At first sight it may appear that there is not much to link a nondescript office block in the heart of north London suburbia with the leadership of one of Pakistan’s most influential political parties.

But it is from the somewhat drab streets of the London Borough of Barnet that hundreds of thousands of people in the country’s largest city, Karachi, receive their orders.

The “International Secretariat” of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) is based in the suburb of Edgware, and from the first floor of a grey tower block their leader, Altaf Hussain, addresses huge audiences in the southern port city. Mr Hussain says he lives in London because he fears he would be assassinated if he went back to Pakistan.

The party mostly comprises — and is supported by — the families of Muslim Urdu-speaking people or  Mohajirs who migrated to Pakistan from India around the time of partition.

Mr Hussain speaks to his supporters by a conference telephone connected to loud speakers strategically located across Karachi. Thousands of people listen to his regular addresses from London, even though he has not been back to the country since 1992 — and some of his “sermons” have been known to last longer than four hours.
The MQM’s presence in Britain has become more controversial of late because of last weekend’s violence in Karachi in which at least 40 people were killed. Opposition parties say that MQM’s leadership in London orchestrated much of the violence. They allege that the party called its supporters out onto the streets to defend President Musharraf’s decision to suspend the country’s Chief Justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The MQM, which is allied to President Musharraf's supporters in the Pakistani parliament, is alleged to have mobilised a large body of supporters to prevent the chief justice from leaving the airport when he visited Karachi on Saturday.

“We are the last bastion against the Talibanisation of the country,” he says.

Mr Anwar says that, even though Altaf Hussain has not been back to Pakistan for more than a decade, support for the MQM is growing “We are not just supported by Mohajirs, but also have the backing of Punjabis, Sindhis, Balochs and Kashmiris,” he says. “Recently we have gained support in the province of Punjab and have even made in-roads in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.”

The MQM denies its reputation for extortion and gangsterism in Karachi, and insists its main priority is to protect vulnerable people in the city.

Mr Anwar says that the MQM’s support for President Musharraf — a Mohajir — is not unconditional and that he must soon make a decision as to whether he can remain head of the army as well as president. The party says that the president’s efforts to remove the chief justice should be determined only by the Supreme Court.
On the subject of when — if ever — Mr Hussain will return to Pakistan and directly lead his growing band of supporters, Mr Anwar was more cagey.

“I’m not sure it would be sensible for him to go back. Anyway, in these days of high-tech communication why not govern Karachi from London? It’s a new form of outsourcing.”
BBC News