On what is my certainty based: On material uncovered before and after Operation Clean-up, Karachi, 1992.
And how do I know this: I had a ring-side seat at this operation.
Before going further, I need to introduce Lt Col Obaidullah [ late] who,concieved and executed the operation and was the moving spirit behind it.
Obaid was an officer of high intelligence, completely free of the taint of prejudice, both ethnic and religious. He was one of those rare birds who either had no fear, or could mask it to perfection. And in his personality, what competed with his patriotism as a defining trait, were his flights of emotion, which often tended to fly him off the handle.
It was one such emotional outburst which got him superseded as a major, and he got posted to Headquarters ISI, for the last leg of his service. Gen Hamid Gul was D.G ISI at the time. He had introduced the the practice of personally interviewing all freshly posted officers to the organization.
I drove Obaid for the interview, dropped him opposite the HQ, and went on to Aab para, giving him the telephone contact of the travel agent where I would await his call, to pick him up. I was expecting his call in about an hour’s time, but he called a good three hours later.
When I picked him up he explained that there were about four officers who were interviewed ahead of him, about ten minutes each. But his interview went on for nearly an hour, after which the General informed him that he will be assigning him to an important slot. ” And sir,” Obaid confided in me, ” the General told me that I should henceforth consider myself promoted to Lt Col ! ” I advised him not to set hopes too high on the issue of promotion, because that was not about to happen.
A week or so later he called to inform me that his promotion had indeed come through, specifically for appointments in the intelligence set-up.
One day a couple of months later, he asked me if I would like to interview three MQM operatives who were on the run from Altaf Hussain, but whom he had squirreled away in an organisation safe house. Those days I was writing for the papers, but I told him I was not interested.
He insisted that I should not give up this opportunity. I replied that I would be interested if only he could give me one good reason to take time out to talk to these three unknowns.
Obaid thought for a while, and then said, “sir, you must interview them because Altaf Hussain is sh-t scared of them.”
” And you would have me believe this–Altaf Hussain who makes the whole of Karachi tremble, is himself “sh-t” scared of these three chaps whom no one has ever heard of, and who have no roof over their heads?? OK you first give me proof of this and I will go along with you.”
Obaid twiddled his thumbs for a while and then asked to use my phone. “……and tell him on the special line that you will be in Karachi tomorrow,” he ended his instructions to the person on the other end. And then he explained to me that he had instructed the leader of the “three unknowns” to give the message I had heard, to a person who was a known double agent, which would ensure that it would get to Altaf.
” And what will happen then?” I asked.
“Tomorrow you will hear, sir, that Altaf has got admitted to Abassi Shaheed Hospital.” said Obaid. He then explained that whenever Altaf feels threatened he holes out in a room in this hospital, which has only one access, and so is very easy to guard.
Before leaving, he advised me to be certain to hear the news on the TV the next day. And sure enough, one of the headlines informed the audience that Altaf Hussain had been unexpectedly taken ill, and was thus shifted to Abassi Shaheed.
I called Obaid and told him I would like him to schedule an interview with his Johnnies that evening.
That is the first time I met Afaq,Amir, and Wasim. They were mere lads like all others, in jeans, T-shirts and joggers. I found them very polite, but with Obaid they were absolutely reverential.
I had gone prepared with a lot of questions, and asked them all. My only interlocutor was Afaq. The other two just stayed out of the conversation. It has been many years now, and I remember little about this interview, but the following I have never forgotten:
a. Afaq was very adamant that they had broken ranks with Altaf on account of his corruption. He explained that MQM members were making tons of donations to Altaf, but he was misappropriating the money and building a personal fortune, and property for his family. He gave the example of property bought for his sister in Chicago.
b. He never acceded to my suggestion that a fat portion of the funds collected by them, were in fact the fruit of extortion.
c. He informed me that the real leader of MQM was Azim Tariq, whom Altaf had arranged to be murdered. Azim, he insisted was a natural leader, cool under pressure, graceful, patriotic, and clean as a whistle, compared to Altaf, who was corrupt to the hilt, and basically a coward, whose frayed nerves showed when there was pressure on him.
d. I told him that I knew that he [Afaq] could put real fright into Altaf, and suggested that this could only be so if Afaq was a ruthless hitman of the party, of whose efficacy Altaf needed no proof. I tried to have him confess to this suggestion. I tried a myriad angles, but he parried me each time and vehemently denied it.
It took me six months of trying to get my interview published, hawking it from one paper to the other, till at last Frontier Post picked up the courage to publish a heavily edited version of it—talk of being “sh-t” scared!
Some time later Obaid informed me that he had been transferred to take up an undercover appointment in Bangkok, but that he had requested Gen Asad Durrani to have this cancelled, and to have him sent to Karachi instead, as the ISI detachment commander there. I had served with General Durrani in the Academy, and knew him to be one of our better officers. I was certain he would appreciate the spirit of Obaid’s request and get the needful done. It was no surprise therefore when he packed his bags for Karachi. On his request Capt Zia Shah [ later Lt Col] was posted as his number two.
A month later I got a call from Tubby…….sorry, I forgot to tell you that we all referred to Obaid as Tubby. And this because he was all of 5 foot 4 1/2 inches, though he always insisted that he was “at least” 5 foot 6, and had a little paunch which he tried manfully to hide all his life, but sadly, never quite succeeded in doing so.
Tubby informed me that he was coming to Islamabad the next day and would be staying with me. I could feel that he was excited. When he arrived he told me that he had called his D.G and told him that he had information which he was only willing to divulge to him personally, and that it was this what he had come for. By this time General Javed Nasir had taken over and the next day Obaid was to give him a presentation.
It was then that Tubby informed me that things in Karachi were much worse than he ever suspected, and that the MQM was a potential fifth column thoroughly infiltrated by RAW, and was getting a Mafia-style hold on Karachi, through organized terror, murder, torture, and extortion. He said that he had evidence of this which was irrefutable, and that Altaf Hussain was a primary enemy agent. Although I always suspected this, but when my suspicions were authenticated by a man whose job it was to know, and whose integrity and ability I could swear on, I was stunned.
Similarly stunned was General Javed Nasir the next day after Obaid had got through his presentation, and the display of the evidence he had gathered. The General told him that he better stick on in Islamabad, and be prepared to give the same presentation to Asif Nawaz Janjua, the Army Chief, and Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister.
A couple of days later this follow-up presentation took place in GHQ with both these gentlemen present, with a whole panopoly of lesser beings. For the Army Chief, who had commanded the Karachi Corps, this presentation was merely a confirmation of what he already knew, or strongly suspected. Caught between him and the D.G ISI, Nawaz Sharif could merely nod an assent, the poker face not betraying any conviction or lack thereof. And thus the green light for Operation Karachi clean-up was given.
A couple of weeks later I got a call from Tubby to come over to Karachi. When I met him he told me that he had asked me to come over because the operation was going in the day after, and he wanted me to play the role of a sounding board.
The next morning a Maj Gen from the ISI, a very close friend of mine, came over. Not known to be an officer who took pressure badly, he seemed distinctly uncomfortable. Over a cup of tea he confessed–” I am sorry Tubby, of the thousand AK-47s you asked for, I have only been able to get hold of about 80.”
Tubby fixed him with a long look of concern, and slowly shaking his head, told him that this was not good news, but that luckily he had managed to get hold of a good number 12 gauge shotguns, and operation being an urban area one, perhaps the shotguns would prove to be a better choice. The General asked him if he was absolutely certain, and when Tubby said ” absolutely, sir,” I beheld a most relieved General.
After he left, I could not hide my concern: ” but Tubby how can you plan on a thousand Kalashnikovs, and settle for just 80 of them, and hope that shotguns will do the trick. How can you allow the operation to go ahead with such a great shortfall in resources??” I was appalled, and showed it.
” Its O.K sir ,” he said most non-chalantly, ” actually, I dont need any weapons.”
” But then why did you ask for them and put my friend up to procuring them?”
” Well sir, if I had not got him busy on that front he would be here 24 hours a day, breathing down my neck, and micro-managing me!”
Having served in such a rank conscious organisation, I could only wonder at Obaid’s presumtuousness and effrontery, but had to grant him wit.
Next to turn up was Capt Zia Shah. Tubby plied him with some routine questions about the preparations for the operation, got his answers, and nodded with great seriousness at each one.
I had known Zia very well over the years. He was some years junior to my youngest brother at Lawrence College. I had grown to like him, but if I was to give him marks for grey matter, and been honest about it, I would have to be niggardly. So when Zia left, I could not help asking Tubby, if Zia had the stuff to be number two in an operation which could have vital consequences for the whole country?
By this time Tubby had started looking considerably taller. By the time he informed me that for this operation he needed no great brilliance in his subordinate, but total trust, he seemed to grow at least another inch. He was looking more and more like a man in total control who knew exactly what he was doing.
And then it was evening, and the Corps Commander called. Tubby put on the speaker phone.
” So youngster, I hope all is in place for the operation.” General Nasir Akhtar’s voice came through crisply, but not I suspected, entirely free of some concern. Tubby assured him that all was in order.
” I hope,” said the General, ” the casualty count will be no more than the 750 you promised.”
” Dont worry a bit about this sir. I am very certain about this one. Hopefully they will be about a hundred shy of this figue.” Tubby was at his most assuring best.
When the General hung up, I could not help asking Tubby how could he be so certain about the expected casualties.
” I am not sir,” he said. ” As a matter of fact I dont have a clue.”
“But then, how could you give such a cast iron figure to the General?” I asked.
” Well sir, he asked me if I expected the casualties to be any more than 750. I thought long and hard, and assured him that this would just be about it. And this put the General at ease, so that I could move on to more important things.”
“But still,” I said, ” how could you give him such an off-the-cuff assurance on a figure, you dont have clue about?”
“Well sir, it is he who gave the figure, and I merely agreed with it,and reduced it by an acceptable number. Look sir, asking me about the number of expected casualties was a stupid question in the first place, and if I had given any figure higher than that which was considered ‘acceptable’ in the commander’s mind, we would not have been going in for the operation tonight. We would still be arguing about numbers. I know perfectly well though, that if they consider the operation a success, they will take all the credit for it, and if it fails in any dimension, the blame will be heaped upon me, and I would have to bear the consequences. I could not care less. This operation is very important for Karachi, and for Pakistan. We have a very well organized fifth column here, and we have to demolish it. That is the only thing that matters.”
I had great respect for may of Tubby’s individual qualities, but this was the first time, I was in a “working” environment with him. I was seeing a man I had never seen before. “”Tubby” was a nickname about which there was an inherent facetiousness. But what I was seeing now was a pocket dynamo. He was so clear about what he wanted to achieve, and how he would go about doing so, even if he should fall in the process. And if I needed any further confirmation of this, I got it when Afaq came over late evening.
Obaid was on the phone in the bedroom, when I went over and met Afaq. When Obaid came in, Afaq promptly got off the sofa, and sat down on the carpet. Not all our joint entreaties could cajole him off the rug and on to the sofa. He told me he had recognized the Colonel early for one who was worth giving one’s life for, and after that day he had vowed never to sit on par with him, as the students used to do with the “ustads” of old. He said he was never treated by the colonel in any manner short of respect, and that he was merely reciprocating. I could not trace any hint of a “put on” in this exchange.
After Obaid and Afaq had discussed matters, and Afaq left about 10 p.m, I finally got the full briefing on the operation:
Not a single soldier or policeman was to be used. All the men were Afaq’s.
Not a single government weapon was to be used. All the weapons needed, Afaq’s men already had.
No reconnaissance was to be done, because Afaq’s men knew the den of every Altaf thug.
The only thing needed from the government was transport. No army or police vehicles were to be asked for,except a few from the municipal corporation of Karachi.
The operation would start at midnight, and the only help needed from the government was that strict instructions be given to all police stations, that post-midnight, they were not to respond to ANY emergency call, till instructed otherwise.
And then we waited, and midnight came and went. Calls started to com in. First few and far between. But as minutes ticked by, their frequency increased, all reporting success.
At about 7 a.m Obaid thought it was about time we had a round of the “no-go” areas. Thus we drove through broken barriers where none but the chosen few were allowed to venture just a few hours earlier.
We inspected their torture chambers, with hooks on walls, and splashes of blood about them, which told a grisly tale.
At about 9 a.m we got home for breakfast.
At about 10 a.m Obaid got a call from the D.G. The operation was to be immediately halted. Obaid was no longer in command of the ISI Karachi detachment, could not go to the office, nor give any orders to his subordinates, not remove any documents, nor move out of his house.
He was to pack up his family and move them “home”.
He was then to report for attachment to a unit in Quetta, from where he could only move out on leave by special permission form GHQ, but would not be allowed to come to Karachi under any circumstances!!
So, what happened??
What happened was that everyone and his aunt was on board for this operation. All except Ghulam Ishaque Khan, the President of Pakistan. Altaf Hussain’s SOS calls from London all missed their mark.None except Chaudhary Shujaat, who was then Interior Minister, and probably a little more intelligible than he now is, took his call. Baffled at what Altaf Hussain broke to him, he honestly [perhaps for the first time in his life ] told him that he had no idea what was going on.
And then Altaf hit the right button. He called the President’s son in law, Irfanullah Marwat. Altaf, Marwat, and Jam Sadiq had fed heartily at the same trough, and each had done wonderfully well for themselves in this partnership of thieves.
And Marwat came good. He called the President. And this “honest’ President folded to the entreaties of the man whose sole discernible credit was that he was married to his daughter, and the President called the Prime Minister, whose backbone’s prime employment thus far had been to hold his belly up. At the first real call of duty, it dutifully folded. And with it folded an operation for Karachi’s life Pakistan’s health. But the mere six hours for which the operation had run unimpeded, it broke half of MQM’s back, with just about 20 casualties instead of the “allowed” 750, and a large exodus of MQM thugs to India and Dubai via launches run by smugglers.
By Saeed Akhtar Malik
The short answer is: Yes.
How certain am I of this: Absolutely.
On what is my certainty based: On material uncovered before and after Operation Clean-up, Karachi, 1992.
And how do I know this: I had a ring-side seat at this operation.
Before going further, I need to introduce Lt Col Obaidullah [ late] who,concieved and executed the operation and was the moving spirit behind it.
Obaid was an officer of high intelligence, completely free of the taint of prejudice, both ethnic and religious. He was one of those rare birds who either had no fear, or could mask it to perfection. And in his personality, what competed with his patriotism as a defining trait, were his flights of emotion, which often tended to fly him off the handle.
It was one such emotional outburst which got him superseded as a major, and he got posted to Headquarters ISI, for the last leg of his service. Gen Hamid Gul was D.G ISI at the time. He had introduced the the practice of personally interviewing all freshly posted officers to the organization.
I drove Obaid for the interview, dropped him opposite the HQ, and went on to Aab para, giving him the telephone contact of the travel agent where I would await his call, to pick him up. I was expecting his call in about an hour’s time, but he called a good three hours later.
When I picked him up he explained that there were about four officers who were interviewed ahead of him, about ten minutes each. But his interview went on for nearly an hour, after which the General informed him that he will be assigning him to an important slot. ” And sir,” Obaid confided in me, ” the General told me that I should henceforth consider myself promoted to Lt Col ! ” I advised him not to set hopes too high on the issue of promotion, because that was not about to happen.
A week or so later he called to inform me that his promotion had indeed come through, specifically for appointments in the intelligence set-up.
One day a couple of months later, he asked me if I would like to interview three MQM operatives who were on the run from Altaf Hussain, but whom he had squirreled away in an organisation safe house. Those days I was writing for the papers, but I told him I was not interested.
He insisted that I should not give up this opportunity. I replied that I would be interested if only he could give me one good reason to take time out to talk to these three unknowns.
Obaid thought for a while, and then said, “sir, you must interview them because Altaf Hussain is sh-t scared of them.”
” And you would have me believe this–Altaf Hussain who makes the whole of Karachi tremble, is himself “sh-t” scared of these three chaps whom no one has ever heard of, and who have no roof over their heads?? OK you first give me proof of this and I will go along with you.”
Obaid twiddled his thumbs for a while and then asked to use my phone. “……and tell him on the special line that you will be in Karachi tomorrow,” he ended his instructions to the person on the other end. And then he explained to me that he had instructed the leader of the “three unknowns” to give the message I had heard, to a person who was a known double agent, which would ensure that it would get to Altaf.
” And what will happen then?” I asked.
“Tomorrow you will hear, sir, that Altaf has got admitted to Abassi Shaheed Hospital.” said Obaid. He then explained that whenever Altaf feels threatened he holes out in a room in this hospital, which has only one access, and so is very easy to guard.
Before leaving, he advised me to be certain to hear the news on the TV the next day. And sure enough, one of the headlines informed the audience that Altaf Hussain had been unexpectedly taken ill, and was thus shifted to Abassi Shaheed.
I called Obaid and told him I would like him to schedule an interview with his Johnnies that evening.
That is the first time I met Afaq,Amir, and Wasim. They were mere lads like all others, in jeans, T-shirts and joggers. I found them very polite, but with Obaid they were absolutely reverential.
I had gone prepared with a lot of questions, and asked them all. My only interlocutor was Afaq. The other two just stayed out of the conversation. It has been many years now, and I remember little about this interview, but the following I have never forgotten:
a. Afaq was very adamant that they had broken ranks with Altaf on account of his corruption. He explained that MQM members were making tons of donations to Altaf, but he was misappropriating the money and building a personal fortune, and property for his family. He gave the example of property bought for his sister in Chicago.
b. He never acceded to my suggestion that a fat portion of the funds collected by them, were in fact the fruit of extortion.
c. He informed me that the real leader of MQM was Azim Tariq, whom Altaf had arranged to be murdered. Azim, he insisted was a natural leader, cool under pressure, graceful, patriotic, and clean as a whistle, compared to Altaf, who was corrupt to the hilt, and basically a coward, whose frayed nerves showed when there was pressure on him.
d. I told him that I knew that he [Afaq] could put real fright into Altaf, and suggested that this could only be so if Afaq was a ruthless hitman of the party, of whose efficacy Altaf needed no proof. I tried to have him confess to this suggestion. I tried a myriad angles, but he parried me each time and vehemently denied it.
It took me six months of trying to get my interview published, hawking it from one paper to the other, till at last Frontier Post picked up the courage to publish a heavily edited version of it—talk of being “sh-t” scared!
Some time later Obaid informed me that he had been transferred to take up an undercover appointment in Bangkok, but that he had requested Gen Asad Durrani to have this cancelled, and to have him sent to Karachi instead, as the ISI detachment commander there. I had served with General Durrani in the Academy, and knew him to be one of our better officers. I was certain he would appreciate the spirit of Obaid’s request and get the needful done. It was no surprise therefore when he packed his bags for Karachi. On his request Capt Zia Shah [ later Lt Col] was posted as his number two.
A month later I got a call from Tubby…….sorry, I forgot to tell you that we all referred to Obaid as Tubby. And this because he was all of 5 foot 4 1/2 inches, though he always insisted that he was “at least” 5 foot 6, and had a little paunch which he tried manfully to hide all his life, but sadly, never quite succeeded in doing so.
Tubby informed me that he was coming to Islamabad the next day and would be staying with me. I could feel that he was excited. When he arrived he told me that he had called his D.G and told him that he had information which he was only willing to divulge to him personally, and that it was this what he had come for. By this time General Javed Nasir had taken over and the next day Obaid was to give him a presentation.
It was then that Tubby informed me that things in Karachi were much worse than he ever suspected, and that the MQM was a potential fifth column thoroughly infiltrated by RAW, and was getting a Mafia-style hold on Karachi, through organized terror, murder, torture, and extortion. He said that he had evidence of this which was irrefutable, and that Altaf Hussain was a primary enemy agent. Although I always suspected this, but when my suspicions were authenticated by a man whose job it was to know, and whose integrity and ability I could swear on, I was stunned.
Similarly stunned was General Javed Nasir the next day after Obaid had got through his presentation, and the display of the evidence he had gathered. The General told him that he better stick on in Islamabad, and be prepared to give the same presentation to Asif Nawaz Janjua, the Army Chief, and Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister.
A couple of days later this follow-up presentation took place in GHQ with both these gentlemen present, with a whole panopoly of lesser beings. For the Army Chief, who had commanded the Karachi Corps, this presentation was merely a confirmation of what he already knew, or strongly suspected. Caught between him and the D.G ISI, Nawaz Sharif could merely nod an assent, the poker face not betraying any conviction or lack thereof. And thus the green light for Operation Karachi clean-up was given.
A couple of weeks later I got a call from Tubby to come over to Karachi. When I met him he told me that he had asked me to come over because the operation was going in the day after, and he wanted me to play the role of a sounding board.
The next morning a Maj Gen from the ISI, a very close friend of mine, came over. Not known to be an officer who took pressure badly, he seemed distinctly uncomfortable. Over a cup of tea he confessed–” I am sorry Tubby, of the thousand AK-47s you asked for, I have only been able to get hold of about 80.”
Tubby fixed him with a long look of concern, and slowly shaking his head, told him that this was not good news, but that luckily he had managed to get hold of a good number 12 gauge shotguns, and operation being an urban area one, perhaps the shotguns would prove to be a better choice. The General asked him if he was absolutely certain, and when Tubby said ” absolutely, sir,” I beheld a most relieved General.
After he left, I could not hide my concern: ” but Tubby how can you plan on a thousand Kalashnikovs, and settle for just 80 of them, and hope that shotguns will do the trick. How can you allow the operation to go ahead with such a great shortfall in resources??” I was appalled, and showed it.
” Its O.K sir ,” he said most non-chalantly, ” actually, I dont need any weapons.”
” But then why did you ask for them and put my friend up to procuring them?”
” Well sir, if I had not got him busy on that front he would be here 24 hours a day, breathing down my neck, and micro-managing me!”
Having served in such a rank conscious organisation, I could only wonder at Obaid’s presumtuousness and effrontery, but had to grant him wit.
Next to turn up was Capt Zia Shah. Tubby plied him with some routine questions about the preparations for the operation, got his answers, and nodded with great seriousness at each one.
I had known Zia very well over the years. He was some years junior to my youngest brother at Lawrence College. I had grown to like him, but if I was to give him marks for grey matter, and been honest about it, I would have to be niggardly. So when Zia left, I could not help asking Tubby, if Zia had the stuff to be number two in an operation which could have vital consequences for the whole country?
By this time Tubby had started looking considerably taller. By the time he informed me that for this operation he needed no great brilliance in his subordinate, but total trust, he seemed to grow at least another inch. He was looking more and more like a man in total control who knew exactly what he was doing.
And then it was evening, and the Corps Commander called. Tubby put on the speaker phone.
” So youngster, I hope all is in place for the operation.” General Nasir Akhtar’s voice came through crisply, but not I suspected, entirely free of some concern. Tubby assured him that all was in order.
” I hope,” said the General, ” the casualty count will be no more than the 750 you promised.”
” Dont worry a bit about this sir. I am very certain about this one. Hopefully they will be about a hundred shy of this figue.” Tubby was at his most assuring best.
When the General hung up, I could not help asking Tubby how could he be so certain about the expected casualties.
” I am not sir,” he said. ” As a matter of fact I dont have a clue.”
“But then, how could you give such a cast iron figure to the General?” I asked.
” Well sir, he asked me if I expected the casualties to be any more than 750. I thought long and hard, and assured him that this would just be about it. And this put the General at ease, so that I could move on to more important things.”
“But still,” I said, ” how could you give him such an off-the-cuff assurance on a figure, you dont have clue about?”
“Well sir, it is he who gave the figure, and I merely agreed with it,and reduced it by an acceptable number. Look sir, asking me about the number of expected casualties was a stupid question in the first place, and if I had given any figure higher than that which was considered ‘acceptable’ in the commander’s mind, we would not have been going in for the operation tonight. We would still be arguing about numbers. I know perfectly well though, that if they consider the operation a success, they will take all the credit for it, and if it fails in any dimension, the blame will be heaped upon me, and I would have to bear the consequences. I could not care less. This operation is very important for Karachi, and for Pakistan. We have a very well organized fifth column here, and we have to demolish it. That is the only thing that matters.”
I had great respect for may of Tubby’s individual qualities, but this was the first time, I was in a “working” environment with him. I was seeing a man I had never seen before. “”Tubby” was a nickname about which there was an inherent facetiousness. But what I was seeing now was a pocket dynamo. He was so clear about what he wanted to achieve, and how he would go about doing so, even if he should fall in the process. And if I needed any further confirmation of this, I got it when Afaq came over late evening.
Obaid was on the phone in the bedroom, when I went over and met Afaq. When Obaid came in, Afaq promptly got off the sofa, and sat down on the carpet. Not all our joint entreaties could cajole him off the rug and on to the sofa. He told me he had recognized the Colonel early for one who was worth giving one’s life for, and after that day he had vowed never to sit on par with him, as the students used to do with the “ustads” of old. He said he was never treated by the colonel in any manner short of respect, and that he was merely reciprocating. I could not trace any hint of a “put on” in this exchange.
After Obaid and Afaq had discussed matters, and Afaq left about 10 p.m, I finally got the full briefing on the operation:
Not a single soldier or policeman was to be used. All the men were Afaq’s.
Not a single government weapon was to be used. All the weapons needed, Afaq’s men already had.
No reconnaissance was to be done, because Afaq’s men knew the den of every Altaf thug.
The only thing needed from the government was transport. No army or police vehicles were to be asked for,except a few from the municipal corporation of Karachi.
The operation would start at midnight, and the only help needed from the government was that strict instructions be given to all police stations, that post-midnight, they were not to respond to ANY emergency call, till instructed otherwise.
And then we waited, and midnight came and went. Calls started to com in. First few and far between. But as minutes ticked by, their frequency increased, all reporting success.
At about 7 a.m Obaid thought it was about time we had a round of the “no-go” areas. Thus we drove through broken barriers where none but the chosen few were allowed to venture just a few hours earlier.
We inspected their torture chambers, with hooks on walls, and splashes of blood about them, which told a grisly tale.
At about 9 a.m we got home for breakfast.
At about 10 a.m Obaid got a call from the D.G. The operation was to be immediately halted. Obaid was no longer in command of the ISI Karachi detachment, could not go to the office, nor give any orders to his subordinates, not remove any documents, nor move out of his house.
He was to pack up his family and move them “home”.
He was then to report for attachment to a unit in Quetta, from where he could only move out on leave by special permission form GHQ, but would not be allowed to come to Karachi under any circumstances!!
So, what happened??
What happened was that everyone and his aunt was on board for this operation. All except Ghulam Ishaque Khan, the President of Pakistan. Altaf Hussain’s SOS calls from London all missed their mark.None except Chaudhary Shujaat, who was then Interior Minister, and probably a little more intelligible than he now is, took his call. Baffled at what Altaf Hussain broke to him, he honestly [perhaps for the first time in his life ] told him that he had no idea what was going on.
And then Altaf hit the right button. He called the President’s son in law, Irfanullah Marwat. Altaf, Marwat, and Jam Sadiq had fed heartily at the same trough, and each had done wonderfully well for themselves in this partnership of thieves.
And Marwat came good. He called the President. And this “honest’ President folded to the entreaties of the man whose sole discernible credit was that he was married to his daughter, and the President called the Prime Minister, whose backbone’s prime employment thus far had been to hold his belly up. At the first real call of duty, it dutifully folded. And with it folded an operation for Karachi’s life Pakistan’s health. But the mere six hours for which the operation had run unimpeded, it broke half of MQM’s back, with just about 20 casualties instead of the “allowed” 750, and a large exodus of MQM thugs to India and Dubai via launches run by smugglers.
Three quarters of this criminal enterprise would still have lain broken but for Musharraf of the NRO fame, who validated everything nefarious to stay in power. He resurrected MQM, and put in place governor Ishrat ul Ibad, the extremely soft-spoken but ruthless torturer and MQM killer, now in office for over 12 years. And Musharraf,[ to whose credit go the resurrection of MQM, exoneration of Asif Zardari and his gang of thugs, and these hoodlums raping the country today ] has come back to be President again! This is not so much a commentary on Musharraf’s addled brain, as it is on the hopes this broken country still arouses among the witless aspirants to power.
When I was taking leave of Obaid, I thought I would be seeing someone crushed. But I did not. I saw just someone immensely sad whose idealism had for the first time received a blow from reality which it would not be able to survive. He told me that whether he ever came back to Karachi or not, he was certain that all the material he had collected would survive in the archives of the ISI. But that if they had left him in place just another two weeks or so, he was going to get proof of the money trail from RAW to MQM, but now that would never happen–the agent he had taken months to cultivate, would never trust the ” “organisation” again.
There was just a meek sliver of saving grace in all this. The unit to which Tubby was going to be attached in Quetta was being commanded by Gen Asif Riaz Bukhari-a friend and a brother with a heart bigger than a house. Ironically, he was a “mohajir” officer, and like most of the mohajir officers with whom it had been my privilege to serve, he well transcended the national average. I called and told him that Obaid was coming to him, the circumstances in which this transition had taken place, and I requested him to make his landing as soft as possible.
At Quetta airport, Tubby was received by the General’s ADC, and driven to his mess in his staff car. And so the fall was broken. But MQM survived to extort, murder, kidnap, and sell Pakistan out in partnership with one political party or the other.
P.S As the Rangers have started the current operation clean-up of Karachi, their task is much more arduous than was Obaid’s in 1992. Though this is an across the board operation against the criminals and hoodlums of all political parties, it appears to be directed primarily against the MQM, because most of the high value targets picked up, or disposed off belong to this party. The reason for this is simple. It is quite apparent that the Rangers make their moves on the basis of inside information, and most of these insiders seem to belong to MQM. And when the smoke finally lifts, it will become clear that much of this information is being given by Afaq’s men, who suffered much at the hands of Altaf’s muscle men. It should already be quite apparent that the most important raid which the Rangers conducted against 90 was the result of a tip-off by Amir Khan, the same I had interviewed with Afaq so many years back.
This operation has ignited a glimmer of hope among the people of Pakistan, in that, that the last functioning institution of the country has finally risen to its defense, instead of abandoning it. The worst that could now happen is if the generals allowed the pace of this operation to slacken, instead of expanding it to other dens of miscreants spread all over the country. They should also realize that this operation is attacking the lesser arm of the pincer gripping our country. The more vicious arm, which is the existential threat to Pakistan, is mega corruption and the total immunity of the perpetrators that goes with this. This is what this country cannot survive.
The army, being responsible for national security, should formally cite mega corruption as a national security imperative, push to have the national security council reformed and resuscitated, and openly discuss mega corruption cases at this forum, and confront the perpetrators, so that there is no need to get into intrigue, and use such cases as an alibi to strangle the political process. Instead they should use their considerable heft to clean this process up.
The start should be made with the looting of land in Karachi, and the LNG deal. But this will not be easy to do, unless the army’s own house is first subject to cleaning. So let the guilty among generals, all very well known, be the first to hear the sound of the gavel, and then the party can start.
This article was first published in The Herald Annual issue of January 2014.
Illustration by Sana Nasir
Altaf Hussain must have felt untouchable when the British government decided to grant him a burgundy passport in 2002, a decade after he ran away from Pakistan to seek political asylum from the “brutality” of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s first government.
It is now widely speculated that Whitehall’s benevolence followed a letter Hussain wrote 12 days after 9/11 to then British prime minister Tony Blair, offering “unlimited resources” for human intelligence to monitor activities of madrasas, fundamentalists and Taliban-led organisations in Pakistan. He had also asked for Pakistan’s premier spy agency – the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) — to be disbanded, or “it will continue to produce many Osama bin Ladens and Talibans in future.”
Little did the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) head honcho know that he would himself blow his perceived impregnability about 10 years later, courtesy of his characteristic recklessness.
If 1992 was the most dangerous year in Hussain’s life, 2013 could safely be termed as catastrophic for his political pre-eminence. Damning media reports by leading world organisations, such as the BBC, the Guardian and the New York Times, about Hussain and his questionable activities have seriously dented his public persona. The vehemence with which his party cadre used to defend him has also decreased to an extent. He no longer remains untouchable.
Investigations were already underway against Hussain for alleged money laundering worth millions of pounds, as well as the 2010 murder of a former ally and party convener Imran Farooq, when he attracted the wrath of thousands by making an inflammatory speech after the May election, threatening to unleash violence against his opponents.
The British police had to open dedicated lines to note down complaints and issue crime reference numbers. The situation became so serious thatBaroness Sayeeda Warsi, the British minister responsible for Pakistan, had to state in the House of Lords:“The Metropolitan Police Service has received an unprecedented number of complaints about the alleged comments made by Mr Altaf Hussain. The metropolitan police are now formally investigating those comments and in due course will take any appropriate action.”
Reports suggesting that British authorities have gagged Hussain after his telephonic tirade are abound in the Pakistani media. They largely remain unsubstantiated. However, Hussain’s frequency to pick up the phone and rant for hours has subsided dramatically. One reason for that could be the results of the recent election wherein governments in Islamabad and Sindh do not need the MQM as an ally. It is a unique situation fora regional party that has always pillioned with power but postured as the opposition.
Farooq’s murder case might take a while to get resolved and Hussain might not be brought in on incitement-of-violence charges, but the money laundering accusation is progressing fast, seemingly to the detriment of Hussain and many of his closest aides. Recent raids on his mansion in Mill Hill, the party’s international headquarters in Edgware, and at the Acton Town house of his 70-year-old financial wizard, have made Hussain so nervous that he felt forced to pick up the phone yet again to address his followers. This time, he accused the British police and the “western establishment” of conspiring to kill him. His accusations, it appears, have not gone well with his former “protectors”.
Sibghatullah Qadri (QC), a well known barrister of Pakistani origin, whom Hussain and his comrades routinely consult on legal matters, describes the year 2013 as increasingly difficult for Hussain.
“There is no denying the fact that trouble is at his door and he may find it hard to dispel it.” Qadri opines that Hussain has only himself to blame for his troubles.“He has thrown caution to the wind. He has said things that he should not have and now he must be prepared to face the consequences. Even murderers are not killed under the British legal system. How could he accuse the police of such a conspiracy?”
Hussain is lucky, in a sense, as some of the most damning paperworkregarding his “questionable activities” is now locked away in the family division of the London High Court. Accusations made by his former wife, Faiza Gabol, in her divorce case can’t be accessed by a third party — that is, the media. But those privy to the contents of the divorce papers, privately claim Hussain had admitted to things that could further damage his politico-social credentials even amongst his staunchest supporters.
Pakistani journalists who have reported on Hussain still find it uneasy to talk about him. “He might be down but he is definitely not out,” says one. Others say they have done enough to divert the attention of law enforcement agencies towards him. “The ball is rolling now. We have done what we could. Now it’s the responsibility of the British authorities…” quips a Pakistani journalist based in London.
Hussain’s aides, who were recently picked up by the Metropolitan Police and then released on police bail, are due back for further interrogation in early 2014. If Hussain and company succeed in avoiding the money laundering charges, there is a strong likelihood they will face the music for serious tax evasion — a crime that could make them state guests for a few years.
Shirley Andersonis a pseudonym. The writer’s real name has been withheld on request for security reasons.
PAKISTANI TERRORIST HIDING IN BRITAIN : “ALTAF HUSSAIN OF
MQM, ALIAS “OSAMA BIN LADIN OF PAKISTAN,” HAS MURDERED
MORE PEOPLE THAN OBL .”
Altaf Hussain, a stupid bastard who’s complete name is Syed Altaf Hussain Jaffery, is a political leader who faces murder charges in Pakistan. It is perhaps ironic that MQM holds many seats in the current government at the same time when their party leader is in exile. Altaf holds British nationality, he has taken British nationality which is unique as he is the only Pakistani politician to take foreign citizenship, although many have remained in exile. And look at him that even after becoming UK national, majority of Pakistanis in Karachi praise him and think of him as a good person, which in fact proves that Pakistanis have in essence become eunuchs and stupid fools.
In his rise to power, army and Gen. Zia-ul-Haq played an important role. Afterwards MQM turned into semi mafia group and in the late 1990s it fully transformed into a mafia group and it is very rare in Pakistan that a mafia group holds power in the government taking hostage of entire Sindh province specially Karachi.
Even Pakistan’s army is powerless in front of this mafia group led by Altaf as many army officers were brutally murdered in various torture cells of MQM, their bodies were even drilled though but look at our army people they now praise this traitor of Pakistan. I guess the Pakistan army has become eunuch now a days.
Altaf is associated with ordering many political murders and using torture, on civilians and opposition party members, to spread his ideology during his time in power. He is commonly blamed for the unrest Pakistan suffered during this period. He often arranges public video conference speeches in Pakistan to try and gain support for himself. He is known for his outrages and “un-leader-like” behavior. His almost comical appearances and statements during interviews have led to declining support for his party. As a person he is commonly ridiculed and has fallen out of respect with the vast majority of people of Pakistan.
Altaf Hussain also sends out regular statements and makes his views heard on international TV interviews. All this he does by spending money that his thugs collect in Karachi at gun point and with threats.
I wish that he should die a dog’s death in the street. Lets see when Allah will make him an example for other people like him.
Petition to British Government to Kick Pakistan’s No.1 Terrorist Out and Hand
This is stated with very great disappointment and displeasure to remind regarding an International Terror Master who is also the leader of fascist party MQM (now Mutahidda Qaumi Mahaz; previously Mohajir Qaumi Movement), a Pakistani fugitive who is enjoying protection in UK and you have protected and covered him under Your Own Wings, his name is Altaf Hussain.
Target Killing and Mass Murdering is the mission of Altaf and MQM at large. Keeping with his terrorist traditions and mission, Altaf Hussain master-minded and then micro-managed the slaughter of more than 40 innocent people of Karachi. Altaf Hussain is carrying out all his sadistic urges from the comforts of his office in London using his Sofa and a Telephone, according to Daily Telegraph London, May14, 2007 issue.
The man in charge of Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, was at his usual command-and-control post at the weekend from a sofa in north London.
As his fiefdom descended into brutal violence, with the deaths of at least 40 people reported amid the worst political bloodshed Pakistan has witnessed in years, Altaf Hussain directed his followers by telephone from a safe place more than 5,000 miles away. His headquarters, or “international secretariat”, is not in the Pakistani port city but housed in a red-brick office block opposite a supermarket on Edgware High Street
We therefore assert that the British government, supporting the so-called war against terror, would do well to look into its own backyard as to how one of its adopted citizens, enjoying its protection has unleashed terror in a city thousands of miles away. The UK government may obtain transcripts of Altaf Hussains telephonic conversations a week before 12 May, when the wanton killing occurred, and a week later to ascertain how deeply he was involved in the heinous crimes in Karachi.
Peace loving people in Britain and around the world want to know how you make a difference between Osama Bin Laden and Altaf Hussin. Since you are so sure that Osama has used Afghanistan and has carried out attacks against innocent civilians in NY, USA. What Altaf Hussain is doing? Its OK for him to use his base-camp in London and carry out attacks against innocent Pakistani civilians? Its OK as far he doesnt wear a Turban and keep a Muslims Style beard and does not say the name of God before killing?
Altaf Hussain has killed people like Hakim Saeed, the former governor of Sindh (Pakistan), the founder of Hamdard University and many other renowned institutions. His only crime was, he did not bow down to Altaf Hussain and rejected his philosophy of violence, killing and mass murdering. He was an Indian Migrant to Pakistan, as the parents of Altaf were.
Altaf assassinated Salah-u-Din, the chief editor of weekly Takbber. His crime was exposing the crimes of Altaf et al. He had the same ethnic background as Altaf Hussain has. They also have got the “credit” for killing a US Counselor in the port city of Karachi. These are just few examples of Altaf et als heinous crimes against opponents and political rivals besides hundred and thousands other target killing and mass murdering.
Altaf safely escaped two times form the reach of justice to UK, through the help of the notorious and ever infamous Pakistani Secret Service Agency ISI, who are the real founders of this Gang. Now Altafs criminal gang is a partner in Government with the current military dictator Parvez Musharaf. A proven criminal and Altafs right hand person is the governor of Sindh Province. They also have the local government in the city of Karachi, (many thanks to the Military). Musharf phones and takes dictation from Altaf. The question is what fears Altaf going back to Pakistan to make speeches in the public instead of using his London office telephone.
People around the world are rightly wondering that how a former Chicago Cabby driver, who lost his refuge claim in the US, successfully became a UK citizen. Why British authorities turn their eyes blind at him? How you can deny that UK is not a safe haven for Terrorists and International Criminals.
Peace-loving People throughout the world rightly consider the UK government an accomplice to Altaf Hussains crimes against innocent Pakistanis. We wonder how the British would have reacted were such a man to sit outside and trigger mayhem inside the UK? We also wonder to know how Altaf live like a King in London. Where is the money coming from? His private life is more luxurious and comfortable than any other average British citizen. Your government never got a chance to think about that?
Honourable British PM!
Take a chance and click the following web link just for reference purpose:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQM
International organizations such as the UNHCR and the United States Department of State have cited examples of MQM’s perceived involvement in terrorism”
We demand of the British government that Altaf Hussain be expelled from the United Kingdom, Freeze MQM (Altaf) bank accounts and declare MQM (Altaf) as a terrorist organization.
This is a follow-up to the story on “Hitman’s bullet widows British ‘princess,’ by Dean Nelson, in Islamabad. The problems of violence Pakistan is facing come from two sources, the radical Islamists and the Karachi based terrorist organization named MQM. This latter organization has been responsible for the carnage of May 12; against the peaceful protests organized by the Karachi Bar Council in favor of Pakistan’s Supreme Courts Chief Justice Chaudhry. According to the BBC, the violence was perpetrated by MQM, even to the extent of firing on the offices of the television channel, AAJ in Karachi. However, the leader of this organization, Mr.Altaf Hussain, a known criminal and absconder finds sanctuary and hospitality in the heart of London, from where he surrupititiously directs the violence through couriers and cell phone calls through third countries. In Pakistan, it is suspected that the “hitman,” who killed Mr. Raza, an honest and upright civil servant, and the husband of the British lady, came from the MQM. Also, Mr.Altaf Hussain goes by the name of “Osama Bin Ladin of Karachi.” Please see the dossier prepared on him by John Pike of FAS in the U.S. Now, the question arises, is it fair for Britain to ask Pakistan to extradite British citizens residing in Pakistan but are suspected of terrorism by the British Government? Is it not a case of double standards? These are some of the questions the people are asking in Pakistan about the British policy on terrorism. Can British people with their historical tradition of fairness and justice allow a terrorist to reside amongst them and at the same time direct a terrorist organization to create carnage in his country of birth? The British Press needs to expose Mr.Altaf Hussain’s nefarious background, otherwise, you may be nurturing a problem for Britain itself. Since, violence prone people can get into internecine warfare and there are enough of Mr.Hussain’s enemies in Britain, for him to start a mini war here. Why would a Pashtun in Northwestern Pakistan help Britain or the West find Bin Ladin; when the man behind the killings of Pashtuns and also Mr. Raza, the Osama of Karachi sits in the midst of London?
Kindly do not publish my detailed address for my own safety.
Muttahida Quomi Mahaz, Terrorist Group of Pakistan
(Previously known as Mohajir Quomi Movement)
The most potent threat to Pakistan’s internal security in the late Nineteen Eighties and early Nineties was posed by militia from the Mohajir community. Originally formed as the Mohajir Quomi Movement (MQM), it is now split into two factions. The faction led by the founder Altaf Hussain was renamed Muttahida Quomi Mahaz and is commonly referred to as MQM (A). A breakaway faction, created in 1992, retains the original name Mohajir Quomi Movement – with the suffix Haqiqi which means real – and is commonly referred to as MQM (H). The two factions have been responsible for several incidents of urban terrorism even as the MQM (A) participates in Pakistan’s electoral process. After a series of strong measures taken by the State in 1998, the MQM (A) has largely reoriented itself into an exclusively political outfit. In its latest display of clout in Mohajir dominated areas, it called for a boycott of local body elections held in July 2001 and ensured a low turnout in areas dominated by its cadre.
The MQM sought to portray itself, in its initial years as an organisation of Mohajirs. This ethnic term refers to refugees from India who settled in Karachi and other urban centres of Sindh province. They now constitute the largest segment in Sindh’s urban population. Largely natives of India’s Bihar and Uttar Pradesh provinces, this community maintains a distinct identity for itself. In the immediate post-partition period, the community formed one of the most influential lobbies in Pakistan having been closely associated with the movement for the country and its founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah. With the increasing power of the military over the State apparatus, the community found its pre-eminent position being increasingly usurped by the Punjabi dominated military-bureaucratic formation that effectively ruled Pakistan since Gen. Ayub’s coup in 1958.
The first assertions of a distinct ethnic identity were made by the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation” (APMSO) founded by Altaf Hussain in Karachi in 1978. Altaf Hussain went on, in 1984, to form the MQM. For two years, the outfit maintained a low profile reportedly concentrating on building its cadre base in Karachi and Hyderabad. It came on the national stage with a massive rally in Karachi on August 8. Ever since it has been a major actor in Pakistan’s politics even as it maintains an armed cadre that has repeatedly indulged in urban terrorism. In 1992, going against the civilian political executive, the army reportedly encouraged a split in the outfit helping create the MQM (H) under the leadership of Afaq Ahmed and Aamir Khan, who were earlier top members of MQM’s armed wing. To disguise itself as a broad social formation, the outfit dropped the term Mohajir from its title and renamed itself the Muttahida Quomi Mahaz (United National Front)
Violence has always accompanied the outfit’s political activities. It began with the first public meeting on August 8, 1986, which was accompanied by aerial firing, street violence and damage to public property by participants. Two months later, on October 31, rioting in Karachi and Hyderabad, another MQM (A) stronghold, left 12 persons dead. Altaf Hussain and ten other leaders of the outfit were arrested on November 2 that year which only increased the street violence in Mohajir dominated cities. On December 14, the outfit’s secretary general Dr Imran Farooq claimed that the situation can come under control only if Altaf Hussain is released. Almost on cue, violence flared up that night and the next day leaving 120 persons dead in Karachi.
Violence continued, allegedly perpetrated by MQM, despite the outfit entering into an alliance with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1988 and participating in a coalition government at the Federal level. The two parties had signed a 54 point agreement commonly known as the Karachi Accord just before the elections held in December that year. News reports suggested that most violence was between supporters of the MQM and the Jiye Sindh Movement, an organisation purpotedly fighting the cause of native Sindhis. Another rival with which the MQM frequently indulged in violent clashes was the Punjabi-Pukhtoon Ittehad (PPI), an outfit comprising of armed extremists from the Pukhtoon and Punjabi communities. Random attacks by armed activists of the warring groups on unarmed civilians were the major cause for casualties. In May 1989, the MQM walked out of the PPP led coalition in Sindh and five months later, from the federal government, accusing the PPP of failing to honour its promises outlined in the Karachi Accord.
The press to was a victim of the MQM’s terror strategies. Several newspapers, including the Dawn,Jang, identified by the outfit as non-symphathetic to the ‘movement’ were targeted for enforced boycotts.
Following reports of an imminent army crackdown on the outfit, Altaf Hussain left for UK on January 1, 1992 and has been in exile since. Despite the flight of its leader, the outfit’s terrorist arm continued to operate until 1998. Its political arm too faded into insignificance after the October 1999 coup in Pakistan.
The mid nineties in urban Sindh was marked by consistent strike calls from the MQM which included an announcement in July 1995 that weekly strikes on Fridays and Saturdays would be observed. Most MQM strikes were accompanied by violence leaving scores dead in their wake.
The outfit’s leadership, particularly Altaf Hussain, has been described by most analysts, as opportunists. The political platforms adopted by the outfit have been forwarded as evidence. After striking a deal, termed as the Karachi Accord, with Benazir Bhutto’s PPP, the outfit switched alliances and teamed up with Nawaz Sharief’s, Pakistan Muslim League (PML) in 1992. In Pakistan’s predominantly two party set-up, MQM which has time and again proved itself as the third largest political force, has swung between the two dominant parties and joined several ruling coalitions at the federal level and in Sindh. The elected local bodies in Karachi and Hyderabad have been overwhelmingly dominated by the MQM (A).
Major Incidents
2002
May 15: An Anti-terrorism court in Karachi sentences two MQM-A activists to life for killing a police personnel on July 21, 1998 in Liaquatabad.
May 2: 300 MQM-A workers are arrested from various locations in Karachi, Hyderabad and other cities throughout Sindh province.
April 26: Two top leaders of the MQM-A are killed by unidentified assailants in Karachi.
April 22: A Sindh court exonerates 11 MQM-A activists, including former Sindh Governor and two former Members of the Sindh Provincial Assembly (MPAs), of all charges in the April 24, 1995-Mir Garden case. Three persons were killed and two police personnel injured in that incident.
April 19: MQM-A chief Altaf Hussain demands a new Constitution for Pakistan.
April 13: MQM-A chief Altaf Hussain urges President Pervez Musharraf to grant ‘complete’ autonomy to smaller provinces, including Sindh.
April 9: An MQM-A activist is killed by unidentified gunmen in North Nazimabad, Karachi.
January 7: Two unidentified assailants kill an activist of the MQM-A in Karachi.
2001
December 28: An MQM-A activist is killed in Shah Faisal Colony, Karachi.
December 9: Altaf Hussain claims that missing party workers reportedly arrested by law enforcement agencies have finally been killed.
November 22: The brothers of a former MQM-A cadre, in a revenge attack kill, two MQM-A activists. They attack the MQM-A cadres after they find the bullet-riddled body of their abducted brother in Baldia Town, Karachi.
November 11: Unidentified gunmen kill a former sector ‘commander’ of the MQM-A in Jauharabad, Karachi.
October 10: MQM-A chief Altaf Hussain says his party condemns all forms of terrorism and killings of innocent people, whether it is in the USA or in any other part of the world.
October 2: An MQM-A cadre is killed in an encounter with Karachi Police.
September 28: An MQM-A activist is killed and another injured in an armed attack on Jamshed Quarters in Karachi.
September 26: Nine MQM-A activists are injured in two bomb blasts in Karachi.
September 17: MQM-A Chief Altaf Hussain, in a statement from his London headquarters, says people of Pakistan in general, and Sindh in particular, must not “get distracted on the propaganda by the so-called religious and Jihadi organisations.”
September 5: A leader and 14 activists of the MQM-A are acquitted in different cases by the courts in Karachi.
August 23: MQM-A deputy convener Shaikh Liaquat Hussain claims in Karachi that the party’s workers are being arrested and tortured.
August 22: Three MQM-A cadres are arrested in Karachi in separate cases.
June 6: MQM-A convenor Imran Farooq appeals to the Supreme Court to take suo motto action on a threat levelled by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) to assassinate MQM-A chief Altaf Hussain.
June 3: MQM-A members of the suspended Sindh Assembly oppose the Federal government’s on-going arms recovery drive.
June 1: A former MQM-A activist is killed by unidentified gunmen in Liaquatabad, Karachi
May 31: Sindh High Court acquits nine MQM-A activists in former Governor Hakim Saeed assassination case following an appeal against their conviction pronounced earlier by an Anti-Terrorism Court.
May 22: MQM-A co-ordination committee convenor Imran Farooq claims in Karachi that the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is indulging in ‘baseless propaganda’ against Altaf Hussain, and implicating him in the May 18-killing of Sunni Tehreek chief Salim Qadri.
May 8: MQM-A deputy cnvenor Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi claims in Karachi that state agencies were responsible for the May 7-Karachi bomb blast in which one person was killed and nine others injured.
March 24: Karachi anti-terrorism court acquits a former Provincial Legislator of the MQM-A and nine other party activists in a case on which a police personnel was killed on July 28, 1999 in the city.
February 28: MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmad claims in Karachi that Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider is “patronising the London-based ‘terrorist group’.
February 23: MQM-A chief Altaf Hussain offers to hold a dialogue with the Federal government.
February 20: An MQM-A leader is acquitted in two cases by two different additional district and sessions courts in Karachi.
February 17: Two MQM-A activists arrested earlier on October 9, 2000, in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, are sentenced to death by an ant-terrorism court in Karachi for anti-national activities.
January 3: Senior MQM-A activist of Ranchor Lines, Karachi, Mohammad Shoaib, is arrested.
January 2: MQM-A chief Altaf Hussain and 13 associates declared ‘absconders’ by Karachi court.
2000
December 22: An additional district and sessions court in Karachi declares MQM-A chief Altaf Hussain and three other activists absconders in a case pertaining to the killing of two persons during an MQM-A sponsored strike in Karachi in June 1995.
December 20: A former MQM-A member and his brother were killed by two armed assailants in Liaquatabad, Karachi.
December 15: Five MQM-A activists acquitted by a Karachi court in a case regarding an attack on police personnel during a shootout in Liaquatabad in 1998.
December 8: Two MQM-A activists are killed by unidentified gunmen in Karachi.
November 11: Six MQM-A activists are arrested from Sukkur for their alleged involvement in the November 6-bomb blast.
November 6: Bomb explodes at the Karachi marketing office of the Jang group of newspapers. MQM-A cadre Iqbal Macha is prime suspect for the attack.
October 29: MQM-A demands amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan.
October 25: An MQM-A activist is killed by unidentified gunmen in Karachi.
October 2: News report says 1,105 activists and supporters of MQM-A are in official custody and a committee would review all the cases. Government calls for a report from the High Commission in India on the visit of an MQM- A delegation to that country.
September 21: An MQM-A worker is killed at a Karachi playground.
July 9: An MQM-A activist in police custody, in Karachi, states that the top-leadership of the party has directed him to kill 28 fellow cadres for their suspected involvement in various crimes.
July 4: A Karachi court issues arrest warrants against an MQM-A woman leader, Nasreen Jalil, and some other activists on charges of rioting and obstructing police in performing their duties.
March 30: MQM-A convenor Imran Farooq alleges that a Pakistan Army officer had formed groups in connivance with Karachi police to kill MQM-A cadres.
February 28: Widespread violence is reported in Karachi following a strike call given by Jeay Sindh Quami Mahaz and the MQM-A outfit to protest sacking of staff from the state-run Pakistan Steel as well as for the police ill-treating party supporters.
January 17: Nine persons are killed and 25 others injured in a bomb explosion in Karachi. Police blame the MQM-A for the act and claim that 16 terrorists linked to the outfit have been arrested. MQM (A) denies the charge.
1999
November 26: Senior MQM-A leader Farooq Sattar is arrested after surrendering to the Military Intelligence.
September 9: MQM-A secretary general Imran Farooq surfaces in London after being in hiding for seven years and claims his life is in danger in Pakistan.
August 1: Seven MQM-A office-bearers, including a Member of the National Assembly, and two Members of the Sindh Provincial Assembly, resign from the “basic membership” of the party owing to “fundamental differences with MQM chief Altaf Hussain over policy matters”.
July 18: MQM-A announces international hunger strike and protests inside and outside Pakistan to protest the “extra-judicial killings” of its cadres.
January 30: Three Urdu newspapers, Jang,Amn, and Parcham, are charged with sedition for carrying an MQM-A advertisement seeking donations for “victims of police excesses” and to compensate those “killed, tortured or victimised by the police and other security agencies during their crackdown against the party”.
January 24: UK grants political asylum and residency to MQM-A chairman Altaf Hussain. Pakistan lodges protest.
1998
October 31: Following the MQM-A’s refusal to meet the Prime Minister’s deadline, Federal rule is imposed in Sindh and a massive crackdown is launched by security agencies.
October 28: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief accuses an MQM-A Member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly (MPA) and seven other activists of involvement in the murder of Hakim Saeed. Sharief sets a three-day deadline on the outfit to hand-over the assassins, failing which he threatens to call -off the alliance.
October 17: Former Sindh Governor Hakim Mohd Saeed is assassinated by alleged MQM-A terrorists.
September 20: MQM-A decides to resume support to Pakistan Muslim League at Federal level and in Sindh without joining the Ministry.
August 26: MQM-A resigns from the ruling coalition in Sindh province.
August 14: MQM-A Ministers in the Federal Cabinet resign protesting the government’s failure to protect the outfit’s activists.
August 12: 10 MQM-A activists are killed by unidentified gunmen.
June : 140 persons are killed during various instances of ethnic violence.
April 30: Sindh Chief Minister Liaquat Jatoi withdraws all cases filed against MQM-A Legislators.
April 18: MQM-A announces the continuation of the alliance with Pakistan Muslim League in Sindh.
March 21: Six persons, including MQM-H leader Imtiaz Ahmed Khan and two relatives, are killed by unidentified gunmen in Karachi. Federal government asks Sindh government to furnish details on steps being taken to counter MQM-H imposed ‘no-go’ areas.
March 19: MQM-A extends ultimatum to one month.
March 17: MQM-A serves a 48-hour ultimatum on the Sindh Chief Minister to ensure the removal of ‘no-go areas’ in Karachi––areas that are the strongholds of the MQM-H.
February 28: 100 MQM-H members are arrested in crackdown launched after the February 22- Korangi-attack.
February 22: Eight civilians are killed outside a mosque at Korangi, Karachi, in MQM factional rivalry.
February 1: Sindh High Court acquits Altaf Hussain and 18 co-accused in the case of the abduction of an Army officer.
January 10: Three persons, including a woman, are killed and five more injured in indiscriminate firing during MQM factions’ clash.
1997
October 2: Three persons are killed in factional rivalry in Karachi.
September 27: MQM-H asks the British government to deport Altaf Hussain from London.
August 14: MQM-A opposes legislation on terrorism.
July 26: MQM-A renames itself as Muttahida Qaumi Mahaz.
July 9: Three MQM-A workers are arrested on Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
July 6: Four persons are killed in MQM-A violence in Karachi.
June 18 : Government invites MQM-A for talks.
June 17: Four persons are killed in factional rivalry in Karachi. Altaf Hussain asks workers to close down all the liaison offices of the party.
June 10: 12 persons are killed in wave of violence in Karachi, allegedly perpetrated by MQM-A activists.
May 4: 70 MQM-H activists are arrested in Karachi
May 2: 500 MQM-H activists are arrested in Karachi
April 16: Two MQM-H activists are killed by MQM-A in Karachi.
April 12: Three MQM-H workers are killed and another injured in separate attacks by activistrs of the rival MQM-A in Karachi.
April 1: Sindh government announces formation of a Compensation Committee to review cases of compensation for persons and families and their legal heirs affected during the period October 1993 to November 1997.
February : MQM-A concludes an accord with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief and joins the coalition government at the Federal-level and in Sindh. In the accord, Sharief agrees to institute a judicial probe into the allegedly deaths of MQM-A supporters in police custody or encounters or attacks by terrorists; he also agrees to grant compensation to the families of the deceased.
January 20: MQM-A National Assembly candidate from Rahim Yar Khan Javed Mazari is arrested along with another cadre.
January 18: Sindh government grants parole and releases MQM-A senators Aftab Ahmed Sheikh and Nasreen Jalil.
1996
October 10: United States Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) refuses to grant asylum to three senior MQM-A leaders, including senior vice chairman Saleem Shahzad.
October 5: Over two dozen MQM activists are arrested following a series of different encounters in different places in Karachi.
August 21: Hafiz Osama Qadri, MQM-A leader and former member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly, is arrested.
June 16: Karachi police arrest MQM-A cadres Azhar Sayyan––wanted in more than 50 cases––and Naseem Pajama, wanted in 27 cases.
June 1: Two MQM-A terrorists are arrested in Karachi.
April 12: MQM-A delegation goes to Geneva for United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) session.
April 10: MQM-A cadre Nadeem Chita, carrying reward of Rs one million, is arrested from Azizabad, Karachi.
April 9: Four MQM-A cadres, allegedly involved in 13 cases of murder, six cases of abduction and several other crimes, are arrested in Multan.
April 2: Shamim Ahmed, MQM-A leader and Minister in the Sindh government announces the formation of another MQM faction.
March 5: Two abducted persons are rescued from MQM-A cadres in Karachi.
February 28: Three MQM-A workers reportedly confess of a plot to kill religious leaders with the assistance of a sectarian group.
February 1: MQM-A leader, Ajmal Dehlvi warns government that the outfit would disrupt World Cup cricket matches to be held in Pakistan.
Four MQM activists are arrested in Saudi Arabia.
January 29: MQM-A demands reconstitution of the government team conducting negotiations with the outfit.
January 17: Federal government grants Rs. 500 thousand for a proposed library being built by the MQM-A.
Rockets are fired at MQM-H headquarters in Landhi. MQM-H chief Afaq Khan accuses the rival MQM-A for this attack.
January 4: MQM team meets US Ambassador to Pakistan Johan Rolzeman.
January 3: Three civilians are killed during an MQM-organised strike in Karachi.
MQM-A lays down new conditions for talks with the Federal government.
1995
September 8: Five MQM-A activists are arrested in Karachi.
August 15: Top MQM-A activist Tariq ‘Commando’ is arrested in Karachi.
August 6: Top MQM-A activist Fahim ‘Commando’ and three of his associates are arrested in Karachi.
August 3: In retaliation to the August 2-killing of top MQM-A cadres, 24 persons, including a Sub-divisional Magistrate, are killed in Karachi.
August 2: Top MQM-A terrorist Farooq ‘Dada’ and three of his associates are killed in Karachi.
July 17: Federal government and MQM-A agree to refrain from making provocative statements.
July 11: Talks begin between the Federal government and MQM-A.
July 5, 6, 13 & 24: 10 MQM-A activists are killed and six more arrested in a series of raids on MQM-A bases in Karachi. A large cache of arms and ammunition is seized.
July: MQM-A announces weekly strikes on Friday and Saturday until its demands for more rights are met. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto responds and says MQM-A’s violence is aimed at carving out a separate Province for more than eight million Mohajirs living in Karachi and Hyderabad
June: 10 Sindhi-speaking officials are killed by alleged MQM-A activists in Karachi.
MQM-A activists attack police and civilian targets employing guns, rocket and bombs in Karachi.
June 24: A train carrying arms for SFs is looted and burnt down by MQM-A activists.
June 15: 24 persons, including 10 Sindhis, are killed in Karachi.
June 4: 10 persons are killed by MQM-A activists.
May 22: MQM-A observes Mourning Day.
May 18: 15 persons are killed in terrorist attacks in several parts of Karachi.
May 5: US Embassy announces that issuing visas from Karachi would be stopped because of the prevalence of terrorist violence in the city.
1994
November 11: Indiscriminate firing by suspected MQM-A gunmen kills eight persons, including an Air Force officer in Karachi.
September 26: Three MQM-A activists are arrested and a large cache of weapons is seized in several raids on their hideouts in Karachi.
September 17: Eight persons are killed in indiscriminate firing allegedly by MQM-A gunmen.
August 8: Altaf loyalists in Karachi allegedly kill a top-MQM-H leader.
July 13: Six persons are killed in an attack on a bus in Karachi.
June: Altaf Hussain and 19 other MQM members sentenced in absentia by a Karachi court to 27 years imprisonment for abducting and torturing an Army intelligence officer, Major Kaleem, and his four associates in June 1991.
June 28: Suspected MQM-A activists kill seven police personnel, including an officer who had arrested several MQM-A gunmen.
June 20: A court in Karachi issues non-bailable warrants against Altaf Hussain in connection with the murder of a Senator in May 1990.
June 4: MQM-A releases Charter of Demands.
March 6: Suspected MQM-A activists kill five security force (SF) personnel, including an Army Captain, in Karachi.
1993
May 1: Azim Tariq is killed allegedly by MQM-A cadres.
February 10: 13 persons are killed in a bomb attack in Karachi.
1992
November 27: MQM-A Chairman Azim Tariq comes over-ground and disowns Altaf Hussain.
July 19: Sindh Chief Minister disassociates himself from MQM-A.
June 29: MQM-A members resign their seats in the Federal and Sindh assemblies.
June: MQM dissidents led by Afaq Ahmed and Aamir Khan formally launch the Haqiqi (real) MQM, subsequently known by its sobriquet MQM (H).
June 27: MQM-A breaks away from the ruling alliance at the Federal level.
June 22: Cases are filed against 13 MQM-A leaders, including Altaf Hussain.
June 19: Army is deployed in Karachi and curfew is declared to prevent factional clashes within MQM.
May 28: Federal government launches military operation against “dacoits and terrorists” in Sindh.
May 19: The Altaf Hussain faction of MQM clashes with rebels in the party and a series of killings and abductions follow.
January 1: Altaf Hussain leaves for London on a self-imposed exile.
1991
October 1: Prominent journalist Mohammad Salahuddin’s house is bombed allegedly by MQM activists in Karachi
March 3: MQM leader Badar Iqbal is expelled from the party for financial embezzlement
February 21: Federal government postpones indefinitely the process of collecting population census.
April 30: Two Japanese students allegedly abducted by MQM activists for ransom are released after 45 days in captivity.
February : 14 persons are killed and 26 more inured in separate incidents of violence.
January 3: The Jam Sadiq-led MQM government in Sindh decides to set up four special courts.
1990
August 22: 27 persons are killed and 55 more injured in firing on MQM camps in Karachi.
July 13: 45 persons are killed in a bomb blast in Hyderabad.
June 6: President Ishaq Khan proposes all-party conference on Sindh situation. MQM refuses to participate.
May 9-10: 16 persons are killed in Karachi violence.
April 17-30: 11 persons are killed in Hyderabad violence
April 12: MQM rejects government’s offer for peace talks.
April 7: Altaf Hussain commences fast-unto-death.
March 31: Karachi University reopens.
February 6-9: 64 persons are killed during an MQM-organised anti-government demonstration in Karachi.
January 30 –February 3: 18 persons are killed in anti-government demonstrations in Hyderabad.
1989
December 12-25: 21 persons are killed in Hyderabad violence and nine others in Karachi.
October 23: MQM unilaterally pulls out of the Karachi Accord and quits the ruling coalition at the Federal level.
October 13: Two police officers are killed, even as Altaf Hussain meets President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in Karachi.
September 22: Sindh Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police says MQM is a terrorist outfit and not a political organisation.
September 17-19: Nine persons are killed and 24 others injured during riots in Hyderabad
August 19: 11 persons, including a police personnel, are killed by alleged MQM gunmen in Karachi
August 13: Seven persons are killed by suspected MQM gunmen in Karachi.
July 16-23: 10 persons are killed in violence in Hyderabad.
June 1: Three Federal Ministers meet MQM leaders in a bid to save Karachi Accord.
May 30: Talks are held between the then Punjab Chief Minister, Nawaz Sharief and Altaf Hussain for political co-operation.
May 1: Three MQM Ministers resign from the Sindh provincial government.
April 6: 10 persons are killed and 40 others wounded in incidents of firing in Hyderabad.
March 18: 10 persons are killed and 15 others injured by unidentified gunmen in Karachi.
February 23: Karachi University vice-chancellor’s office is burnt down by suspected MQM cadres.
1988
December: Benazir Bhutto is elected Prime Minister with support from the MQM. MQM joins the coalition government at the Federal level and in Sindh.
November: General Elections held in Pakistan following Gen. Zia’s death. Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) concludes a political accord with the MQM, known popularly as the Karachi Accord, to contest jointly.
October 1: Suspected MQM activists kill 90 Sindhis in separate attacks in Karachi.
August 30: MQM activists kill a Karachi University student.
July 21: Women MQM activists storm a Karachi police station and free 18 arrested persons.
July 17: Karachi Mayor Aftab Sheikh is attacked. Eight persons are killed in riots that followed.
June 18: Six persons are killed in violence in Hyderabad
April 30- May 9: 31 persons are killed in Karachi street violence.
March 1: Four persons are killed and several others injured during violence in Karachi.
February 4: Six persons are killed in violence in Karachi
January 18: Four persons are killed in clashes between MQM and PPI activists.
January 10: Five persons are killed in stabbing and other incidents of violence; several others are injured in Karachi. The Army is called in.
1987
November: MQM wins a majority of seats at the local-level elections in Karachi and Hyderabad, and emerges successful in other urban areas of Sindh.
October 31: Two persons are killed and 85 others injured in violence during an MQM-strike in Karachi. Senior police officials are injured in violence in Hyderabad.
September 29: MQM spokesperson says party regards Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Abdul Ghaffar Khan as the true representatives of Pukhtoons.
August 30: Altaf Hussain courts arrest in Karachi.
August 28: Sindh government orders arrest of August 26-rioteers. 160 persons, including leaders of the PPI, are arrested but Altaf Hussain escapes.
August 26: Nine persons are killed and 80 others injured in Karachi riots.
July 22 – August 30: 22 persons killed and 300 others injured in clashes between MQM and a rival group, Punjabi-Pukhtoon Ittehad (PPI). Besides, five police personnel are killed and 38 others injured during riots in this period.
June 21: MQM Chairman calls for boycott of Jang for its “anti-Mohajir policy”. The newspaper’s office in Hyderabad is burnt down.
May 21: One person killed in riots over the arrest of MQM workers in Karachi.
February 20-21: 16 persons injured in street violence in Karachi.
January 31: Altaf Hussain says in Liaquatabad that Mohajirs “will have to arrange for their own security”
1986
December 20: MQM Chairman Azim Ahmad Tariq demands justice for Mohajirs and advises Pakistan President Zia-ul Haq to issue arms licenses.
December 14: 50 persons killed in Karachi; The Army is called-in and curfew declared.
December 9: One person killed and 40 injured during clashes following MQM’s call for strike in Karachi.
November 21: 30 persons injured in firing in Karachi.
November 18: MQM cadres fire in the air and disrupt a cricket match at Hyderabad’s Niaz Stadium.
November 3: 10 persons killed in hand-grenade attacks and six others in street violence in Karachi.
November 2: Altaf Hussain and 10 other leaders are arrested on charges of attempt to murder and rioting. 72 other activists arrested with arms and explosives in different areas of Karachi.
October 31: 12 persons killed during riots in Karachi. Riots spread to Hyderabad where seven persons are killed.
October 25: Altaf Hussain says in Hyderabad, Sindh, that Mohajir youth should “collect arms. If our rights are not given to us, we will use every kind of force”.
August 8: MQM’s first public meeting at Karachi’s Nishtar park is marked by aerial firing, street violence and damage of public property.
1984
March 18: Mohajir Quomi Movement (MQM)is launched.
1978
Altaf Hussain founds the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi.
