WILL the ‘real’ MQM please stand up? Nearly eight years after incurring the establishment’s wrath following Altaf Hussain’s controversial 2016 speech and the violent aftermath, the MQM-L is back in Pakistan’s electoral fray. Eighty ‘independent’ candidates running for both National Assembly and provincial legislature seats have been announced by the London-based leadership, as part of the ‘Wafa parast’ banner. The pro-Altaf faction had boycotted the 2018 polls. Though the MQM-L was never officially banned, it had been in the establishment’s bad books until recently. Things, it appears, are changing as the powers that be concentrate their energies on other ‘errant’ parties. The move shows that Altaf Hussain is still a factor in urban Sindh’s politics, though none of his party’s factions can match the electoral strength — backed by a fair bit of violence — the united MQM displayed before the 2016 crackdown.

The MQM-P, which was forged from the Altaf-led party in 2016, will not be too happy about the development. The ‘Bahadurabad’ group, which has also taken the Farooq Sattar and PSP factions under its wing, reportedly under the ‘friendly advice’ of powerful quarters, witnessed a drubbing in the 2018 polls, as the PTI took the lion’s share of Karachi’s seats. Though Imran Khan’s party is on the back foot, the MQM-P may further see its vote bank reduced as the London faction still enjoys support in the Muttahida rank and file. Yet the Altaf faction’s return to electoral politics also evokes dark memories of the time when the MQM supremo ruled Karachi with an iron fist. Violence, strikes and chaos were the order of the day. Thursday’s polling will reveal which faction of the MQM gets more votes, though it is hoped that in the post-election period, the ‘bad old days’ do not return as the MQM-P and MQM-L share the same violent origins, and it remains to be seen whether they have shed their old ways.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2024