My Life's Journey: The Early Years (1966-1988)

A Translation of Safar-e-Zindagi

Altaf Hussain

Based on a lengthy interview of Altaf Hussain, the leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement (previously Mohajir Quami Movement), My Life’s Journey is an autobiographical account of the protagonist’s life and political career and covers the period from 1966 to 1988. It provides illuminating insights into the rise of a powerful political party and its charismatic leader. Altaf Hussain’s early encounters with prejudice against a struggling group of immigrants from India known as ‘Mohajirs’, his disillusionment with religious parties and their claim of impartiality towards all fellow Muslims soon led him to create a robust and coherent political party from the amorphous group of people who were given the name of ‘Mohajir’.

Not only is this book invaluable as an early blueprint of the MQM’s future development and concerns, it is also an impressive record of how an individual, with the help of a small group of colleagues, generated political consciousness amongst a people who felt powerless in their adopted country and helped them to stand up confidently for their rights—and, later, for the rights of the underprivileged people of the entire country.