MQM founder Altaf Hussain hospitalized in London after health deteriorated

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain was hospitalized in London on Sunday evening after his health deteriorated, the party said.

In a post on X in the early hours of Monday, the MQM said that “MQM founder and leader Hussain is receiving a blood transfusion on the advice of doctors on Sunday evening.” The Post said he was admitted to the hospital Sunday night due to ill health.

In a previous post at 03:20 The party’s official X account said Hussain was taken to hospital on Sunday evening, where doctors admitted him after an initial examination. It added that doctors “gave him an injection and started an IV drip due to weakness in his body.”

According to the party, doctors are expected to conduct a detailed medical examination on Monday.

Hussain was also hospitalized in July last year. At the time, MQM’s London-based leader Mustafa Azizabadi said Hussain underwent a medical check-up at a local hospital, where doctors conducted initial examinations and prescribed diagnostic tests to assess his condition. He said the doctors had also recommended a blood transfusion, which was given.

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“Altaf Hussain has long been under severe emotional and psychological stress due to several factors – including the domestic and international political climate, several ongoing court cases in London and ongoing financial difficulties,” Azizabadi said at the time.

Hussain has lived in self-imposed exile in London for more than two decades. He sought asylum in 1992 and was later granted British citizenship. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly demanded action against him over allegations of inciting violence in Pakistan.

Born in Karachi on 17 September 1953, Hussain began his political career as a student and co-founded the All-Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization (APMSO) with Azeem Ahmed Tariq in 1978. He founded the MQM in 1984, then known as the Mohajir Qaumi Community which migrated to the Urdument of Pakistan. Partition.

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In the early 1990s, Hussain went into exile following a government-led security operation in Karachi. Under his leadership, the MQM faced accusations of using violence to gain and maintain political power, which Hussain denied, saying the party and its workers were targets of the state and rival groups.

He received criticism in May 2013 after a televised speech in which he allegedly called for Karachi’s secession from Pakistan if his party’s electoral mandate was not accepted by the “establishment”. The MQM later said the remarks were taken out of context.

Hussain is wanted by Pakistani authorities in several cases. He gave a speech by telephone to a celebratory gathering outside the Karachi Press Club on 22 August 2016, after which party workers shouted anti-Pakistan slogans and vandalized a nearby media office.

Scotland Yard charged Hussain with terrorism offenses in October 2019, saying the speech incited violence and disorder. He was arrested on 11 June 2019 on charges of breaching Section 44 of the Serious Crimes Act 2007 and was later released on bail.