Altaf Hussain’s OCD

The man who runs Karachi from London. (Photo:
Tribune.com.pk)

Altaf Hussain seems to have lost his marbles. His inane demands have left many normal, rational and sane people scratching their heads. Of course people other than the MQM workers hardly take him seriously (except when they’ve got MQM licensed guns to their heads) but that hasn’t quite been a stumbling block for him. He has stated in his arrogant, brash and frankly comical manner that he will save the country; that he will save the people; that he will change the destiny of Pakistan. Just one question though, when will he save him from himself?

It all started long ago when Altaf Hussain fled Pakistan and became a citizen of the United Kingdom (bless that country for being a mini, posh, upscale version of Pakistan). Since then, he hasn’t dared to show his face in Pakistani public again and the best we get to see of him – no wait. We only get to hear him over the telephone’s loud speaker – is when he decides that the people of Pakistan (MQM members) are starting to forget him. So he puts on his nutjob accent and addresses the people as if they give a rat’s ass about his views.

Of late Altaf Hussain seems to have developed an OCD (obsessive, compulsive disorder) condition that forces him to visualise himself being assassinated at the hands of the CIA or the ISI. Well God help us all. Then apparently, to please the masters that be in Pakistan, he claims that martial law is the only way out of the quagmire that we find ourselves in. Well lucky for him he’s not a Pakistani citizen, otherwise some overzealous lawyer would have filed a high treason case against him. Come to think of it though, I doubt that would have happened given MQM’s legendary intolerance for everything to do with its British leader.

Not only is Altaf Hussain’s demand for martial law insane, it is also oblivious of ground realities. I doubt the people of Pakistan will allow another dictator to steer the ocean liner called Pakistan. The most concession that they will allow is a midterm election, and frankly the MQM’s chances of winning any seats out of Karachi and Hyderabad look slim. Of course that hasn’t stopped the MQM godfather from procrastinating and berating the current PPP government. Ironically, he and his stooges are allies of the battered and bruised PPP government. Surprising really.

MQM appeared to be a progressive party which was genuinely interested in representing the masses’ views when Musharraf was in power and it had a free reign of Karachi. The transformation of Karachi in itself was a remarkable achievement. But ever since Altaf Hussain got that OCD condition, he has started to live more in a fantasy rather than taking decisions based on the prevalent realities. His call for revolution was, well, unorthodox given the circumstances. But what really made the call for revolution sound ludicrous was his appeal to the army and the judiciary to help Pakistan and its people by hijacking the country. Apparently, the Pakistani constitution means little more than pieces of paper sewn together.

The change that Altaf Hussain desires for the Pakistani nation should come from the people of Pakistan, not from the army or the judiciary which are in fact subservient to the people of Pakistan. Altaf Hussain should realize that the biggest asset in Pakistan is the Pakistani nation, not the army which he implores to take over the government or the judiciary which he wants to support the extra constitutional steps taken by the army. Maybe then the ‘revolution’ he keeps chugging on about will actually materialise.