Altaf Hussain

Altaf Hussain is a British-Pakistani politician who founded the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the political party that has dominated Karachi's politics for decades. Born on 17 September 1953 in Karachi, he began his career as a pharmacy student and political organiser for the Mohajir community.

Rise of the MQM

In the 1980s, Altaf Hussain transformed a student movement into the MQM, which became the voice of the Urdu-speaking Mohajir community of Karachi and Hyderabad. The party grew into the city's dominant political force, with Hussain's fiery speeches and organisational machine turning the MQM into a kingmaker in national politics during the 1990s.

He went into exile in London in 1992 and has lived in the United Kingdom ever since, directing the party remotely. The MQM split in 2016 after Hussain's controversial statements, with factions — the MQM-Pakistan — breaking away, though he has continued to assert his founding role and influence over the party's legacy.

Legacy

Altaf Hussain remains one of the most polarising figures in Pakistani politics: to his supporters, the champion of the Mohajir community; to his critics, the leader of a party accused of violence and coercion. His founding of the MQM permanently reshaped Karachi's politics and the national balance of power.