26 December 2012 By Saeed Qureshi
MQM's chief custodian and
uncrowned king Altaf Hussain, of late, appears to have
landed in a deep trouble. He is presumably faced with
a double jeopardy. He has come under suspicion of his
connection with Dr. Imran Farooq's murder. Secondly he
has picked up a row with the Supreme Court of Pakistan
on delimitation of constituencies.
The investigation of Dr. Imran Farooq has,
of late, assumed new twists and turns. The London
Metropolitan Police has stepped up the investigation
about the murder of Dr. Imran Farooq, a former
colleague and friend of Altaf Hussain.
Imran Farooq a one-time
celebrity and leading light of MQM was murdered in
mysterious circumstances on
September 16, 2010, outside his home at Green Lane, Edgeware in
North London. Dr Imran Farooq had co-founded the All
Pakistan Muhajir Students Organization (APMSO), and
also had been the deputy convener of the party.
It was after almost a lull
of two years, that the Metropolitan Police, in
connection with Dr. Imran's murder, raided the
business office of Altaf Hussain in Edgeware and
conducted comprehensive search for two days. The
intensive search was the follow up action of the
various pieces of vital evidence and important tips
that the London police was able to collect since 2010.
It was also reported that
although several persons were interrogated yet no
arrests were made. British High Commissioner in
Pakistan Adam Thomson also confirmed in a statement
that Dr. Imran Farooq was a British national and their
police was investigating a murder of its citizen. The
second jeopardy came as a backlash of his stunning
remarks directed at the Supreme Court in which he
argued that "that delimitation of electoral
constituencies was not the job of the courts, and it
would not help the cause of peace".
He obliquely warned that
"those who were trying to hatch conspiracies against
the MQM would be eliminated."In response to his
threatening outburst, the Supreme Court retaliated by
issuing a contempt of court notice to him with orders
to appear in the court and explain his point of view.
Understandably he cannot come to Pakistan and thus
there might be more retaliation from the Supreme
Court.
It has been observed in
various media columns that he stands a frightening
chance of losing his residency in England due to his
stinging remarks about the supreme court of Pakistan.
A senior Pakistan-born and England- based lawyer Sibgatullah Qadri stated
that if a foreign court convicts a British citizen
against contempt charges, the British government can
terminate the citizenship rights of such individual.
He asserted that in Britain the contempt of court is
considered as serious a crime as murder and is not
taken lightly.
Altaf Hussain sneaked out
of Pakistan one month before the launching of the
Operation Clean-up (June 19, 1992 to August 14,
1994). His flight from Pakistan also was the result
of an attempt on his life on 21 December 1991 that was
the third of its kind. He was given political asylum
by the British government and is staying there since
then.
Altaf Hussain founded All
Pakistan Muhajir Student Organization"APMSO in June
1978 that was later renamed as Muhajir Qaumi Movement
(MQM) in March 1984. It was finally renamed as Muttahida Qaumi Movement
(MQM) in June 1997.
Altaf Hussain with
a mercurial and audacious temperament has been issuing
statements that cut across the two nation ideology
thus denunciating the creation of Pakistan. In one
such statement he is recorded to have said that,
"Division of the
subcontinent was the biggest blunder in the history of
mankind and Nehru and Abdul Kalam Azad are responsible
for it because they rejected that grouping formula and
greater autonomy for Muslim majority province of
India. If they accepted it then Jinnah would have
never demanded separate Pakistan and Jinnah was ready
for co-exist within India."
Altaf Hussain was having
3576 cases for various charges against him. But all
the cases were dropped under the National
Reconciliation Ordinance issued by the
former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf,
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