Death of a People's Leader

The body of one of the top MQM leaders Dr. Imran Farooq, who has been named the Martyr of Revolution, was finally laid to rest in Karachi, the city he was born in.

What a journey for a man who helped found the MQM, developed its organizational structure and then had to stay in hiding for seven years during the illegal Operation Cleanup. He then continued his struggle from exile for eleven more years before being stabbed and bludgeoned to death by unknown assailants. Stayed in morgue for more than 40 days and then flown back to the city of birth for a funeral procession comparable only to the founder of the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and his right hand man, Liaquat Ali Khan.

The pictures and videos of the funeral reveal what makes the MQM what it is. It is a highly organized and disciplined political machine that operates as a unit where leaders and workers are one and the same. You can see the Governor of Sindh shouldering his deceased colleague and see the ex-Mayor of Karachi waiting for his turn to shoulder the coffin just like regular people.

You see an unassuming family sharing its sorrow with the rest of the extended family, that is, the MQM.

Inna lillahe wa inna ilehe rajioon.