Altaf Hussain
Altaf Hussain, is a British Pakistani politician and the founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. He is a citizen of the United Kingdom and has been living there as an exile ever since Operation Clean-up began. He has been wanted by the Pakistani Anti-Terrorism Court since 2015 on suspicion of killing, targeted killing, treason, inciting violence, and hate speech. He was put on trial in the UK in January 2022 for using hate speech to incite terrorism and disturbance in Pakistan; he was found not guilty the following month.
Early life
Altaf Hussain was born in Karachi on September 17, 1953, to Nazir Hussain and Khurseed Begum. Hussain’s parents lived in their ancestral house in Nai ki Mandi, Agra, U.P., British India, prior to Pakistan’s independence. His father worked for the Indian Railways as an officer. Six brothers and four sisters make up Hussain’s family.
Following the partition of India in 1947, there was an enormous number of Muslims, primarily from the different Dominion of India states to the newly established Dominion of Pakistan. Hussain’s parents were initially hesitant to leave everything behind in Agra and migrate to Pakistan, but Hussain’s older brother eventually persuaded them to change their minds. The family settled in Karachi after immigrating to Pakistan. They received government housing in the Muhajir-only Abyssinia Lines.
Nasir Hussain, Hussain’s older brother, later worked for the government and was given a small house on Jehangir Road. The family then moved in with Nasir after leaving their government-allocated home. Later, in the 1970s, the family relocated once more to a simple home in Azizabad, which later served as the headquarters of Hussain’s political organisation, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM; originally the Muhajir Qaumi Movement).
Education and non-political career
Hussain received his primary schooling at Azizabad’s Government Comprehensive School. Later, in 1969, he enrolled in the Government Boys Secondary School to complete his matriculation. He attended National College Karachi for the first year of his intermediate pre-medical sciences study. Later, during his second year, he switched to City College Karachi.
Hussain earned a Bachelor of Science from Islamia Science College in 1974. He earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Karachi in 1979. Hussain worked for a large pharmaceutical firm while also starting his career as a trainee at the Seventh-day Adventist Hospital in Karachi after graduating.
Short-lived military service
Higher secondary students were required to enlist in the military under the National Service Cadet Scheme (NSCS), which was introduced by General Yahya Khan in 1970. According to the MQM, Altaf Hussain joined the Pakistani Army through the NSCS and was given the soldier number 2642671. He was then posted to the 57th Baloch Regiment.
Political career
The political career of Altaf Hussain is a tale of resilience and controversy. He first sought to enlist in the regular army after the Pakistan Civil War ended in 1971, but was turned down because of his Muhajir background. This experience spurred his political ambitions, and he was instrumental in the efforts of the All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation to publicise the issue of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.
Hussain was detained and imprisoned in 1979 as a result of his activism and was released in 1980. His leadership of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the party that represented the Muhajir community, rose to prominence during the peak of the ethnic unrest in Karachi and Hyderabad in the middle of the 1980s. His reputation as a charismatic leader was strengthened by his public speech in Hyderabad in 1986. He continued to gain popularity despite being arrested and facing accusations.
In 1987, he surrendered to law enforcement on the condition that arrests of MQM workers stop, and the party did well in local elections.
In the late 1980s, Hussain resisted joining the military and formed alliances with different political parties, showing his political skills. But these partnerships often broke down, causing more tension and ethnic conflict. Despite the challenges, his party became important in Pakistani politics.
Views
He has asked India for help in obtaining refugee and legal representation in the UK.
In regards to Jammu & Kashmir, he supports negotiation and is opposed to a military solution.
His party now advocates for equal rights for all, having formerly been centered on Muhajir rights.
He holds the two-nation theory in low regard and feels that the partition of India resulted in loss.
He opposes the Taliban’s influence in Karachi and demands the return of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh.
Personal life
Altaf Hussain got married to Faiza Gabol in 2001 and divorced in 2007. He has a daughter who was born in 2002.