Mr. Altaf Hussain travelled half the world to reach India to speak his mind on the state of affairs in Pakistan, which he last saw in 1992 before going into self-exile. In an interview on the sidelines of the Hindustan Times’ Leadership Initiative, which he also addressed in New Delhi, he made remarks which cannot go unnoticed. Not only did he describe India as home where he felt ‘spiritually elated’ but also said had he been around at the time of Partition, he would have voted against it. This was bound to cause widespread resentment back home especially when he made this statement in a country perceived as not accepting the very foundation of Pakistan. And his stand is no less disturbing than that taken by some religious parties which strongly opposed the creation of Pakistan. Mr Hussain must note that 57 years down the line they all are still trying to live down their role at Partition.

Either Mr Hussain seriously believes Partition was a mistake, or he opposed it for the consumption of the local audience from whom he would not have won kudos otherwise. Both ways it shows disrespect for a country he was born in, after his family migrated from Agra, and where in the province of Sindh his party is a major coalition partner. “Today I am in India because I have been honest in pursuing my ideology, my philosophy”, he said, adding, “Tomorrow when the people of Pakistan will understand my message and call for my return the establishment will have to change its policies”. It is not clear why he wants to return to Pakistan if he is so strongly opposed to its creation. Is it only the absence of ‘true democracy’, as he pointed out, that keeps hindering his homecoming for sometime? Taking credit for giving the country a middle class leadership, he wants to return home to end feudalism and ethno-linguistic particularism in Pakistan even though espousing the cause of Sindh’s Urdu-speaking migrants always remained the basis of his politics. One can only assume that he has overstated his position for dramatic effect. This is liable to create misunderstandings, which a senior national leader would best avoid. Mr Hussain is the voice of a significant portion of Pakistan’s population, and he has a responsibility towards his supporters.

As for Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif he regards neither as truly representative of the poor, though he remained a coalition partner of both in the past. There were quite a few other contradictions in his interview. On the one hand he is a very strong advocate of democratic rule while on the other he supports the President remaining in uniform. If the government considers him its coalition partner it has to do a lot of explaining about what he said in India, and how it is going to react to it. There must also be some explanation about Islamabad’s refusal to renew his Pakistani passport.