MQM-London faction is controlled by Altaf Hussain from London, while MQM-Pakistan is run by Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui based in Pakistan.

In 1997, the MQM removed the term Muhajir (which denoted the party's roots among the country's Urdu-speaking community) from its name and replaced it with Muttahida ("United").

The MQM is generally known as a party that once held strong mobilizing potential in Karachi, having traditionally been the dominant political force in the city.

[13] It was launched to protect the Muhajir community who perceived themselves as the victims of discrimination and repression by the quota system that gave preference to certain ethnicities for admissions in educational institutions and employment in civil services.

[16] Three years into its existence, MQM won the November 1987 local body elections in Karachi and Hyderabad and had several mayors win unopposed.

A 59-point agreement, called the Karachi Accord, was signed which included statements about protection of the democratic system and political rights, urban development goals, and creating objective criteria for admission to universities and colleges.

Although more than 20 years have passed since the alleged arrest or disappearance of MQM workers, families of the missing people are still hopeful after registering the cases in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

[17][25] The violence gripped urban Sindh politics in the late 1980s after General Zia ul-Haq's era, and finally in 1992, the erstwhile government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif passed a resolution in assembly to launch a military operation in Karachi to target 72 'big fishes'.

[13] The resulting lawlessness prevailed in the largest metropolitan city of Pakistan, which led to the country's president dissolving the National Assembly.

[16] In the mid-1990s, MQM created widespread political violence and militancy that affected Pakistan's Sindh province, particularly Karachi, the port city that is the country's commercial capital.

[29][30][31] The party's strongly hierarchical order and personalist leadership style led to some critics labelling the MQM as fascist.

[33][34] On October 19, 1992, Pakistani newspapers carried an ISPR press release, conveying Army's denial of the knowledge of the Jinnahpur plan.

"[35] Asif Zardari who was then President of Pakistan is said to have "said in a court premises in Karachi that the Jinnahpur scandal was created to malign the MQM.

On 20 November 2011, Muttahida Qaumi Movement announced the formation of Central Executive Committee with its members drawn from Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa, Balochistan and Sindh.

On the orders of Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif[53] Paramilitary forces immediately sealed MQM offices including Nine Zero.

MQM's deputy convenor Shahid Pasha, parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar, Sindh assembly opposition leader Izhar ul Hasan and Rabita Committee members Qamar Mansur and Member National Assembly and ex Hyderabad Mayor Kanwar Naveed Jameel were arrested.

[citation needed] On 22 September 2016, MQM convenor Nadeem Nusrat termed the moves of Farooq Sattar against party rules and illegal and emphasized he is an elected Convenor and dissolved entire party infrastructure including Rabita Committee and ordered mass resignation of MQM parliamentarians from assemblies and to contest new elections on their own.

[73] Operation Clean-up was started by late general Asif Nawaz after Jinnahpur conspiracy and major kaleem torture case.

[76] In the aftermath of Hakeem Saeed's assassination, governor rule was imposed by Nawaz Sharif in the Sindh province and military operation was initiated against MQM.

[78] Many MQM officials including Zafar Arif, Kanwar Khalid Yunus, adv Sathi ishaq, Amjadullah khan, Qamar Mansur, and Shahid Pasha have been in detention since four months.

Targeted action between 1994 and 1996 saw gross human rights violations by the state organisations which included kidnapping for random, extrajudicial executions, disappearance, torture, fake encounters etc.

[80] During the Nine Zero raid, MQM worker Waqas Shah was shot down by Ranger's 9 mm pistol fire from point blank range.

[85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94] MQM took part in local bodies by election from Union Committee 46 Hyderabad which was vacated by the death of counselor as independent candidate.