SINDH - MQM TELLS KARACHI RESIDENTS TO ARM AGAINST

C O N F I D E N T I A L KARACHI 000477

USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PK
SUBJECT: SINDH - MQM TELLS KARACHI RESIDENTS TO ARM AGAINST
TALIBAN

REF: REF: KARACHI 426

Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CONSUL GENERAL KAY ANSKE, REASONS 1.4 (b)
and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: On August 8, Muttahida Quami Movement
(MQM) leader Altaf Hussain advised residents of two upscale
Karachi communities to arm themselves against an impending
takeover by Taliban forces. MQM critics accused Hussain of
trying to exacerbate an ethnic dispute with the city's
Pashtun community, pointing out similar advice given by
Hussain in 1987 that served as the precursor to bloody ethnic
disputes in the 1990s. MQM plans to meet Pakistan Peoples'
Party (PPP) representatives to discuss disparities between
the MQM and PPP positions on the extent of the Taliban threat
to the city. Post's view is that Hussain has exaggerated the
threat for political reasons. End Summary.


2. (U) Karachi news media on August 10 quoted Muttahida
Quami Movement (MQM) political party leader Altaf Hussain as
advising residents of the city's upscale Clifton and Defense
residential areas to purchase firearms to defend their homes
from a Taliban onslaught. Hussain, speaking via conference
call from self-imposed exile in London to a gathering of area
residents on August 8, was quoted as committing his party,
MQM, to the fight against the Islamic extremists. He called
on Karachi citizens to join with MQM in the effort. Hussain
also suggested that residents form vigilante committees and
called on youth to obtain self-defense training.


3. (U) Another news report featured an August 9 press
release from Dr. Qadir Magsi, Chairman of the nationalist
Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, accusing Hussain of trying to
incite ethnic riots. According to the report, Magsi said
that Hussain in 1987 had urged Urdu-speaking Pakistanis to
sell their televisions, radios and refrigerators and use the
proceeds to buy weapons. (Note: The MQM draws much of its
support from the Urdu-speaking community that came to
Pakistan from India at the time of partition. End note.)


4. (C) Majyd Aziz, an industrialist, told PolOff on August
11 that he had attended the August 8 meeting. He relayed
that Hussain did indeed advise residents of the upscale
communities to obtain weapon permits and buy firearms to
protect their neighborhoods from the Taliban. Aziz said that
he asked Hussain why MQM was claiming a significant Taliban
infiltration in Karachi when its coalition partner, the
Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) had publicly stated the
opposite. Hussain told Aziz that MQM leaders planned to meet
with PPP officials to discuss the disparity in their public
positions on this issue.


5. (C) Another leading business figure, Aziz Memon, told
PolOff that he had been invited to attend the conference call
with Hussain, but declined the invitation. He said that the
MQM has had a long-standing rivalry with the Pashtun
community. Memon added that he regarded the latest MQM
warnings of Talibanization as a political move designed to
galvanize public support behind the party.


6. (C) Comment: Post believes that, although Taliban
elements are certainly present in Karachi, the MQM leader is
overstating the current threat to the city. At a July 5
gathering, Hussain warned Karachi business and civic leaders
of impending "Talibanization" of the city as the result of an
influx of Pashtun refugees and invited business leaders to
join his party in resisting them (reftel). By alarming the
business community and influential citizens and presenting
the party as the defender of the city against Islamic
extremists, MQM may well be attempting to boost its political
influence in Karachi at the expense of the growing Pashtun
community.
Anske