The Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistani State

Abstract On 17 September 2000, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) presented a number of demands at a public meeting in Acton/London. These demands and the circumstance of their presentation raised a number of questions about the party. The paper shows how the MQM has grown over the past years and explores the very contradictory position of the MQM within Pakistan society and the relationship between the party and the state. It describes the ethnic core of the party which reflects the political realities and structure of the Pakistani state. By so doing the paper also explains the limits of the party and how it differs from the other political forces. It also shows that the Acton meeting was a direct reflection of the situation in Pakistan after the take-over by the military in 1999 and signalled that the crisis of the state and the conflict between the MQM and the state have reached a new climax.