written by Rashida Saleem printable version send your friend

Monday, 18 January 2010

Of recently, the PPP-MQM coalition in Sindh has seen many upheavals. Both partners gave many fiery statements in the press to vent their anger, and issues like the Ashura arson in Karachi, the appointment of Administrators and the likely mechanism of the upcoming local bodies’ election, have developed many more rifts in the Sindh government. The likely scenario in Sindh will be more complex when the local body’s elections are held. Actually, the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), which emerged in the urban areas of Sindh in the turbulent period of 1988, as a political alternative to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has emerged as the most formidable force to reckon with. The real importance of MQM lies in its hold on majority of the vital vote bank comprising mainly of middle class settled in urban areas of Sindh. While PPP claims to be a leading national party having roots in all the four provinces of Pakistan, Punjab and Sindh remained its main forte.

Sindh is divided into urban and rural areas but unlike other provinces, its ethnic division in those rural and urban areas is visibly sharp.  The nature of the relationship between   MQM and PPP has always remained fragile in Sindh as MQM represents the Urdu speaking middle class while PPP generally represents the interests of rural Sindhis. PPP’s strength depends mainly on the feudalist control in rural Sindh, since it failed to attract the urban community which is mainly composed of Mohajirs. Similarly, MQM has also failed to attract the rural Sindh because of its ethnic pomposity.

Both the communities have had a long history of hostilities against each other. The fears of the Urdu speaking community against PPP date back to 1972’s language riots in Sindh. Accordingly, the Mohajirs’ role in ousting Sindh’s most populous leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, from power and later on the founding of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement to counter the PPP led Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in Sindh, further infuriated the pro-PPP Sindhis. Therefore, Sindh has always been a bone of contention between Sindhis and Mohajirs. But despite that, they also have to join hands with each other in the past. However this   proved even more unsuccessful as both MQM and PPP   never showed any sincerity in mutual teamwork.

However, it is a good omen that both PPP and MQM   joined hands after the turbulent 2008 General Elections in Sindh and Centre. During the twenty months of their joint working, both parties have solved many issues related to Sindh. But recent target killings, loot and plunder after the Ashura attack, have further messed up the Sindh politics. Both partners criticized each other for the arson and began mudslinging on the subsequent situation. MQM reiterated its allegation of not taking any action by the provincial and federal governments for security, and it also threatened to quit the coalition government in case of not getting any redressal of their ‘grievances’. PPP leadership also showed the same old reservations against the MQM and CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and also gave a casual hunch of MQM’s involvement in target killing of their workers. But the crux of the matter is Local Bodies System. Of recently, both have agreed to appoint political administrators for three months. A bill will be presented in the Sindh Assembly and local body elections will be conducted within a period of three months. As per the agreement, administrators in Karachi and Hyderabad will be appointed in consultation with the MQM.   Though MQM has its majority vote bank intact, it has little hope of winning Local bodies’ elections under the supervision of neutral Administrators, and selection of Nazims would be a daunting task to be fully handled in the presence of the Centre being the opponent. MQM’s all out win would be difficult in the presence of PPP appointed Administrators. The zero sum game revolves around taking control of the industrial capital of Pakistan. Each party wants to have its hegemony over the city. The situation demands the pledge of the provincial government to conduct elections in fair manners. It is the responsibility of both MQM and PPP in this situation to respect the mandate of each other. The main responsibility of power sharing lies on PPP as it is in the Centre government and any sort of imbalance in the power sharing can mess up the city politics.

 Both the political partners in Sindh should remember that they are natives of Sindh and any rivalry between them would not only prove fruitless for them but also for the Sindh province as well and more importantly, for the country. Any lingering difference   will lead the city and most probably the country into disaster which we cannot afford in this situation. We have already witnessed the greater disaster of the Taliban and the earlier political spar between them resulted because of their differences in the 1990s. Since 1988, both the parties, unfortunately, never gave apposite weight to each other’s rights and consequently, the establishment used this enmity to destabilize the democratic governments. They should not be used by the third force again.  Both the partners should work with each other and weed out the criminal elements of their respective parties. Moreover, both should try to endorse each other’s rights; only this will save the PPP-MQM coalition. The ethnic divide of the province demands equal socio-economic development, rule of law and social justice; coupled with the equitable opportunities for all. This will assure the stability of Sindh province.

Once, late maverick Sindhi politician Jam Sadiq Ali suggested two options for Sindhis and Mohajirs for living in Sindh; saying that they should “Either live as human beings or kill each others like animals” and expressed his desire that they should live like humans.