Altaf Hussain, the founder of Mohajir outfit Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), will be on trial from next week in the UK over an alleged hate speech he made in 2016.
His trial at the Kingston Crown Court in London is scheduled to start on January 31 and will last for three weeks, according to Pakistani media outlets.
Altaf Hussain has been in self-imposed exile in London since 1992. Hussain is believed to have considerable influence in Karachi and is a critic of the Pakistani military and mainstream political parties in the country. He has previously calling the Partition of India and Pakistan a “historic blunder”. Hussain argues the future of the Mohajirs as well as people living in Pakistan-administered Kashmir lies with India and not Pakistan.
Hussain is accused of delivering a hate speech on August 22,2016, which was telecast to his followers in Pakistan. The speech caused riots in Karachi and attacks on TV channels. Scotland Yard had arrested him in the case in 2019, but he obtained bail.
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In December, the Crown Prosecution Service rejected an application from Altaf Hussain that claimed he was “physically and mentally unfit to stand terrorism trial...” At the time, Hussain had claimed he had suffered from Covid.
In 2019, Hussain had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant him asylum in India.
