Altaf Hussain

Altaf Hussain الطاف حسین
Personal details
Born	(1953-09-17) 17 September 1953 (age 58) Karachi, Pakistan
Nationality	United Kingdom
Political party	Mutahidda Qaumi Movement
Spouse(s)	Faiza Altaf (divorced)
Children	Afzaa Altaf
Residence	London, United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Karachi Islamia Science College (Karachi)
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Islam
Website	www.mqm.org

Altaf Hussain (Urdu: الطاف حسین) (born 17 September 1953 in Karachi) is the founder and leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM).^[1] The MQM emerged as the third largest political party in the national assembly of Pakistan during 1988^[2] and 1990^[3] elections. The MQM secured representation in the parliamentary elections held in the northern areas of Pakistan comprising Kashmir^[4] & Gilgit-Baltistan.^[5] Since 1992 he has lived in the United Kingdom in self exile after surviving an assassination attempt in Pakistan.^[6]

Background

Altaf Hussain was born to Nazir Hussain and Khursheed Begum on 17 September 1953 in Karachi.His parents belonged to religious families from Agra, India. After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, his parents migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi.^[7] Hussain’s grand-father, Mufti Mohammad Ramazan, was Grand Mufti of the town of Agra, UP, India and his maternal grand-father Haji Hafiz Raheem Bhux was a reputed religious scholar in India.^[8]

Education

Altaf Hussain got his early education from Govt Comprehensive School, Azizabad No. 8 Karachi. He then completed his matriculation in 1969 from Government Boys Secondary School. He attended National College Karachi during First Year of his Intermediate Education (Pre-Medical/Science) but switched to City College Karachi during Second Year of Intermediate from where he completed Intermediate.After that he went on to complete his Bachelors of Science from Islamia Science College (Karachi) in 1974^[9] apart from completing his Bachelor of Pharmacy by 1979 from the University of Karachi. After completion of his Bachelor of Pharmacy he later enrolled for his Master’s degree.^[9]

Early career

Hussain began his career as a trainee at Karachi’s Seventh Day Advent Hospital. At the same time, he also worked for a multi-national pharmaceutical company.^[10] Between 1970 and 1971, Hussain joined the National Service Cadet Scheme. Soon afterwards, he also joined the Baloch Regiment of Pakistan Army.^[10]

Political Involvement

Altaf Hussain was politically active from a very young age. While attending Karachi University, on 11 June 978, Hussain founded the “All Pakistan Mohajir Student Organization” APMSO. This day is celebrated as APMSO foundation day. The APMSO was formed as a student rights group campaigning for the rights of Muhajir students at Karachi University. It later gave birth to the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) on 18 March 1984, which afterward transformed into Muttahida Qaumi Movement on 26 June 1997.^[11] Before creating the APMSO, Hussain served as General Secretary and later as President of the National Student’s Action Committee at Karachi University.^[11]

The Pakistani government launched Operation Clean-up in 1992 and sent the military into Karachi to crack down on the MQM. Hussain escaped Karachi one month before the operation began because of an attack on his life on 21 December 1991.^[12] Hussain fled to London and applied for political asylum.^[13]

Assassination Attempt

Altaf Hussain returned to Pakistan on 21 December 1991 after a short visit to London. He left Karachi International Airport for his hometown, Azizabad. He was intercepted by armed terrorists near Ayesha Manzil,F.B Area Karachi. The terrorists attacked his car with a hand grenade but the grenade exploded in the terrorist's hand and he died on the spot. The other terrorist was killed by counter attack from the police.^[7]

Arrests and Imprisonments

First Arrest

During his political struggle, Altaf Hussain was arrested and imprisoned thrice. He was first arrested on 14 August 1979 when he was attending a peaceful demonstration at Mazar-e-Quaid, Karachi for the return of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. On 2 October 1979, he was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment and flogging five times. According to MQM sources, he was offered several deals by the then government officials but he refused any deal and became free only after fully completing his sentence on 28 April 1980.^[14]

Second Arrest

Altaf Hussain was arrested the second time when he was returning after his historic address at Pakka Qila, Hyderabad on 31 October 1986 and was implicated in several criminal cases. His arrest enraged the people of Sindh, especially Karachi and they launched public movements for his freedom. Once again, the government offered him conditional freedom several times but he plainly refused his freedom without the freedom of his companions. Finally, due to great public pressure, Altaf Hussain and his companions were released from Central Prison Karachi on 24 February 1987 and all the charges placed on him were unconditionally lifted.^[14]

Third Arrest

During 1987, the government began widespread arrests of Mutahidda Qaumi Movement workers all over Sindh. As a result, Altaf Hussain submitted himself to the law enforcement agencies on 30 August 1987 on the condition that the further arrests of his party's workers will be stopped immediately. During his imprisonment, MQM achieved great results in the Local Bodies election of 1987. Once again, government faced widepsread movements by the people for the freedom of Altaf Hussain. On 7 January 1988, Altaf Hussain was released from jail.^[14]

Killing of Brother and Nephew

During October 1993 to November 1996, a large number of MQM's workers and sympathizers were killed without judicial intervention. Among them, Altaf Hussain's 66 years old elder brother Nasir Hussain and 28 years old nephew Arif Hussain were also killed. According to MQM sources, both of them were arrested by the law enforcement agents on 5 December 1995 and were kept in torture cell where they were brutually tortured for 4 days. They were then killed on 9 of December 1995 and their corpses were discovered from Gadap Town, Karachi.^[14]

Ideology/Philosophy

Altaf Hussain believes history has proved the two-nation theory wrong.^[15] He contended that:

Altaf Hussain and his party, MQM, follow the philosophy of Realism and Practicalism.^[17]

Talking about his party MQM, Hussain stated that “We stand for equal rights and opportunities for all irrespective of colour, creed, cast, sect, gender, ethnicity or religion. We strive tirelessly for tolerance, religious or otherwise and oppose fanaticism, terrorism and violence in all their manifestations.”^[18]

In the last few years, Hussain has warned against the growing influence of the Taliban in Karachi. Hussain stated that the “advocates of Jihad, a medieval concept to tame the infidel, are wantonly killing followers of the faith as they level places of worship.”^[18] In 2008, he stated that a “well planned conspiracy to intensify sectarian violence in the city, was being hatched.”^[19][20][21]

Views on Pak-Indo Relations

Hussain has stated on numerous occasions that the

He believes that the partition divided the Muslims of the subcontinent and made them weaker as a result.^[22] Hussain favors peace between India and Pakistan and stated in his 2004 address in India that “India and Pakistan being the two largest in the region, need to demonstrate magnanimity and the necessary political wisdom and desire to truly seek peace. The Confidence Building Measures contemplated to bring the people of both countries closer must be implemented vigorously.”^[18] On the issue of Kashmir, Hussain stated that Indo-Pak dialogue should be allowed to “proceed on the basis of mutual adjustment and agreement…[and] It should be clear to all concerned that there can be no military solution to any of the contentious issues, let alone the issue of Kashmir.”^[18]

National Reconciliation Ordinance

In November 2009, Hussain was a beneficiary when the Government of Pakistan enabled a legal act (in December 2009 it was repealed) called National Reconciliation Ordinance which granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of crimes between 1986 and October 1999, the time between two occurrences of Martial law.^[23]

See also

• Farooq Sattar
• Muttahida Qaumi Movement
• Imran Farooq
• Mustafa Kamal
• Babar Khan Ghauri
• Fatima Qazilbash

References