Lies, I live here and have never been extorted by them or my relatives
Well I lived in Karachi during the 80s and the 90s and I have personally seen the reign of terror of the MQM. I find it difficult not to hate the MQM...
Sometime in the 80s, when I was 6-7 years old, MQM terrorists came in our residential compound at night to kill a PPP guy. I woke up by the sound of aerial firing. Although we were not the target, they set our wooden door on fire but luckily the fire did not spread. Then they set our two vehicles on fire. The suzuki's fuel tank was full because we were to go Hyderabad on picnic the next day; the fire was so fierce that I could see the flames in front of my window on the second floor; even the nearby trees caught fire; and the car was completely destroyed. The datsun survived with some damage.
The terrorists then proceeded to locate the PPP guy but he was not at home. So they dragged his younger brother of around 16-17 and killed him at point blank range. This youger brother had come from some small town for a few days to prepare for his exams.
They kept firing for quite some time before leaving. The police and the fire brigade promptly appeared once the terrorists had left.
In those days, the MQM had erected gates and barriers on the streets to protect from God knows whom and would extort money from all the houses in the locality. I was no longer allowed to go out to play. When darkess fell, the terrorists will come out in the streets with their weapons and the sounds of gunfire would be heard all night.
Then fast forward to 90s. Altaf Hussain would give out a strike call every other day and the MQM terrorists would roam the streets of Karachi forcing transporters and shops to close down meanwhile completing their quota of killing random people on the streets.
I encountered them a few times. Once I was at a tandoor buying roti and the MQM terrorists appeared, two on each bike, firing in the air. Terror filled the atmosphere, people started running to the side streets, women crying and rushing towards safety. I froze just looking at them when the tandoorwala grabbed my neck from behind pulled me in his shop and pulled the shutter down. The terrorists left after ensuring that the market was closed for the day.
My school was closed on all strike days and they even could not not take the final exam and had to promote every one in the clas without an exam.
Gone through the above experiences and then some more, I find it difficuly not to hate the MQM, and I hold Musharraf responsible for bringing this Scourge back to its undead life for his political gains...