Recent speeches of Altaf Hussain, the founder leader of MQM have raised number of questions about his mental health, trustworthiness and sanity. He sounds ill, his speeches are are not interlinked and it sounds as he has no control over his words while delivering his long telephonic addresses.
Altaf Hussain also seems unsatisfied from the performance of his "Rabita Committee" members and has alleged them for involvement in illegal land occupation (land mafia) and Bhatta collection. He has a number of times dissolved Rabita Committee and has also announced to retire as the leader of MQM.
There is no doubt that Altaf Hussain has used Mohajir card very effectively and through this tactics he has vast following in urban areas of Sindh, specially in Karachi and Hyderabad. Majority of migrants from India who got settled in these cities of Sindh have got together under the flag of MQM and have supported Altaf Hussain for his political thoughts. In the recent times, however, a large number of these people are not satisfied by the speeches and acts of Altaf Hussain. They may not express their feelings openly in public fearing the consequences but in private discussions, there is a lot of discontentment.
Based on above facts and the ailing physical health of Altaf Hussain, it is just time that MQM must be guided for alternative leadership in the life of Altaf Hussain. This will help MQM stay united under a central leadership and Altaf Hussain can mentor the next leader personally. No one is eternal and Altaf Hussain is also subject to fading away sooner or later. It is in the best interest of MQM that they should be given a new leader by Altaf Hussain himself before its too late and MQM breaks into many groups under different leaders and the whole scenario of politics in Karachi changes. It is of more importance as other political forces like PTI, JI, PPP and ANP are causing serious threats to the monopoly of MQM.
Emotional attachment of Mohajirs with Altaf Hussain is natural but it is about time that they must understand the ground realities and give someone else a chance to keep them united on one platform. It is a situation similar to South Africa where Nelson Mandela provided alternate leadership to his nation in his life and left no vacuum at the political front.
