Strength in numbers: Want to join the MQM? Now, you can

The party started its country-wide membership drive last week

KARACHI: Starting Wednesday, you can expect a worker from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to knock on your door holding the party's white and green membership forms to ask if you're interested in joining them.

This is part of the MQM's country-wide membership campaign which started last week. To increase their numbers, the MQM plans to invite people to join the party by going door-to-door.

First steps

According to the party's Rabta Committee member, Aminul Haque, they launched the 'Ensuring a Strong Pakistan' campaign from Nine Zero recently on directives from the party chief Altaf Hussain.



"For a political party, such campaigns are important for its revival," he said while talking to The Express Tribune. "The membership drive is the first phase. In the second phase, the party will be reorganised."

So far, the drive aims to go on for an indefinite period with over 370 camps all over the country. Around 100 of these camps have been set up in Karachi.

One of them

To become a member of the MQM, you have to fill out the membership form which costs Rs10 and asks for personal details, including information about an individual's Facebook and Twitter accounts. Party officials claim that these are important and are being asked for to keep in touch with members.

"Hundreds of people are joining the party," said Haque while explaining that they were focusing on Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar, Kashmir, Gilgit and Muzaffarabad. The party's labour division and student wings are also participating and setting up membership drive camps.

MQM leader Wasay Jalil explained that through this campaign, they were also collecting data about their existing members and office bearers.

"We have two types of membership forms," he said. "There is a white one for existing party workers. New members and supporters have to fill out the green form."

Once the campaign ends, the MQM plans to announce the total number of people who joined the party - they hope the number will have more than seven digits.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2014.