October 01 , 2010

Intriguing Murder of Dr. Imran Farooq

 

The assassination of Dr. Imran Farooq, 50, a founding father of MQM, in broad daylight on the afternoon of Thursday, September 16, near his apartment located in a quiet suburban neighborhood of Edgeware, northern London, raises a number of queries about the motive/objective of the heinous crime. Till the time of writing (Sept 24) no convincing motive was indicated by any quarter. Matter of fact, his wife has only a few hours back made a fervent public appeal for any information that may shed some light on the crime.

That he was stabbed to death by the assailant(s) lying in wait for him, that nothing was missing, rules out the possibility of it being a case of robbery or of mugging. An eyewitness reported that the assailant was an Asian. The Scotland Yard’s Counter-terrorism Command Unit is said to be now looking for clues to the murder. Services of the Unit are secured only when an investigation of a political crime is to be conducted. Dr. Farooq’s status as the Convener of the MQM and his long track record as a top leader of the party, its brain and ideologue, further confirm the political nature of the murder. The assassination followed the typical mafia style of hired killers.

A physician by training, a poet, philosopher by inclination, a founding member and forefront organizer of a student body which evolved into MQM, its leader in hiding for seven long years, Dr. Farooq had been distanced from the mainstream of the party two years back and had been leading the life of a recluse and eking out a modest living working at a pharmacy in his neighborhood. He enjoyed the reputation of being an honest person and therefore not a member of the wealthy band of MQM and other party leaders, a decent family man - not a gangster, a straight shooter who was consequently suspended from the party four times. Yet, as Altaf Hussain has himself pointed out, Farooq’s dedication to the ideology and agenda of MQM and his loyalty to its leader have always been beyond question.

No wonder, his gruesome murder sparked riots in Karachi – a powder-keg city of 18 million, one-tenth of the country’s population.

Conspiracy theories abound about his murder because he was no longer active in the MQM politics, had ostensibly given no cause for umbrage to any senior member of the party, was devoted to his wife and two small sons, kept his ambition – if any - under the lid and appeared content with the low-paid job at a pharmacy.

The manner in which he was killed resembles mafia style punishment for the betrayal of the leader. He was thrown out of the party twice and suspended four times.

MQM’s history is splattered with blood. Its turf wars with the PPP and the ANP and others, apart from the reports about its torture cells, led to the government’s Operation Clean Up, which lasted from 1992 to 1998, and claimed at least 8,000 lives. Numerous criminal charges, including murders, were registered against the MQM leaders.

Altaf Hussain secured political asylum in London, and Imran Farooq went underground in Karachi and handled the affairs of the party on his behalf. He was declared an absconder by the government but he continued to successfully dodge the police and Intelligence authorities for seven years. He surfaced in London in 1999 when he claimed, and was granted, political asylum. He remained the right hand man of Altaf Hussain, barring the periods that he was suspended from the party. He remained throughout the period a staunch admirer of the party chief. He gave vent to his intense admiration in poetic compositions. His personal loyalty to Altaf was seldom doubted. No wonder Altaf went hysterical crying for his devoted protégé. That does not, however, remove him from the list of suspects till investigations point in some other direction.

A section of the British media has viewed the murder as an extension of the gang wars of Karachi to London. For years now the MQM and the Pathan settlers (mostly of Awami National Party -ANP) have remained locked in turf wars. Of late, Karachi has also become a safe haven for Taliban and Al Qaeda factions. Then, there are some religious parties opposed to the secular policies of MQM. The Taliban had even issued an edict (Fatwa) against the MQM for its opposition to Islamic extremism. More than four million Pathans live in Karachi and the MQM fears their rising influence.

The volatility of Karachi may be gauged from the fact that last month some 80 persons were killed in three days of violence after MQM parliamentarian, Raza Haider, was assassinated there.

Any of the factions that are engaged in revenge killings in the city could be behind Imran Farooq’s assassination.

A new and more potent faction joined the anti-MQM lineup following the call of Altaf Hussain for a Pakistani version of the French Revolution to sweep away from the country land holdings of the feudal lords and their firm grip over political positions and power. He has earned the wrath of the ruling elites and land barons led by President Zardari. To add to the bitterness of their cup, the MQM chief has invited the country’s powerful army to take over the reins of the government and do away with all formulations of feudalism and corruption.

His call was vastly flawed, particularly as no revolution has ever been imposed from the top. To be successful, it has to move up from the grassroots and become a matter of conviction for the people at large. The media, the TV channels in particular, kept debating his move and criticizing his call to the army but rarely arguing against the evils of the domination of feudalism over the political structure. That may have sent jitters in the feudal elite who could have, understandably, elected to nip the idea in the bud.

Imran Farooq was a soft target, as he had no guards to protect his life. At the same time, he was a close compatriot of the MQM chief. His murder was probably calculated to send an unambiguous message to the chief. No wonder then that he told a condolence meeting in Karachi on September 24:”Now the enemies of the movement are after my life, but I want to tell them that I am not afraid of anyone, whether it is a superpower like the United States or its NATO allies or their Pakistani agents.”

Mr. Altaf Hussain, unlike Dr. Imran Farooq, is a hard target as he is well protected by a professional private security agency. That makes the task of an assassin a little more difficult but not impossible. At this stage, it would be hazardous and unwise to speculate about the motive of the killer, as the case is being probed by the Scotland Yard and its anti-terrorism squad.

What one would not hesitate in speculating about is that Karachi would turn into a vast killing field, once the current probe is complete and the assassins are found to be instruments of a politically motivated conspiracy. The tide of death and destruction that would ensue could be stemmed by the armed forces. That would fulfill only a part of Altaf Hussein’s daydream. His call for a revolution will go unheeded as the army stands for the defense of the status quo and happens to be a major beneficiary of the current lay of power.

(arifhussaini@hotmail.com)