Last Friday, July 4, another sad chapter was added to the country’s sordid history: The place was Karachi; the occasion, a select gathering of the city’s business community; the organizer, Muttahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM); chief guest, President General (Retd) Pervez Musharaf; speakers, Governor Sindh Ishart ul Ibad and City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kemal, besides President Musharraf.
What was said on the occasion by the two MQM leaders, especially the manner and the tone in which it was said, leaves little doubt about the extent to which the MQM can go in support of Musharraf. At the gathering, it wasn’t just Musharraf who came back to limelight, the MQM itself came to the forefront, as it launched perhaps the most lethal attack on the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders, with City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kemal’s repeated remarks of “shame on them.”
The MQM leadership re-endorsed the party’s unflinching support to Musharraf, with Governor Ibad even implying in a threatening tone that if any attempt was made to depose Musharraf then matters “won’t stop there.” The city Nazim directly attacked the PPP leadership, saying it should be ashamed of sitting along with the murderers of Bhutto after canvassing votes in Bhutto’s name. He said that Bhutto was hanged by Gen Zia and Nawaz Sharif was a creation of the former military dictator. So, it was a shameful act on the part of the PPP leadership to form an alliance with the killers of Bhutto.
In Musharraf’s presence, the City Nazim even attacked the father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. To those demanding his release from house arrest, his message was: they must keep in mind that “if the acts of Dr A Q Khan are exposed to the nation, the rulers of today will take him in an aeroplane and hand him over to the US.”
Syed Mustafa Kemal’s remarks leave an impression that MQM leaders have been given a green signal by the President that they do no  need to hold a dialogue or form an alliance with the PPP, and that the army was fully supportive of their writ in Karachi.
Since the elections of February 18, Musharraf has been on the defensive. Yet he has managed to retain his personal clout in Pakistan’s power corridors largely due to Pakistan People’s Party-led government’s inability to take bold political decisions, particularly on the issue of restoring the country’s higher judiciary.
Despite this, the Musharraf’s political future has been quite uncertain, amid consistent calls for his “honourable” or “safe” exit from politics and the country by leading politicians like Nawaz Sharif, leaders of the lawyers’ movement, civil society figures and opinion leaders in the country’s vibrant media. In recent days, even Dr A Q Khan has publicly castigated Musharraf for his role in the nuclear proliferation scandal in which the father of Pakistan’s nuclear proramme was alone implicated and pardoned by the state.
In retrospect, by organizing a business community’s gathering in Karachi, the financial nerve centre of Pakistan, which was meant to show solidarity with Musharaf, the MQM has clearly attempted to rescue Musharraf, whose personal standing in domestic public opinion has over time eroded to the lowest level. The gathering itself was not truly representative of Karachi’s business community, and no one from the city’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries attended it. Only those whose businesses are located in the MQM strongholds, and who cannot afford to annoy the ethnically-rooted organization, were present on the occasion.
Prior to the assumption of power by the PPP-led regime in March, during over eight years of Musharaf-led government, the MQM retained total control over Karachi and monopolized the governance of Sindh. It had its own Governor, all of the key ministries of the provincial government, the entire local bodies’ setup, including that of City Nazim, and even recruited its own community police from amongst the organization’s diehard activists.
As for the support MQM received from General Musharraf in the Centre, when its militants engaged in a killing spree on May 12 last year, which claimed the lives of over 40 people, General Musharraf termed it a “show of people’s power.” This was the extent and the depth of linkage between the Musharraf-led Establishment and the MQM-led power machinery in Karachi and Sindh.
It was, therefore, quite understandable that just as Musharraf found himself in an utterly frustrating situation after the February 18 elections, so did the MQM, his partner in Karachi and Sindh, in the aftermath of these polls, which brought the PPP, PML-N, ANP and their allies into power.
No surprise that MQM chief Altaf Hussain, in a telephonic address soon after the polls to MQM supporters in Karachi, had asked them to prepare themselves for trying times (implying as if a war is approaching). Such a frustrating call by the MQM leader was understandable at the time, as the benefits the organization acquired from the Musharraf era were far beyond political or economic: throughout this time, its militant wing allegedly attempted to physically eliminate all of the organization’s perceived enemies; be they the leaders of Sunni Tehrik, or members of the lawyers community, or the supporters of MQM Haqiqi.   
The connection between Musharraf and MQM has not been merely one between a dictator and a supportive politico-militant organization. Both share a common Muhajir identity. That MQM has changed its nomenclature from Muhajir to Muttahida does nothing to change the ground reality of it being a Muhajir outfit. And the way Musharraf allied so closely with MQM during his eight-year rule prior to the last elections leaves little doubt about the ethnic basis of their relationship.
MQM fears after the February 18 polls were, therefore, quite understandable. However, the way political situation in the country has evolved since the formation of the PPP-led government in the centre and Sindh province, the MQM seems to have got a lease of life once again. Soon after the formation of the government in March, the coalition partners started dilly-dallying on the issue of restoration of the deposed judges.
The majority party—the PPP—started weighing different options regarding a possible break up of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from the government. The PPP got the MQM ready as partner in government at the provincial level and as a stand by option at the federal government.
The incident of April 9 seemingly jolted the Pakistan People’s Party government, after which the PPP decided to include MQM in the government. In spite of the inclusion of the MQM in the PPP-led Sindh government, the PPP Sindh leadership was not in favour of this compromise. As per the orders of Asif Ali Zardari, MQM was made a part of the Sindh cabinet.
However, in Karachi that is vital to the Sindh rather the whole country, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal started to raise issues with the government of Sindh. His dispute with the Provincial Minister for Local Bodies Agha Siraj Durrani on issues related to Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the Karachi Building Control Authority got serious. Every step taken by the provincial government that in any way was against the interests of MQM was stopped by the PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. This lead the MQM making greater demands from the provincial government and started to take things somewhat for granted.
By making an alliance with MQM in Sindh, the PPP has gained nothing except eroding its populist base in the province. For its part, within weeks, if not months, of the PPP’s marriage of convenience with the MQM, the latter has shown its true colours.  As situation stands today, on the one hand, we have the winner of the February 18 polls, fast losing political grounds because of its indecisiveness on the principal political issue of the restoration of judiciary; on the other, we have the Musharaf-MQM combine regaining strength through mutually-supportive bids such as the Friday gathering of MQM-sponsored business community in Karachi.
In the meantime, sitting in London, MQM leader is attempting to capitalize upon international community’s sensitivities concerning the threat of Talibanization in the country. In recent statements, the message he seems to convey is that somehow Karachi, the country’s financial capital, is facing this danger. It may be his latest ploy to settle scores with the city’s Pashtun community in the guise of fighting pro-Taliban forces—an agenda that serves MQM interests in urban Sindh and Musharaf’s ambition to rule Pakistan for another five years controversial term as President.