By Amir Zia
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The News
The civilian leadership has had enough failures. It must now rise to the challenge. Ignore non-issues like demands for a mohajir sooba and do what is doable for the betterment of the people.
It all started a few months ago with a flood of graffiti on the major roads of Karachi, demanding a separate province for Mohajirs – the Urdu-speaking people who migrated at Partition in 1947 from India and their descendants. Then, there were a few demonstrations under the banner of the shadowy Mohajir Sooba Tehreek (Mohajir Province Movement), whose backers were little known for most people of Karachi in the initial phase.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement – seen as the architect of ethnic “Mohajir politics” – was quick to distance itself from this demand, reiterating its official position that the party believes in the unity of the Sindh province. The MQM’s pro-Sindh stance reflected its desire to emerge as a multi-ethnic party, with roots in the other parts of the country, though many of its detractors challenge this claim.
The graffiti and the relatively small pro-mohajir province demonstrations, however, were quick to ignite a strong reaction. The Sindhi nationalists and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were not the only ones to vent out their fury. The top leadership of major opposition parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, also strongly criticised the demand for the division of Sindh. The anger and passion demonstrated in the debate not just gave a relative non-issue the centre-stage but further polarised politics to a new, dangerous level in urban Sindh, which is already facing ethnic, sectarian and religious violence.
As the nationalist forces warned of a bloodbath, there were hardly any voices of sanity underlining the fact that the demand for a mohajir province is being made by a small fringe group, which in no way appears likely to become a major challenge for the status quo. Even with the fact that some former MQM lawmakers, based in the United States, including Arif Siddiqui, Abid Akhter, Mateen Yusuf and Farukh Saleem, threw their weight behind the mohajir province demand, it still could not be seen as a game-changer. But definitely it deepened mistrust and uncertainty among the nationalist and anti-MQM forces which saw it as an opportunity to up the ante and use the bogey of the mohajir province demand as a rallying cry for their supporters.
The attack by unidentified gunmen on the May 22 anti-mohajir province rally, in which at least a dozen people were killed, underlined the explosiveness of the situation in this restive city where all major political and ethnic groups are armed to the teeth. The rally was organised by the Sindhi nationalist Awami Tehreek and supported by several other groups, including the banned Peoples’ Amn Committee, which are already on a war-path with the MQM and trying to carve out a niche for themselves in the country’s commercial and industrial hub. As the major and minor political players blamed one another for orchestrating the attack, the most burning and pressing issue of establishing peace in Karachi, where more than 520 people have been killed in politically or religiously motivated violence and gang wars so far this year, appeared nowhere on the agenda.
For all the peace loving people of Karachi – who luckily are still in a sweeping majority regardless of their ethnic background and political affiliations – this new fissure in the body politic of their province definitely remains a bad omen.
It is an irony that most political forces, rather than trying to heal the wounds of this traumatised and violence-plagued city, remain bent upon inflicting new ones for short-term goals. Tackling lawlessness, rampant crime and violence appear nowhere on their agendas that appears to be dictated by non-issues in which the emotional pro or anti-mohajir province debate is the latest addition.
Although demands for a new Hazara province by dividing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or creation of the Seraiki or Bhawalpur provinces by truncating Punjab remain in vogue in the mainstream politics, none stir so much passion and heat as the mere mention of the division of Sindh because of its particular ethnic composition – no matter how fragile is the voice advocating this issue.
Objectively speaking, the very fact that the MQM – representing urban Sindh – remains aloof from this demand is enough to take the wind out of its sail. The very ethnic composition of urban Sindh, especially of Karachi in which the entire country has financial and commercial stakes, makes the division of Sindh highly improbable on ethnic grounds. Certain quarters may try to use this demand as a bargaining chip or express frustration over issues confronting urban Sindh, but it remains unlikely for the movement to gain a momentum without the backing of the key urban force – the MQM.
But the stronger the reaction to the demand made by a minor group, the greater are the chances that it will transform into an emotional battle-cry, which has a lot of disruptive potential, although it can be addressed easily through sensible debate or it can simply be ignored.
This in no way means that the way the federal and provincial governments and the establishment are tackling the multi-faceted problems of Karachi and the rest of urban Sindh can also be brushed under the carpet. True, that any move to divide Sindh on ethnic grounds is a recipe for disaster and would result in Balkanisation, but empowering people at the grassroots level remains a just demand and help in amicably resolving many contradictions which fester under this democratic dispensation due to the absence of local governments.
The opposition of the ruling parties to the local or district governments is indeed a sad reflection of their misjudged priorities. It remains an absurdity of our politics that elected governments always shy away from devolution of powers at the grassroots level, which is aggressively pushed by the military-led regimes. Agreed that the military rulers use it to perpetuate their rule, but the effectiveness of these district or local governments remain undeniable and are a must for any functioning democracy. Effective district governments in a megaplois like Karachi as well as in smaller cities are a must to tackle urban problems – from development, civic and social issues to even those of law and order and crime. But the ruling parties are in no mood to transfer power to the local level as it hurts their vested interest as they fear to lose control over both revenue and a big arm of bureaucracy.
The Local Body System, promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf in 2001, offers a good framework, which tragically has been scrapped. It can be revived by building a consensus among various stakeholders, but with an aim to give responsibility as well as powers including those of raising revenues and overseeing policing, to the district governments. Only such a system would help tackle the urban issues more effectively.
A strong local body system will also help in bridging the ethnic divides as it would force political parties to reach out to all the ethnic groups and communities for vote. This will result in a more egalitarian development and progress in the city. Concrete steps towards devolution and decentralisation of power will automatically defeat radical demands and pave the way for a politics in which any party aiming to be at the helm of affairs in a city will be have to woo all the ethnic groups and communities.
There are solutions to every problem. We do not have to reinvent the wheel every time. The crucial thing which we need is a little commonsense, intellectual honesty and a will to develop consensus among different stakeholders. The civilian leadership has had enough failures. It must now rise to the challenge. Ignore non-issues like demands for a mohajir sooba and do what is doable for the betterment of the people. That is our only question.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The News
The civilian leadership has had enough failures. It must now rise to the challenge. Ignore non-issues like demands for a mohajir sooba and do what is doable for the betterment of the people.
It all started a few months ago with a flood of graffiti on the major roads of Karachi, demanding a separate province for Mohajirs – the Urdu-speaking people who migrated at Partition in 1947 from India and their descendants. Then, there were a few demonstrations under the banner of the shadowy Mohajir Sooba Tehreek (Mohajir Province Movement), whose backers were little known for most people of Karachi in the initial phase.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement – seen as the architect of ethnic “Mohajir politics” – was quick to distance itself from this demand, reiterating its official position that the party believes in the unity of the Sindh province. The MQM’s pro-Sindh stance reflected its desire to emerge as a multi-ethnic party, with roots in the other parts of the country, though many of its detractors challenge this claim.
The graffiti and the relatively small pro-mohajir province demonstrations, however, were quick to ignite a strong reaction. The Sindhi nationalists and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) were not the only ones to vent out their fury. The top leadership of major opposition parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, also strongly criticised the demand for the division of Sindh. The anger and passion demonstrated in the debate not just gave a relative non-issue the centre-stage but further polarised politics to a new, dangerous level in urban Sindh, which is already facing ethnic, sectarian and religious violence.
As the nationalist forces warned of a bloodbath, there were hardly any voices of sanity underlining the fact that the demand for a mohajir province is being made by a small fringe group, which in no way appears likely to become a major challenge for the status quo. Even with the fact that some former MQM lawmakers, based in the United States, including Arif Siddiqui, Abid Akhter, Mateen Yusuf and Farukh Saleem, threw their weight behind the mohajir province demand, it still could not be seen as a game-changer. But definitely it deepened mistrust and uncertainty among the nationalist and anti-MQM forces which saw it as an opportunity to up the ante and use the bogey of the mohajir province demand as a rallying cry for their supporters.
The attack by unidentified gunmen on the May 22 anti-mohajir province rally, in which at least a dozen people were killed, underlined the explosiveness of the situation in this restive city where all major political and ethnic groups are armed to the teeth. The rally was organised by the Sindhi nationalist Awami Tehreek and supported by several other groups, including the banned Peoples’ Amn Committee, which are already on a war-path with the MQM and trying to carve out a niche for themselves in the country’s commercial and industrial hub. As the major and minor political players blamed one another for orchestrating the attack, the most burning and pressing issue of establishing peace in Karachi, where more than 520 people have been killed in politically or religiously motivated violence and gang wars so far this year, appeared nowhere on the agenda.
For all the peace loving people of Karachi – who luckily are still in a sweeping majority regardless of their ethnic background and political affiliations – this new fissure in the body politic of their province definitely remains a bad omen.
It is an irony that most political forces, rather than trying to heal the wounds of this traumatised and violence-plagued city, remain bent upon inflicting new ones for short-term goals. Tackling lawlessness, rampant crime and violence appear nowhere on their agendas that appears to be dictated by non-issues in which the emotional pro or anti-mohajir province debate is the latest addition.
Although demands for a new Hazara province by dividing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or creation of the Seraiki or Bhawalpur provinces by truncating Punjab remain in vogue in the mainstream politics, none stir so much passion and heat as the mere mention of the division of Sindh because of its particular ethnic composition – no matter how fragile is the voice advocating this issue.
Objectively speaking, the very fact that the MQM – representing urban Sindh – remains aloof from this demand is enough to take the wind out of its sail. The very ethnic composition of urban Sindh, especially of Karachi in which the entire country has financial and commercial stakes, makes the division of Sindh highly improbable on ethnic grounds. Certain quarters may try to use this demand as a bargaining chip or express frustration over issues confronting urban Sindh, but it remains unlikely for the movement to gain a momentum without the backing of the key urban force – the MQM.
But the stronger the reaction to the demand made by a minor group, the greater are the chances that it will transform into an emotional battle-cry, which has a lot of disruptive potential, although it can be addressed easily through sensible debate or it can simply be ignored.
This in no way means that the way the federal and provincial governments and the establishment are tackling the multi-faceted problems of Karachi and the rest of urban Sindh can also be brushed under the carpet. True, that any move to divide Sindh on ethnic grounds is a recipe for disaster and would result in Balkanisation, but empowering people at the grassroots level remains a just demand and help in amicably resolving many contradictions which fester under this democratic dispensation due to the absence of local governments.
The opposition of the ruling parties to the local or district governments is indeed a sad reflection of their misjudged priorities. It remains an absurdity of our politics that elected governments always shy away from devolution of powers at the grassroots level, which is aggressively pushed by the military-led regimes. Agreed that the military rulers use it to perpetuate their rule, but the effectiveness of these district or local governments remain undeniable and are a must for any functioning democracy. Effective district governments in a megaplois like Karachi as well as in smaller cities are a must to tackle urban problems – from development, civic and social issues to even those of law and order and crime. But the ruling parties are in no mood to transfer power to the local level as it hurts their vested interest as they fear to lose control over both revenue and a big arm of bureaucracy.
The Local Body System, promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf in 2001, offers a good framework, which tragically has been scrapped. It can be revived by building a consensus among various stakeholders, but with an aim to give responsibility as well as powers including those of raising revenues and overseeing policing, to the district governments. Only such a system would help tackle the urban issues more effectively.
A strong local body system will also help in bridging the ethnic divides as it would force political parties to reach out to all the ethnic groups and communities for vote. This will result in a more egalitarian development and progress in the city. Concrete steps towards devolution and decentralisation of power will automatically defeat radical demands and pave the way for a politics in which any party aiming to be at the helm of affairs in a city will be have to woo all the ethnic groups and communities.
There are solutions to every problem. We do not have to reinvent the wheel every time. The crucial thing which we need is a little commonsense, intellectual honesty and a will to develop consensus among different stakeholders. The civilian leadership has had enough failures. It must now rise to the challenge. Ignore non-issues like demands for a mohajir sooba and do what is doable for the betterment of the people. That is our only question.
Rationale for Mohajir Province ..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.scribd.com/doc/96183692/Abb-Sindh-Taqseem-Hona-Chahiyay-by-Dr-Saleem-Haider
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