Pathetic show of Pakistan patriotism, Islamism at MQM tribute to Prof Zafar Arif

I very well remember the evening when the door bell rang of my rented home and as soon as I opened the gate, the two youths barged in, one of them holding a revolver-- sector in-charge of the MQM. the other guy was the one from whom I had purchased a computer on installments, was good on payment and was at the time living with my ex-wife, grand daughter of Shaheed Allah Bakhsh Soomro-- had Soomro not been assassinated in 1943 the nonsense named Pakistan would not have been created. It was shocking since there was no reason for such an armed banditry.

So I immediately called the rich mohajir businessman who had helped with the deal and thankfully at the same time a cousin and my secret lover arrived. The mohajir businessman seemed to have told the MQM thugs they were messing with the wrong guy. So thankfully the armed MQM sector incharge left without harming me or taking back my desk top computer.

The experience was quite shocking and was in fact one of the main reasons that I left Pakistan. As a member of any ex-rated family, I was used to living in the past. and thought none can harm the grandson of a man who was the most powerful guy in Karachi just six decades back. My grandfather was the Amirul Qaum, leader of the Baloch nation, in Karachi in 1930s when the Baloch controlled the street power there. By the way, Karachi was Paris of the East and one of the cleanest cities in the world at the time. Karachi also had a Jewish council member before the Muslims had arrived from India in millions.

But my nephew Mir Owais Bangluzai was not that lucky. He was shot dead in front of his gate in Garden East for opposing the MQM bhatta khori or extortion in his neighborhood. Likewise a community activist Nisar Baloch was shot dead allegedly by the MQM goons.as he was defending open space for future generations.

On May 12, 2007 former dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf allegedly used MQM goons to launch mayhem in Karachi for 24 hours. In one incident in 2015 a factory was lit up as the owner allegedly refused to pay extortion money, killing 260 people. All fingers pointed to the MQM in that case too. If you go on recalling the horrors of the MQM against the common people from different ethnic background, and even mohajirs themselves, it may be worse than a nightmare.

Much before that I very well remember the interesting argument I had with Sindh intellectual Sadiq Burdi at a canteen outside the Sindh Medical College. The zia government had decided to promote Altaf Husain and so Mahmoud A. Haroun, who was his henchman and who we used to call uncle Mahmoud as he had fooled my uncles to support him in his elections from the Baloch constituency of Lyari, published his article in The Herald. Burdi had argued that Altaf Husain was a liberal alternative to the Jama'at Islami and Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan who were quite popular among mohajir pockets. Just a year or two later the Pucca Qilla incident happened and the MQM goons pumped bullets into the butts of Burdi, who miraculously survived the gun attack. I did not visit Burdi in hospital as his predicament would have made me laugh.

I also remember in 1989 when on Eid day I had gone to meet the late defense minister Mahmoud A. Haroun and he said he was very happy that I was working for DAWN otherwise the Biharis would taken over the newspaper. However, just a month or two after that his eldest brother Yusuf A. haroun had called the DAWN newsroom and I picked up the phone. though DAWN never used to interfere in editorial affairs that evening Yusuf A. Haroun called and said a news item about MQM should be taken in a single column above the fold. That was the day I decided to quit DAWN

I am writing all this as even after all these events I had gone to attend a meeting to pay tributes to Professor Dr Zafar Arif, who was killed by the ISI. Whatever MQM has done pales in comparison to the evils of ISI. So as a political being when it comes to comparing MQM with ISI i will definitely side with MQM as the lesser evil. Had slain professor Dr Zafar Arif not been mistreated by the Pakistan People's Party, he might not have joined a party with such dubious background. But Saturday he must have been highly unhappy in his grave as speakers at the memorial for him Saturday appeared to be quite soft on the army and ISI, and only one of them directly blamed the ISI for the tragedy that has fallen on the "mohajirs," whose better and natural name is Hindustanis.

"We don't have any connection with any organization that is against Pakistan," said Matloob Husain, the second man of the MQM in USA.

Nadeem Nusrat, a senior leader of the party who parted ways with MQM chief Altaf Husain, told this correspondent earlier in the day Husain believes the establishment would give him space in the country's politics one more time.

Incredibly one senior leader Sabihul Islam appeared jealous over the massive protests following the death of social media celebrity Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi and compared it to lack of reaction on the killing of Prof Zafar Arif. As this writer knew the intellect of Prof Arif , who was confronting Ziaul Haq even when Altaf Husain was dancing to the tunes of the general, the assassinated professor must be churning in his grave over such a comparison.

The Hindustani Muslims, who have adopted the name mohajir, fought with their peaceful Hindu neighbors and then came to Pakistan in search of greener pastures, but were never accepted as true Pakistanis facing epithets as makkar, matarwa, panahgeer and what not. They always served as "B" team of the Pakistan army and were the main protagonists of the baseless ideology of Pakistan.

Under the tutelage of army dictator Gen Ziaul Haq the MQM had a meteoric rise in Karachi politics as the general wanted to use them against Sindhis. They fought pitched battles with almost everyone, beginning from Pashtuns, Punjabis, Sindhis and even Baloch just like they fought with Hindus in 1947.

However, in 1992 they faced a major crackdown and claim 20,000 of their folks were killed. Now the party has been split into multiple factions, both inside Pakistan and outside, under its delusional leader Altaf Husain.

Mohajirs were the ones whose ancestors were responsible for division of Mother India by supporting TB-ridden Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who they to this day call Bani-i-Pakistan.

The event Saturday began with Quranic verses and ended with Quranic verses, even though Professor Arif was a well-known atheist.