WOW… I was quite surprised. The MQM have always instilled fear in most people’s hearts because of their terror tactics used in the dark years of Karachi’s history. Those of you who lived in Karachi in 1995 will probably remember that era as one that we hope to never ever see again. Was a time when it was never guaranteed that when you left your home…that you would come back again. I am NOT exaggerating. Violent times… during the tenure of BB interestingly enough.
Today we had Dr. Farooq Sattar as our guest and I wasn’t sure what to expect. But the person we met today was a far cry from the murderous reputation the party carries. Don’t get me wrong….. these guys know how to get rough if the need arises. Having said that they have been working hard at trying to make themselves a national party as opposed to a provincial one representing just one section of society. I was impressed with how he did answer some of our direct questions. We asked him would the MQM be willing to reinstate the judiciary if they were voted in the next parliament. He went on record to say YES… and that was a point the party disagreed with the President. We asked him about education and the reforms they planned…. again he came back with an answer that showed obviously these are issues that the party have been discussing and have solid plans to implement them. Now its our job , as the civil society that with each of our politicians…note the promises they make and when they come into parliament THEN mobilize ourselves into ensuring they follow through on their words… I also asked him would the MQM be willing to take on the military and ensure that army does not interfere in the politics of the country again… Again he said yes…. but all the political parties need to be in agreement. Trouble arises when the politicians themselves call on the millitary to benefit themselves…. again THIS is where the civil society really needs to be watchful and not allow our politicians to do this to us anymore. WE are responsible for allowing the politicians to bring Pakistan to where it is today and now is the time to get ready for serious accountability actions. There is a great prayer that I would like to share with you with regards to the nation : Lord give us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Ayeshah Alam's Weblog 
December 5, 2007 at 7:50 pm
AYESHA U ARE A WONDERFUL AND A VERY FOGIVING PERSON TO EVEN CALL A GANGSTER LIKE FAROOQ SATTAR ON YOUR SHOW.IF YOU HAVE SUCH AN OPEN DOOR POLICY ON YOUR SHOW THAN PLS CALL ALL THE MURDERERS,RAPIST,WOMAN ABUSERS IN PAKISTAN AND ASK THEM Y THEY DID IT.I M SURE THEY WILL BE VERY SORRY FOR WHAT HAPPENED AND ASK FOR FORGIVENESS AND PROMISE U THAT THEY WILL CHANGE THEIR WAYS.BUT DOES THAT REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE.WATS DONE IS DONE AND THATS Y WE SHOULD THINk BEFORE MAKING A MOVE.JUST ASK FAROOQ IF HE CAN BRING BACK ALL THE SONS,THE FATHERS THAT GOT MURDERED IN THOSE VIOLENT YEARS.BUT NO, WE WILL NEVER ASK THEM THESE QUESTIONS AND Y SHOULD WE, WHO THE HELL WANTS TO GET KILLED.AND WHAT THE HELL IS FAROOQ TALKIN ABOUT WHEN HE SAID THAT MQM IS WILLING TO TAKE ON THE MILITARY.THEY ARE A CREATION OF THE ESTABLISHMENT.AND IT WAS REALLY NICE TO HEAR THE WORD CIVILIZED COMIN FROM A PERSON WHO SHOOTS PPL FOR A LIVING.
December 5, 2007 at 9:17 pm
i hear you Murtaza… it was as i said … strange sitting opposite someone that one doesnt know if one offends… will one be able to return home safe… but this is where we are today..fact of the matter is they are a political force to be reckoned with ..whether we like it or not… and my personal philosophy is you can either be agitational and have everyone’s backs up against the wall….or try to build everyone into the arena… everyone learn what it means to respect and tolerate, and hopefully things will change… I am an idealist i know… it is much easier to hate and point a finger…but it solves nothing…. we talk about let the people choose? people chose them…voted them in… there you have it… you gotta work with them and make it work so it benefits the country somehow..
December 5, 2007 at 10:21 pm
I watched the show. Dr. farooq had one hell of an holier than thou attitude when he was talking about other parties. Its amazing, the guy talked pejoritively about the BB-Mush deal and then called MQM an ally of Musharaff, all inside 15 mins.Anyway I don’t think it really matters what he said ‘on record’. Its nothing new, we should be used to such lip service by now.:D
December 5, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Hi …no no… please don’t get used to lip service…. this time when these guys come into parliament…and they claim to want democracy and want change…. this time it is our responsibility to hold them accountable… to make them stand true to their words … finally make the politicians understand they are there because they have a duty to perform…
December 5, 2007 at 10:39 pm
SO THEN WAT FREEDOM ARE U TALKING ABOUT MY FRIEND IF U ARE STILL AFRAID OF EXPRESSING YOURSELF.I THINK THE ONLY GOOD THING THAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST 8 YEARS UNDER MUSHI WAS PRESS BUT YOUR LAST STATEMENT HAS CONFUSED ME MY FRIEND AS U ARE A VERY IMPORTANT MEMBER OF THIS SO CALLED FREE PRESS WHICH CLAIMS THAT THEY ARE NOT AFRAID OF TELLING U THE TRUTH.AYESHA YAR IF PRESS IS ALL ABOUT MASKA BAZI AND WELCOMIN CRIMINALS WITH OPEN ARMS THEN Y DID I EVER BECAME A DENTIST.I KNOW THE MONEY IS GOOD BUT IF U CAN MAKE MONEY WITH FAME BY MAKIN PPL HAPPY,YES I WANNA DO THAT.AYESHA SOMETIMES ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A WOMAN LIKE YOU WHO IS ALL ABOUT FREEDOM,EQUALITY AND PPL RIGHT BELIEVE IN THE MUSHI SYSTEM.ARE ALL THE CORRUPTION AND CRIME LAWS OF PAKISTAN MADE FOR BB AND NS.WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS,DO THEY HAVE A FREE HAND B/C THEY DANCE FOR THE GENERAL SORRY THE POOR CHAP LOST THAT CREDIT.ITS X GENERAL NOW.
I M SORRY IF ANYBODY GETS HURT BY MY COMMENTS.ITS JUST THAT I LOVE PAKISTAN AND WANNA B BACK THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.TRUST ME ON THIS PPL NO MATTER WHERE WE R WE WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED OR HATED AS PAKIS COZ THATS WHO WE REALLY ARE.WE GET DIFF NAMES LIKE ABCD OR THE GREEN HORNETS BUT PAKISTAN IS OUR TRUE ID.
December 5, 2007 at 10:50 pm
hello??? I think you have misunderstood me…first of all there is no fear and we have a free hand to speak as we please….
secondly I think we all want the same thing… but we have a certain set of circumstances that have been inherited…and I guess what I am hoping for is the next parliament that comes in … we as a civil society have to be more responsible than being lackadaisical about how we respond to corruption and broken promises…. no one is hurt by your comments Murtaza…the beauty is you cann speak your mind and have an opinion that s different from mine and the next person’s…its ok…. the point is dialogue… tolerance… acceptance of each other … not neccessarily agreement…but acceptance 🙂 in accepting we build a strong society that can move forward… and let that be a model for the politicians to follow 🙂 let them know we won’t let them get away with everything this time… not anymore…. the politicians are answerable to us…they keep hollering about power to the people? then let the people take the power… which is why I feel its so important for all the politicians to come forward…do their thing and put themselves before us…
December 5, 2007 at 11:43 pm
I HOPE AYESHA.I REALLY DO.I WANT EVERY PAKISTANI TO BE LIKE THIS WEB PAGE,FREE TO SPEAK THEIR MIND KNOWING THAT THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE WHO IS WORKING FOR THEM,ATLEAST TRYING TO GIVE THEM A BETTER LIFE.I WANT THE FREEDOM THAT U AND I ENJOY TO BE A BIRTH RIGHT OF EVERY PAKISTANI.I WANT MY FRIENDS IN PAKISTAN TO TRAVEL,SEE THIS AMAZING WORLD,LEARN ABOUT DIFF CULTURES,INTERACT WITH PPL FROM DIFF CULTURES.I WANT THE WOMAN IN OUR SOCIETY TO BE ACTIVE IN EVERY WALK OF LIFE, NOT JUST THE UPTOWN GIRLS.I WANT MY FUTURE TO B IN PAKISTAN CLOSE TO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.I WANT TO BE ABLE TO GO TO A CLUB IN PAKISTAN AND DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY WITHOUT THE FEAR OF BEEN BOMBED BY A MULLAH.LOL.
I JUST WANNA DO EVERYTHING IN PAKISTAN THAT I FEEL FREE TO DO OUT HERE.
December 6, 2007 at 4:40 am
🙂 Inshallah….and thats what we are fighting for….hope you’re going to vote
December 6, 2007 at 4:16 pm
@AA
Ahh the eternal optimist, I see you are? (In best yoda-esk accent)
I don’t think on the ‘record’ means anything these days. You’ve got BB Nawaz flip flopping more often than Mitt Romney. Then there is IK who keeps making one one Prohecy after another( He said Mushy wouldn’t survive Sept. then he said he wouldn’t take off the uniform.lol) and well seems confused about what he stands for. We can’t make people accountable when we arn’t even sure what they stand for! They’re contradicting themselves about what they stand for every other day. Its a pretty neat trick.
@Dr. Murtaza:
Dude, enough with the CAPS LOCK!!!:P
December 7, 2007 at 2:37 am
ayeshah, do you remember the time when the media was first used by JFK Jr. in his political candidacy? I think it was Nixon who was fighting him and came out bad because he didn’t embrace the media. That’s what our society is learning to do now. We’ve been using technology in political campaigns for a long time to rally up people in an analog manner, so as to say. However, I believe that these parties are becoming “media smart” as I like to call it and there are probably very intelligent people who do their research before hand, adjusting the face of the party for the media representation, and consequently, to the masses. Now, judging from the fact that old people have gone, new have come, and there is perhaps a sincere attitude to change, I would perhaps take the medium ground in what parties say, still remaining skeptical (did I spell that right?).
December 7, 2007 at 4:40 am
you spelt it right 🙂
January 8, 2008 at 1:40 am
The MQM surprisingly has members who are educated, media savvy and come across as perfect gentlemen on more than one occasion. Mustufa Kamal has declared 2008 as the year of education for Karachi and wants to open schools and campuses all over it. I was one of his detractors as well but the amount of infrastructure development Karachi has seen in the last year is remarkable. Yes we have had innumerable jams but when the work is done, we should see the results and then judge. Kudos for the interview i saw it and it was insightful.
However if the MQM wants to really be taken as a party of national merit they need to do away with the “Monstrous” elements in them, starting with the dood sitting in Hyde park wearing a purple suit.
February 20, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Reading you post this was gratifying. The MQM is and started out as a militant ethnicist set up. But they are also an important part of political picture–and not just in Karachi. Outside of factional politics (meaning the PML-Q), they are the third-largest force in politics.
A leftist Indian-American friend recently asked me (on FaceBook, you can look it up) why the PPP had no real position in the cities. Here’s my response:
Because they’re not built from those constituencies…Karachi has tried and been disappointed by ALL parties (ML, JI, PPP…) and so now just casts its lot with the one party that claims to look for its ethnic interests; the others are 30-35-13-etc. for ML-PPP-MMA-Other with the current “shift within the larger problematic” pushing it where you see it today.