1946. The state structure that eventually came into being in the shape of Pakistan was, in fact, laid according to which a sovereign independent state (and not states) was to be created.
Over the last 53 years, a number of politicians, especially those from the smaller provinces, have been referring to the earlier resolution. Among other things, they point to the fact that Pakistan Day is observed on March 23, the day the first resolution was passed in 1940, and not on April 9. The resolution adopted at Acton Hall made it clear that the MQM now intends to base its political charter on the first resolution: hence the demand for a fresh constitution containing new guarantees for provincial autonomy.
Explaining the resolution, the MQM leader said that the guarantees currently being sought by the smaller provinces were provided in the 1973 constitution. However, successive Pakistani governments since the country’s break-up had failed to uphold the constitution, a failure which has resulted in serious grievances amongst the smaller provinces.
Observers note with interest that the demand for a new constitution – which is in essence a demand for maximum provincial autonomy – is now being articulated by an organisation which takes enormous pride in being constituted by the off springs of the founders of Pakistan. This, say observers, is a development significant enough for the rulers to sit up and take note of. Clearly, the MQM has decided to strike a common ground with the nationalist forces in Pakistan, all of whom are livid with Islamabad’s overbearing role in the federation.
The rest of Altaf Hussain’s birthday address was a mere regurgitation of his old speeches. He said he had written to presidents, prime ministers, chiefs of army staff as well as to the chiefs of other wings of the armed forces but no one was willing to pay any attention to the continuous oppression of Mohajirs. That was why, he said, he had decided to write an open letter to the Indian Muslims to tell them what was happening to the Mohajirs in Pakistan. He did not say what he expected of the Indian Muslims but the fact that a mainstream Pakistani politician has opted to wash his dirty linen across the border should raise a fair amount of heckles in Pakistan.
Most observers in Karachi feel that should General Musharraf’s government choose to ignore the MQM leader’s latest utterances, it will be doing so at its own peril. A wiser option, they argue, will be for the government to engage the MQM, along with all other nationalists, in a constructive dialogue with a genuine intention to understand and address their grievances. This, after all, is what General Musharraf promised in his seven-point agenda when he took over the country’s reigns last October. A dialogue between the government and the nationalists can focus on specific areas of the constitution which the latter want looked into and amended if the need be. Until such time that a democratic government is restored in the country, such an exercise will at least help curb the increasing frustration that leaders of the smaller provinces are feeling at the moment.