Dr Imran Farooq — our hero

I never knew that when I would restart writing, I would be writing for the Martyr of Revolution, Dr Imran Farooq. It’s ironic that the last time I wrote something it was a critical analysis on feudalism. And today I am writing for an intellectual who wished to see a revolutionised Pakistan, free of feudalism. Dr Farooq contributed to the success of one of the fastest growing political parties of Pakistan. A medical graduate from a middle class family, he wrote the code of discipline for MQM. He was the first convener of the party and served on this post till his last breath.

On September 16, 2010, the nation lost a leader who devoted his life fighting for the long awaited change that Pakistan aches for. It was a strange murder. The mugger did not run away with his belongings, neither did he rob his wife and children. His family was only a flight of stairs above, unaware of the brutal slaying just outside the apartment’s main door. He lived a normal life, making him an easy target, and the attack seems professionally planned and executed.

The MQM has confidence in the investigations of the UK law enforcement and will wait for their report. Some newspapers have come up with conspiracy theories about the murder. Instead of mourning the loss of a political worker they are inciting hatred by writing biased opinions based on ’sources’ which have no way to be proved. Then there is the SMS campaign by maniacs declaring the deceased’s own party as his killer.

Immediately after the news of the assassination, vehicles were burnt in parts of Karachi and these were areas not traditionally thought to be the party’s strongholds. The MQM announced 10 days of mourning. September 17 and 18 remained peaceful. But on September 19, enemies of the country shot dead two members from the MQM, and several from other political parties. This was a perfect recipe to get the city burning – and to conveniently blame the party for the violence. In fact, this is usually what happens: because law-enforcement agencies are so busy trying to combat target killings that the various mafias in the city – drug, land and terror – carry on their business with impunity.

It is our responsibility not to fall for conspiracy theorists. They are paid to mislead us. A propaganda campaign by some anti-MQM elements was begun and according to it Dr Farooq had decided to leave the MQM and join the newly-formed All Pakistan Muslim League of former President Pervez Musharraf – and hence his murder. Contrary to what the media reported, Musharraf told journalists in London that to the best of his knowledge, Dr Farooq was not joining his party — and hence this eventually exposed these elements. I hope that the true killers of Dr Imran Farooq will be found.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2010.