MQM founder Altaf Hussain hospitalised in London after health deteriorates

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

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

In an earlier post at 3:20am, 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 “administered an injection to him, and started an IV drip in view of weakness in his body.”

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

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

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“Altaf Hussain has long been under severe emotional and psychological stress due to multiple factors – including the domestic and international political climate, several ongoing legal cases in London, and persistent financial hardship,” 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 later acquired British citizenship. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly demanded action against him over allegations of inciting violence in Pakistan.

Born in Karachi on September 17, 1953, Hussain began his political career as a student and co-founded the All-Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) with Azeem Ahmed Tariq in 1978. He founded the MQM in 1984, then known as the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, to represent the Urdu-speaking community that migrated to Pakistan during Partition.

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

He drew criticism in May 2013 after a televised address in which he allegedly called for Karachi’s separation 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 multiple cases. He delivered a speech by telephone to a party gathering outside the Karachi Press Club on August 22, 2016, after which party workers chanted anti-Pakistan slogans and vandalised a nearby media office.

Scotland Yard charged Hussain with terrorism offences in October 2019, saying the speech encouraged violence and disorder. He was arrested on June 11, 2019, under allegations of violating Section 44 of the Serious Crimes Act 2007, and was later released on bail.