The case of Afaq Ahmed

[khoji]

I have never before given much thought to him but now I tend to appreciate his steadfastness. At one time there used to be wall-chalking in Karachi saying "jo qaid ka ghaddar he - wo maut ka haqdaar he". Unfortunately it was not just a slogan but a reality. Hundreds of youths were murdered by the believers of Pir Saab. Their crime only being against the Altaf Qaid.

This personality cult is still being followed in MQM. And this has caused more harm to Urdu speaking people than any Zulfiqar Mirza or PK Shahani.

I have always wondered and asked the question: What was the cause of grievance between Afaq and Altaf?
I don't really think Afaq is an angel who went against Altaf because of his propensity to violence. There must be something else.
What I have heard from "horse's mouth" is that Afaq did not approve of Altaf's giving high posts to late-comer Bihari people like Saleem Shahzad. Another thing I heard was about financial dispute between the two.
But there is no confirmation of any of these.

Please do share your thoughts about why this split happened.

----

http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/12/afaq-says-he-wont-leave-country.html

KARACHI: MQM-H chief Afaq Ahmed said on Friday that he was ready to bear any loss but he would never leave the country.
He said that a conspiracy was hatched by rivals in London to kill him.He said those who betrayed the ‘Mohajir cause’ were rejected by the people.Mr Ahmed was talking to the media on the premises of the Sindh High Court where he was brought by jail authorities amid strict security.He said that the city had been made hostage by terrorists.He rejected the present government’s ‘policy of reconciliation’ and said that plunderers had teamed up with murderers.

[Doppleganger]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

Wasn't imran khan on his case? But then, the amount of flip flops he does on issues, it is understandable that he is out of the picture now.

I would say that altaf turned out to be a siyana that he left in 1991 to better futures. Though, I always wonder what kind of death he will get for all the alleged killings that he at least knew about for all those years after what happened to benazir.

[khoji]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

Wasn't imran khan on his case?

I don't think Imran was helping Afaq in anyway. Imran just used the evidences he had against Altaf's execution of MQM-H members. Imran just used him.
Zulfiqar Mirza also tried to use him recently. But it didn't work out.


Here is a good comment by him:

http://tribune.com.pk/story/290531/personal-appearance-jittery-afaq-informs-shc-of-threats-advice-to-leave-country/

He was asked about his stance on possibly reconciling and rejoining the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which is something his very own party’s (now former) general secretary Aamir Khan did. But here Afaq criticised both the MQM and the Pakistan Peoples Party. “The plunderers [PPP] are protecting the killers [MQM] and this policy of reconciliation is not in the interest of the country,” he remarked.

[khoji]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

Having said all that, I think Afaq Ahmed is not much different from Altaf when it comes to violence. He was once hand in hand with Sipah e Sahaba in sectarian killings in the city. MQM-H even included SSP's sword on their own flag.

iss hammam mein sab hi nangay hein.

[Anwer Pasha]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

It is simple ,
All above including Imran khan are puppets of establishment .
There was a permanent resistance to the establishment ,PPP but they finished it. Now the present ruling elite of PPP is not different. Surprisingly PML N is little resisting but they will be knocked out through 'MQM' of Punjab , Imran's PTI.

[muqawwee123]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

I have never before given much thought to him but now I tend to appreciate his steadfastness. At one time there used to be wall-chalking in Karachi saying "jo qaid ka ghaddar he - wo maut ka haqdaar he". Unfortunately it was not just a slogan but a reality. Hundreds of youths were murdered by the believers of Pir Saab. Their crime only being against the Altaf Qaid.

This personality cult is still being followed in MQM. And this has caused more harm to Urdu speaking people than any Zulfiqar Mirza or PK Shahani.

I really thought this para was written by Sachydino. You like Afaq's steadfastness and I like yours.

[Anwer Pasha]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

Nobody praise the actual hero of Karachi
Zulfqar Mirza
He sacrificed his position for truth.
The truth caused stopping all blood shade in Karachi .

[muqawwee123]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

AP let ZM out of this discussion because it will easily derail the thread. Do you know what was the bone of contention between Afaq and Altaf?

[Anwer Pasha]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

I remember connection between Imran and Afaq also,
I also knew about long meetings between Ik and Omer Mahmood Goga.
Hope to see both in action soon.
Zulfqar Mirza is really out of question in this game of estab ,
He can not cross the limit of his morality.

[Sachaydino]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

This personality cult is still being followed in MQM. And this has caused more harm to Urdu speaking people than any Zulfiqar Mirza or PK Shahani.

Is'nt this PK Shahani was Agriculture Adviser during Bhutto's regime in the seventies? He was sacked by Bhutto under pressure from JI when he said that yielld/acre in Israel was more than yield/acre in Pakistan, so Pakistan should send his experts to Israel for training or get such technology in Pakistan. Has he not died a long time ago? How he is involved in the current discussions?

[muqawwee123]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

In search of PK Shahani's profile I found this report from Dawn. I can't understand why Khoji compared him with ZM? Was he some what involved in implementation of quota system?

http://archives.dawn.com/2002/11/21/top9.htm

KARACHI, Nov 20: Prem Kevalram Shahani, one of the nation’s best known political and social figures, passed away in a London hospital on Tuesday night after a brief illness. He was 63.

Popularly known as PK, the late Shahani leaves behind a wife, two sons and a married daughter to mourn.

According to family sources here, PK, who had gone to London in September this year, was admitted to the hospital a few days ago. The family said his body would be brought to Pakistan in a few days, after completion of formalities in London.

During his lifetime, PK, as he was widely known, exhibited the qualities of a Renaissance man par excellence.

Pakistan’s only Chartered Surveyor, PK was educated at the Karachi Grammar School, Lawrence College, Murree and the University of London where he majored in Economics and Estate Management.

PK Shahani was a shrewd political analyst, a political scientist and an expert in economics, agriculture and public finance.

He was also respected as a historian of twentieth century Sindh with a vast expertise in fields as diverse as electoral politics, civil and human rights, and municipal finance.

During his lifetime he supported causes as controversial as the right to self-determination in Kashmir. He was a major contributor to the international activities of the Kashmir Committee and had just concluded a visit to the UN General Assembly in that capacity where he met several leading figures from contact groups and liberation groups from both sides of the Line of Control.

PK Shahani served twice as an elected public representative. He was elected to the Sindh Provincial Assembly (MPA) in the early 70’s during the People’s Party government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He was also a PPP MNA in the short-lived National Assembly of 1977.

In addition, PK served in various senior policy-making positions. He was an adviser for agriculture in the cabinet of the Sindh Chief Minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi (with ministerial status) from 1975 to 1976. He also served as an adviser of Planning and Development in Syed Qaim Ali Shah’s administration of 1988-1990.

PK Shahani was famous for advising electoral candidates of all shades of opinion on the intricacies of the electoral process and the ballot box. He was particularly a shrewd analyst of indirect electoral elections, frequently using advanced concepts such as game theory and mathematical probability parameters to educate often ignorant political party satraps on the legal, constitutional, moral requirements of the electoral process.

In the 1980s, during the Ziaul Haq martial law years, PK’s association in the mainstream human and civil rights movement became well known when he frequently advised civil activists, NGOs and dispossessed groups who needed access to judicial and political redress.

As a noted agriculturist, PK Shahani was able to correlate farming methods, farm finance, input use and distribution shares of the landlord, agricultural worker or peasant into his theory of agricultural development.

No stranger to the controversies surrounding the shares of various ethnic, linguistic and professional groups, he strongly upheld the principle of equality of opportunity and access to all resources, as during the formulation of a crucially important Note of Dissent in the proceedings and reports of the National Finance Commission in 1973.

As a historian PK Shahani was liberal in his understanding of the often divergent values that constitute the complex process of political change in Pakistan.

Of particular interest was his advocacy of women’s rights and rights of the minorities. Being a pivotal figure in the national mainstream and an ardent nationalist, PK Shahani wholly opposed any concept of special privileges or “separateness” for Christian, Parsis and Hindus, but was never uncomfortable or at a loss for words in the company of Islamic scholars and even politicians from religious parties, many of whom he counted among his closed friends. He helped these groups and NGOs often with a lawyer’s ability for advice, an accountant’s understanding of financial figures and a humanist’s compassion for the advancement of education, scientific thinking and rationalism.

As a historian and political commentator on the history of twentieth century Sindh, PK Shahani’s world view of history depended entirely upon the interaction between political, economic and sociological factors in the creation of the process for change.

PK Shahani was the author of several books on fiscal policy particularly the wealth tax, on the economics and mechanics of land reform and as a pre-eminent commentator on current affairs. Last year he authored a popular volume on the NAB which was sold out within a few days of its publication.

He was the academic supervisor and coordinator for the archival collection of the life and times of Haji Abdullah Haroon after the death of Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi.

PK Shahani was truly a widely read man. In his youth he dappled in journalism and contributed a regular column to Dawn in the sixties.

[Anwer Pasha]

Re: The case of Afaq Ahmed

Great life, Thank you for posting.