Brains behind Karachi Eat eats up MQM’s stronghold Nine-Zero

We will end quota system in Sindh, claims Khan, who seems clueless about parliamentary politics

KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM) slain leader Dr Imran Farooq was 28 years old and a physician when he first clinched the Nine Zero seat for his party in 1988. It remained the party's fortress until 2013 general elections and 2015 by-polls.

Almost three decades down the line, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) became the only political party to have dared campaign in the MQM's stronghold, NA 254, which was earlier NA 245, and win it through their 48-year-old candidate, Aslam Khan, who doesn't have any political background.

Khan runs an event management company, CKO Event Architecture, and has been arranging his party's political events since long in Karachi. His company's premiere event, Karachi Eat, had been a huge hit. "Did you see our last political gathering in Bagh-e-Jinnah?" he boasted excitedly. "Huge it was! I arranged it." It's just been six months since he formally joined the party, "But I have been associated with them as I used to arrange the party's events" he said.



Khan has worldwide experience of event management and his business partner, Omar Omari, is the PTI's winning candidate from PS-125. The result of this constituency is interesting as Khan was contesting against MQM's Sheikh Salahuddin, who is a member of parliament since 2008; Pak Sarzameen Party's Arshad Vohra, a former deputy mayor of Karachi and Muhajir Qaumi Movement - Haqiqi's chief, Afaq Ahmed. None of these leaders considered Khan even a close contender during the election campaign.



Fresh faces

After the 1988 general elections, the national and Sindh assemblies will see new and not-so-familiar faces representing Karachi, who have little to no parliamentary experience. The PTI has won 14 out of 21 NA seats from Karachi and apart from Amir Liaquat Hussain and Dr Arif Alvi no other candidate has parliamentary experience.

Similarly, the party has also bagged 21 Sindh Assembly seats from Karachi and Khurram Sher Zaman is the only experienced candidate. Firdous Shamim Naqvi however, has experience of local council.

MQM's senior leader Aminul Haq on the other hand, thinks this comparison is wrong. "Those who have won from our strongholds are 'ladlay' [favourites]," he said, adding that when Farooq first won from the constituency he had huge contributions for the party and was the first secretary general and convener of the MQM.

Khan, who is a resident of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, complained that the mainstream media never considered him a strong candidate and did not give him due coverage, "Because they never expected we would win," he laughed. Clad in flowing grey kurta and shalwar at Insaf House at Sharah-e-Faisal, Khan seemed confident. He received congratulations from his party workers while PTI's Khurram Sher Zaman, in a separate room, was briefing the newly elected party candidates regarding parliamentary laws.

Khan said, "In a matter of two weeks I got to know that after campaigning strongly, we can win the seat." He believes that the Ismaili, Godhra, Memon community has voted for him including the Muhajir population. "I am Urdu speaking and my family migrated from Amroha city in north-western Uttar Pradesh state, in India," he said.



On questions regarding Muhajir sentiments and parliamentary politics, Khan got visibly confused. He said they would end the quota system in Sindh, but when he was told he doesn't have sufficient numbers for that, he responded, "We haven't remained familiar with politics much. We will see how we will do such things in parliament." He added that they're ready to face bigwigs of other political parties. With regard to an alliance with the MQM-P, he said that he's new to politics and only the party's senior leadership could answer that. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2018.