PAKISTAN has witnessed no dearth of political assassinations. Many heads of state and government as well as senior political leaders have met a violent end in this country. MQM leader Dr Imran Farooq's grisly murder in London on Thursday is the latest addition to this morbid list. He was stabbed to death near his home in the British capital. The killing stunned the party as well as political circles and sent Karachi into a state of virtual lockdown. Markets, schools and fuel stations remained closed on Friday as an air of dread prevailed in the metropolis. But the violence has been minimal and thankfully no lives have been lost.

Imran Farooq was a founding leader of the MQM. One of the moving forces behind the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation — forerunner of the party — in the late 1970s, he held several top posts within the organisation as well as represented the MQM in the National Assembly. He went underground at the time of 1992's infamous Operation Clean-Up, only to re-emerge in London in 1999. He faced several criminal cases in this country, though these were withdrawn under the NRO. Imran Farooq was also considered the ideologue of both the political and militant cadres of the MQM. Though a member of the old guard, he was suspended from the party for a time and despite apparently being rehabilitated, he had practically been out in the cold during the last few years.

The MQM is no stranger to political murders. It has seen several of its high-ranking leaders assassinated. Former party chairman Azeem Ahmed Tariq was gunned down inside his house in 1993 while parliamentarian Khalid bin Waleed was ambushed in 2003. MPA Raza Haider's murder in August sparked violence in which nearly 100 people were killed. None of these — as well as other political murders — have been solved. Imran Farooq's killing is the first known murder of a senior Pakistani politician outside the country. Scotland Yard is investigating and the results of the probe will show whether the MQM leader was a victim of street crime or if Pakistani political militants have exported their vendettas to foreign shores. The party has blamed no one and no group has claimed responsibility. All eyes are on the investigation because unlike Pakistan, it is highly unlikely that the British authorities will succumb to political or government pressure while investigating the case. If a political motive is traced to the murder, it will mean that a bloody new chapter in Pakistani political violence has been opened beyond this country's borders.