what on earth

[1235]

What on earth was the MQM head honcho hinting at when he suggested that the army, the ISI and the MQM join hands?
Please sir explain this paragraph I tried my best to understand but I think it was not easy for me because I am on basic stage of learning English.

[5jj]

What on earth was the MQM head honcho hinting at when he suggested that the army, the ISI and the MQM join hands?
Please sir explain this paragraph I tried my best to understand but I think it was not easy for me because I am on basic stage of learning English.

It might help if you told us what MQM and ISI are, and give us the whole paragraph, not just the little bit you gave us.

[bhaisahab]

It might help if you told us what MQM and ISI are, and give us the whole paragraph, not just the little bit you gave us.

The ISI is the Pakistani military intelligence service, similar to MI6. I don't know about MQM, though.

[1235]

The ISI is the Pakistani military intelligence service, similar to MI6. I don't know about MQM, though.

Sir, I also know about MQM and ISI but I actually wanted to know about " what on earth" and simply meaning of paragraph in simply English.

[~Mav~]

*** NOT A TEACHER ***

Sir, I also know about MQM and ISI but I actually wanted to know about " what on earth" and simply meaning of paragraph in simply English.

What on earth was the MQM head honcho hinting at when he suggested that the army, the ISI and the MQM join hands?

What was the influential leader of MQM insinuating when he suggested that the Army, the ISI and the MQM work together?
(IMHO, both the original question as well as my re-phrased version are quite straightforward to answer: he was hinting at those three organizations working together. Though there may be much more to that. )

As for "what on earth", "on earth" simply adds emphasis to "what". ("What the hell" and "what the f*ck" are also possible in colloquial conversations.)

I hope this helps.