Altaf Hussain

Who is Altaf Hussain?

Altaf Hussain is a Pakistani politician living in exile as a naturalised citizen in the United Kingdom. He is the leader and founder of the Karachi-based political party, Muttahida Quami Movement, a party aimed at defending the interests of the muhajir community and the Urdu-speaking descendants of Muslims who moved from India to Pakistan after their independence from Britain in 1947.

Hussain belongs to a muhajir family that moved from Agra, Uttar Pradesh in India to settle in Pakistan following the [Pakistan Movement|independence]] in 1947. He joined student politics by forming the All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organization in 1978 and later stepped into mainstream politics by founding the MQM in 1984, which is now the fourth largest political party in the National Assembly of Pakistan. Hussain's party has had political influence in Pakistan since the 1990s by being a part of several governing coalitions. The party's political strongholds are the urban cities of Karachi and Hyderabad in Pakistan. As of 2014, Hussain lives in Edgware in north-west London where he applied for and was granted political asylum in 1992.