HYDERABAD: The pro-Altaf segment of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Hyder­abad chapter met at the residence of a councillor, Zafar Rajput, here on Wednesday evening and senior party activists claimed that around 1,500 office-bearers of various sectors and workers attended it.

Three sessions were held and party workers and sector office-bearers attended them in groups, according to Momin Khan, the pro-Altaf coordination committee member who chaired the meeting.

Most representatives of the sectors were present at the meeting where workers raised pro-Altaf slogans and renewed their unflinching support for the MQM-London, said Mr Momin.

“Except for Siraj Rajput, the zonal organiser in the party structure, a fair number of zonal committee members also attended the meeting. Mr Rajput is ill,” said a zonal committee member who didn’t attend any session.

Zafar Rajput is a member of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) and was one of candidates who had also filed their nomination forms for the slot of mayor.

It was the first organised meeting of the pro-Altaf MQM, being controlled by the party’s London set up, after their convener Dr Nadeen Nusrat announced dissolution of all organisational bodies. Dr Farooq Sattar, who proclaimed himself as the convener of the “mainstream” MQM-Pakistan, has kept all these set-ups intact.

“Out of Hyderabad’s 12 sectors, 10 sectors’ representatives and zonal committee members including Javed Khan, Abid Ghori, Faheem Baig, Majid, Amir Iqbal Khanzada and Zulfikar Khanzada were there at the meeting,” claimed an Altaf loyalist.

Speaking to Dawn, Momin Khan said that the meeting was aimed at politically engaging activists again in the wake of the Aug 22 developments.

“We want immediate opening of our zonal office. At present, we don’t have a record of our workers. In case any of them is found involved in any unlawful activity, we will not be responsible for that because we are deprived of the entire party mechanism,” he said. He said that the party would take legal course to get its zonal office unsealed. “When all political parties are working, why we are facing this situation,” he asked.

There are reports that an exclusive session of the elected HMC members is to be held soon with Mr Khan being in the chair. The session would probably be held at the same place, Mr Rajput’s residence, in the Tilak Incline area.

Insiders said that some diehard party workers in their meeting with MQM-Pakistan leaders Dr Khalild Maqbool Siddiqui, Shabbir Kaimkhani and Abdul Haseeb, plainly told them that they stood with Altaf Hussain.

Zafar Rajput, reportedly having blessings of Mr Hussain, was a potential candidate for the slot of mayor but strong lobbying within the party’s London set-up led to the finalisation of the name of Tayyab Hussain, who eventually became the mayor, presumably because of his strong family links with Dr Nadeem Nusrat.

Mayor Tayyab Hussain and deputy mayor Sohail Mashhadi stayed away from the Wednesday meeting.

“I am neither with the UK no the PIB,” said another Altaf loyalist who is part of the zonal committee that had been functional until recently. “I am with Altaf Hussain,” he said, adding that there were no two opinions as far as Mr Hussain’s leadership is concerned.

It was also learnt that Siraj Rajput had made it clear to above-mentioned MQM-Pakistan delegation that he would prefer sitting at home instead of going with anything that would go against Altaf Hussain. “Karachi may be with Dr Sattar-led MQM but the case of Hyderabad [MQM] is different,” said another activist.

Party insiders also claimed that some MPAs from Hyderabad had already sent their resignations to the London set-up but were not disclosing it. A well-informed MQM activist, however, dismissed his colleague’s claim about the resignations but said: “Yes, we did tell the MQM-Pakistan delegation that they need to understand party-related political scenario of Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah which is different from Karachi”.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2016