Tribune’s Gamechangers 2011: Zulfiqar Mirza

Hell hath no fury like a Mirza scorned.

With years of frustration piled up, “Hurricane Mirza” hit Karachi and the MQM with a diatribe of a lifetime in the midst of the worst violence the city had seen in years.

From inappropriate taunts (including attacks on PPP members) to claims of conspiracies to break up Pakistan, the former home minister of Sindh unleashed an attack on the MQM that resulted in lost lives, an epic (somewhat) rebuttal from MQM chief Altaf Hussain, and finally, Mirza’s own resignation from the Sindh cabinet, the Sindh Assembly as well as his position as the senior vice president in the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Sticking up for the Peoples Amn Committee and MQM-H leader Afaq Ahmed, Mirza’s mark on 2011, particularly on the city of Karachi and ties between the MQM and PPP, has been forever etched into history, and may yet yield surprises in 2012.

Quote: “Rehman Malik is such a congenital liar that if he is having an apple when you call him, he will say he is having a banana.”