Fear & favour
He stands accused of inciting multiple murders in his home country, so how has Altaf Hussain, leader of Pakistan's controversial MQM party, been allowed to operate with apparent diplomatic impunity in London for more than two decades, asks Owen Bennett-Jones
Pakistan's most vibrant, vivacious and popular 24-hour news channel, Geo TV, generally has little difficulty recruiting staff. Its headquarters are in Karachi, Pakistan's so-called "city of dreams" - a massive, sprawling conurbation of 20 million residents all seeking a better life. But yet there was one vacancy recently that Geo TV could not fill. The channel wanted a lookalike for its popular satirical show, in which actors play the parts of the country's leading politicians. It was a job offering instant stardom and good money. And not a single person in Karachi was willing to do it.
The man Geo TV sought to satirise was Altaf Hussain, leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). And the reason no one applied was the fear that if Hussain were unamused by the performance, the actor playing him would be murdered.
Anxiety about the MQM is not restricted to Pakistan. One member of Britain's House of Lords who has been openly critical of the movement, recently said: "If I went to Karachi now I would be killed."
Another peer has similar worries: "This is one issue I don't ask questions on. I have my child to worry about."
The man who has people looking over their shoulders does not even live in Karachi. For more than 20 years, Hussain has operated from the north London suburb of Edgware, beyond the reach of Pakistani prosecutors. He is almost completely unknown in his adopted country: his four-million-plus devoted supporters live thousands of miles away.
It's difficult to know how many murder cases have been registered against Hussain, but perhaps the most authoritative number was released in 2009 when the then president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, implemented his National Reconciliation Ordinance, granting most of the country's senior politicians accused of crimes an amnesty. One of the biggest beneficiaries was Hussain, against whom 72 cases were dropped, including 31 allegations of murder. The MQM rejects all the murder charges lodged against Hussain.
When Pakistan was created, in 1947, it had a population of 70 million. Besides the Bengalis in East Pakistan (who split away to form Bangladesh in 1971) there were four main indigenous groups: the Sindhis, the Baloch, the Pashtuns and the Punjabis. Partition brought a new element: Muslims who had fled Hindu-majority India. They were called the Mohajirs and most settled in Karachi, which was then the capital of Pakistan. This is the group represented by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement or, as it's now named, the Muttahida (United) Qaumi Movement.