LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain is currently hospitalised in London, owing to severe illness as per party officials.
Qasim Ali, Deputy Convener of the MQM Coordination Committee, provided an update indicating that doctors had advised multiple diagnostic tests, including blood work, an electrocardiogram, CT scan, X-ray, and ultrasound. “Altaf Hussain has been under significant stress due to ongoing national and international issues, legal proceedings in London, and financial hardships,” Ali explained. “Due to severe mental strain, doctors recommended blood transfusions alongside medication, and transfusions have been carried out.”
Hussain was placed in the intensive care unit at a hospital in the UK, reportedly after contracting COVID-19 in February 2021.Born on September 17, 1953, in Karachi, Hussain received his early education at a public school in Karachi’s Azizabad neighborhood, a middle-class area where he grew up. He later attended the University of Karachi, earning a degree in Pharmacy in 1979.
His political journey began during his student years at KU, when he co-founded the All-Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) with Azeem Ahmed Tariq. Established in 1978, APMSO quickly gained a large following.Under Hussain’s leadership, MQM achieved a significant victory in the 1988 elections in Karachi’s urban regions, becoming the third-largest political party nationwide.
In the early 1990s, Hussain went into exile as the government launched military operations in Karachi. Throughout his leadership, MQM faced allegations of employing violent methods to secure and maintain power. Hussain, however, argued that the state and other political entities had targeted MQM and its members since its inception. often seen as the mastermind controlling Karachi from London, Hussain drew criticism in May 2013 for a televised speech in which he allegedly demanded Karachi’s separation from Pakistan if his party’s electoral support was not accepted by the ‘establishment’. MQM later clarified that the comments were taken out of context.
The party’s decline accelerated after Hussain’s fiery speech in August 2016, where he criticized Pakistan and called the country “a cancer for the entire world.” Shortly afterward, MQM supporters attacked the ARY News office in Karachi, following the speech, authorities initiated a crackdown, sealing MQM’s Karachi headquarters and Hussain’s residence in Azizabad. Later, some party leaders in Pakistan distanced themselves from him and removed his name from the party’s constitution.
In October 2019, Hussain was charged by British authorities with “encouraging terrorism” related to his speech. He had been arrested earlier that year but was released on bail, after a three-day trial, a jury of 12 members delivered a majority verdict in February 2022, acquitting Hussain of two charges of encouraging terrorism in Rex (crown) versus Altaf Hussain. The jury found him not guilty on both counts, ruling that he did not incite terrorism under the UK Terrorism Act 2006.
