MQM chief may shift to Dubai

By Mumtaz Alvi

ISLAMABAD: The hitherto mysterious assassination of Dr Imran Farooq and the chain of unfolding events afterwards in England and back home have compelled MQM supremo Altaf Hussain to consider shifting his party’s international secretariat to Dubai, The News learnt here on Wednesday. Party insiders said their leader now feels he must move out of England as soon as possible and the best and safer place could be Dubai, though some other Muslim countries are also an option. However, the party sources almost ruled out his homecoming. Altaf has spent almost two decades in London. They pointed out that MQM was facing grave challenges to its leader and its own existence from many sides locally and internationally and with the passage of time, the situation could become complicated. “Circumstances are such that the sooner he shifts to any other place, most probably Dubai, the better it would be for him and indeed the party, as signals from Pakistan also are not positive in recent weeks,” they pointed out. Moreover, MQM leadership is also intrigued by an unexpected move by Pir Pagara to form the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML), which it feels can provide the desperately needed support to the PPP government in Sindh and more importantly in the Centre, it was learnt. MQM legislators and members of theRabita Committee see making of APML as a ‘pressure group’. In an interview with a private television channel, PML-Nawaz Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif also expressed his apprehensions regarding APML and wanted to know who was behind it. His party has turned down an informal offer of merger by Pir Pagara, who has been calling himself the man of GHQ. As things stand today, they pointed out, MQM would ultimately be left with no other option but to sit on the opposition benches and claimed though they were part of the ruling coalition, they were hardly being consulted. “The NRO-triggered crisis almost took the government the other day but MQM was not seen anywhere in a series of consultations held with the other coalition partners,” he maintained. He said the PPP-MQM relationship took a turn for the worst when ignoring loud and clear calls, President Asif Zardari visited France and then Britain and there was no warmth from Zardari and Altaf for a rendezvous, which has been a routine during the former’s previous visits. A former MQM minister, who preferred not to be identified, insisted that the Rabita Committee could not afford giving a green signal to Altaf Hussain to return to Pakistan and settle down again in Karachi, a city that continues to remain in the grip of target-killings. He claimed closed-door consultations in Pakistan as well London were currently under way on adoption of a future line of action in an entirely topsy-turvy situation, wherein Altaf Hussain has leveled allegations against certain institutions that has never been his topic in the past. His party also took out rallies in Karachi and elsewhere to denounce the US for inflicting jail term on Dr Aafia Siddiqui After these activities, Altaf Hussain would summon the Pakistan-based members of the Rabita Committee to the MQM international secretariat to adopt a final strategy on leaving England and the party’s conduct inside and outside parliament.