MQM founder Altaf Hussain hospitalized in London after his health worsens

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder Altaf Hussain was hospitalized in London on Sunday night after his health deteriorated, the party said.

In a post on The post said he was admitted to the hospital on Sunday night due to health issues.

In an earlier post at 3:20 a.m., Party X’s official account said Hussain was taken to hospital on Sunday afternoon, where doctors admitted him after an initial examination. He added that the doctors “gave him an injection and gave him an intravenous drip due to the weakness of his body.”

According to the party, doctors are expected to conduct a detailed medical examination on Monday.

Hussain was also hospitalized in July last year. At the time, London-based MQM leader Mustafa Azizabadi said Hussain underwent medical check-ups at a local hospital, where doctors conducted initial examinations and prescribed diagnostic tests to assess his condition. He said doctors had also recommended a blood transfusion, which was administered.

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“Altaf Hussain has long been under severe emotional and psychological stress due to multiple factors, including the domestic and international political climate, several ongoing legal cases in London, and persistent financial difficulties,” Azizabadi said at the time.

Hussain has lived in self-imposed exile in London for more than two decades. He applied for asylum in 1992 and subsequently acquired British citizenship. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly demanded action be taken against him over allegations of inciting violence in Pakistan.

Born in Karachi on September 17, 1953, Hussain began his political career as a student and co-founded the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organization (APMSO) with Azeem Ahmed Tariq in 1978. He founded the MQM in 1984, then known as the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, to represent the Urdu-speaking community that migrated to Pakistan during Partition.

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In the early 1990s, Hussain went into exile following a government-led security operation in Karachi. During his leadership, the MQM faced accusations of using violence to gain and retain political power, which Hussain denied, saying the party and its workers were targeted by the state and rival groups.

He came under fire in May 2013 after a televised speech in which he reportedly called for Karachi’s separation from Pakistan if the “system” did not accept his party’s electoral mandate. The MQM later said the comments were taken out of context.

Hussain is wanted by Pakistani authorities in multiple cases. He delivered a speech over the phone at a party meeting in front of the Karachi Press Club on August 22, 2016, following which party workers chanted anti-Pakistan slogans and vandalized a nearby media office.

Scotland Yard charged Hussain with terrorism offenses in October 2019, saying the speech encouraged violence and disorder. He was arrested on June 11, 2019, on charges of breaching Section 44 of the Serious Crimes Act 2007, and was later released on bail.