KARACHI, Pakistan
A charismatic figure or a harbinger of violence? Altaf Hussein, the Pakistani politician arrested in London on suspicion of money laundering on Monday, is a controversial figure in his home country. He is praised by many for uniting Pakistan's Urdu-speaking community in a struggle for their rights, while others say he uses violence and threats to dominate his political rivals.
Hussein started his political life as a student leader in Karachi University in 1979, campaigning for the Urdu-speaking community known as Mohajirs (immigrants) who had arrived after the partition of India in 1947. An attempt on his life prompted him to seek asylum in the United Kingdom in 1992, months before a military operation was launched against criminal elements of his Muttehida Quami Movement (MQM).
Despite the crackdown and resultant restrictions on the party, it has performed well in elections with the loss of key Karachi constituencies in 2002 the only blip. The party dubs itself the true representative of the middle class and has been sharing power with almost all civilian and military governments since 1988 but the provision of government jobs to thousands of people is the party's real strength.
Whether during elections, public meetings or violent protests to shut down Karachi, this force of supporters -- whose existence is considered an open secret -- is always available. They draw government salaries but rarely attend to their duties, remaining alert at party offices to ensure their availability.
His personality is often focused on: some describe him as fickle, unforgiving, flamboyant and attention-seeking. He frequently rotates his deputies giving none a chance to gain enough status to become a challenger. Few of his old-time colleagues are alive, which some suggest is no coincidence.
Most recently Imran Farooq, the party's former Secretary-General, was stabbed to death in London two years ago. London's Metropolitan Police last week released pictures of two suspects involved in Farooq's murder; they had fled the city soon afterwards but are now said to be in the custody of Pakistani agencies. Pakistani media have said both are MQM workers - though the party denied the link.
Apart from the alleged money laundering, Hussein faces a variety of investigations. One is Farooq's murder but he is also accused of using incendiary language in a post-election speech in Mary 2013. Responding to his opponents' protests against alleged vote-rigging in Karachi, he said: "If I allow my companions, they will riddle your chest." The U.K. government took strong notice of his speech, after human rights groups lambasted the British government for allowing hate speech on its soil.
Hussein's residence in London has long been criticized, and his arrest was welcomed by British MP George Galloway on social media. "This is one of the happiest days of my life," he said. "I take my hat off to the Metropolitan Police and denounce the British political class who remained silent and complicit with the murder mayhem crime and extortion organised from London by the Godfather of Edgware and Karachi."
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