'I failed my people': Altaf Hussain frees MQM workers from oath of loyalty

MQM founder Altaf Hussain announced on Monday that all workers are free from the oath of loyalty they had taken to the party and to him, saying he has failed to secure rights for the Mohajir community despite nearly five decades of struggle.

Addressing a virtual meeting of MQM supporters, the self-exiled leader said that for 47 years he had worked “day and night without a single day’s break” to fight for the rights of Pakistan’s “oppressed and deprived people, particularly the Mohajirs.”

Hussain recounted what he described as enormous sacrifices made during the movement, including the deaths of “thousands of colleagues,” enforced disappearances, displacements, and loss of homes.

آج تمام تحریکی کارکنوں کو تحریک اورمجھ سےوفاداری کے حلف سے آزاد کرتاہوں
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آج دنیا بھر بشمول پاکستان کے تحریکی کارکنوں کے اجلا س سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے جناب الطاف حسین نےکہاکہ میں گزشتہ 47 برسوں سے پاکستان کے تمام محروم ومظلوم عوام خصوصاًمہاجرعوام کے… pic.twitter.com/3zDw3jg0CP

— Altaf Hussain (@AltafHussain_90) August 10, 2025

He also spoke of the personal losses his own family had endured, alleging that his elder brother, 77-year-old Nasir Hussain, was abducted from his home in December 1995, tortured for three days, and then shot dead in Karachi’s Gadap area. His nephew, 28-year-old Arif Hussain, was killed with axe blows to the head, he claimed.

He alleged that his brother-in-law, 70-year-old Aslam, was arrested in Karachi, subjected to severe torture for six months in Adiala Jail, and released in a critical condition, adding that he later died from his injuries.

Hussain said none of his surviving siblings escaped persecution as they all ssought refuge abroad due to continuous raids on their homes.

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“Despite the sacrifices of thousands of my comrades, many of whom are still in prison, I have reached the conclusion that I have failed not only to change Pakistan’s rotten, outdated system, but also to secure rights for my Mohajir nation,” Hussain said.

He declared that as of August 10, 2025, all party members, including former members of the coordination committee, the convener, deputy conveners, and all workers, are “free from the oath of loyalty” to the movement and to him.

“They are now free to join any political party, anywhere, as they wish,” he said.

Hussain, who has lived in self-imposed exile in London since the early 1990s, said he would continue his struggle for rights via social media “for as long as I live”.