The Arrow Once More?

By Amir Zia

Monthly Newsline

July 2018

PPP critics predict some nasty surprises for the party in the 2018 elections, but given the track record and the absence of an effective leadership within the opposition, it is likely to win Sindh for the third time in a row, albeit with a slashed number of seats.

Who will be the overall frontrunner in the 2018 general elections from Sindh? The answer to this question is obvious – the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Despite all the allegations of corruption and grievances against a decade of poor governance and misrule, the PPP seems in control of the electoral battlefield of Sindh — its traditional stronghold.

It is not just the Bhutto name that still casts its spell; the dominance of the PPP in the second-tier cities and rural parts of Sindh is also due to the fact that there appears to be no effective alternate leadership to pose a serious challenge to the party.

The entry of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PPP’s young chairman, in the electoral field for the first time is also expected to give a boost to the PPP in most parts of Sindh.  

Another factor which the PPP hopes will help it not only maintain its grip but extend its gains as well in Election 2018, compared to 2013, is the inclusion of electable candidates – read powerful landlords – in the party. “It may not go down well with the PPP’s ideological old-guards, but Asif Ali Zardari sahib (former president and co-chairman of the PPP) himself took the lead to bring powerful feudal lords within the party fold to ensure seats for the party in the coming elections,” said a PPP insider requesting anonymity.  

The third factor, which is likely to help the PPP’s bid for a third consecutive term to form the provincial government in Sindh and send members to the National Assembly, is its influence over the civil administration. Although there is a caretaker set-up, the neutrality of many administrative officers remains doubtful because they have been cultivated and supported during the past two terms of the PPP. All this gives a huge edge to the PPP.  

However, at least on paper, there are some big names and forces, including the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), trying to challenge the PPP in its bastion of power, but the prospect of their candidates giving a tough fight in the elections, barring a few districts, appears bleak. 

“There is a strong negative sentiment against the PPP because of its poor performance, but the GDA has failed to capitalise on this discontent,” says Dr. Jabbar Khattak, chief editor and publisher of the leading Sindh-language daily, Awami Awaz. “The anger against the PPP won’t transform into a wave because of the lack of leadership.”

The GDA comprises traditional anti-PPP forces including Pir Pagara’s Pakistan Muslim League-Functional; Ayaz Latif Palijo’s Qaumi Awami Tehreek; the PPP’s Workers’ faction led by Naheed Khan and her spouse, Dr. Safdar Abbasi; Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi’s National Peoples’ Party and Arbab Ghulam Rahim’s Peoples’ Muslim League. Along with these groups, there are individuals like the powerful landlord Ali Gohar Mahar in Ghotki and PPP dissidents, Dr. Zulfikar and Fehmida Mirza in Badin and several others in various constituencies, who are supporting the GDA. Some Sindhi nationalists, including Jalal Mohammed Shah, are also in alliance with the GDA in select constituencies, along with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. 

Ayaz Latif Palijo, the secretary general of the GDA, claimed that the anti-PPP alliance would form the provincial government in Sindh. “Out of 25 districts in Sindh, the GDA has a clear edge in at least 18,” he said while talking to Newsline. “In Umerkot, Thar, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Sanghar, Naushero Feroze, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Dadu and Jacobabad, we have a clear edge, while in Nawabshah, Sukkur, Larkana, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Tando Allahyar and Hala we expect a neck-to-neck fight,” he said.

However, GDA detractors say that these great expectations do not reflect the ground reality.

According to Dr. Jabbar Khattak, the GDA secretary-general, Ayaz Palijo, himself does not have a solid constituency. “The GDA comprises the same forces which failed to make any impact in the past… the PTI factor has a nominal presence in Sindh. Only Liaquat Jatoi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi are the two serious PTI candidates in rural Sindh,” he said. “The parties and individuals comprising GDA have a few pockets and can act as a pressure group but their presence is confined to holding small demonstrations and issuing press statements.”

In the 2013 general elections, the PPP bagged 32 National Assembly seats out of 60, while the parties comprising GDA and its allies got just eight, including PTI’s lone seat from Karachi. MQM won 18 seats and one seat was won by the PML-N. For the provincial assembly elections, the PPP got 94 seats in a house of 168, while the parties within the GDA and its allies secured a total of 15 seats including the reserved seats for women and the religious minorities. The MQM and the PML-N won 50 and seven seats respectively.

In the 2008 elections, PPP won 33 National Assembly seats, while the parties now comprising GDA and its allies won four. In those elections the MQM bagged 19 seats, while four seats went to PML-Q. In the provincial assembly, the PPP got 90 seats, while parties comprising GDA and its allies secured 11 seats. The MQM, PML-Q and ANP won 50, 11 and two seats respectively. 

Khattak maintains that despite the PPP’s abysmal performance, its opposition stands on a much weaker wicket. “For instance, the stature of the current Pir Pagara is not that of his father. There are differences even within the Pagara family. Unlike his father, who was good at bringing notables together, the current Pir of Pagara lacks this capacity also… And let’s not forget that even the senior Pir Pagara was defeated in the 1988 elections by PPP’s Pervez Ali Shah,” he said. “The GDA is an alliance of convenience, which has many aspirants for the chief ministership of the province. Moreover, the PPP has a far better organisational structure compared to its rivals in rural Sindh and will be able to bring in voters on election day.”

But journalist and analyst, Manzoor Sheikh, who is affiliated with Mehran TV, maintains that the anti-PPP forces in Sindh are expected to perform better than in the last election. “GDA has emerged as an important faction and anti-PPP forces are in a position to dominate at least seven to eight districts and give a tough fight in several others. There have been new political alignments and some powerful families which once supported the PPP, now stand on the other side. I see an anti-PPP tide in Badin, Tando Jam, Tando Allahyar, Naushero Feroze and Khairpur. I see tough competition in Sukkur as well where PPP’s Khursheed Shah is running for a National Assembly seat, while his son and nephew are campaigning for two provincial assembly seats which has created resentment among the people.”  However, said Sheikh, “The Bilawal factor has been overplayed as people know that he is not in charge of the party.” 

In a surprising development, a number of PPP candidates, including Nisar Khuhro, Naveed Qamar and Murad Ali Shah, were either manhandled or aggressively questioned by their constituents when they visited their constituencies. Even Bilawal was not spared when he visited Lyari; his convoy was stoned. A sign of the times perhaps, underlining a growing awareness among the voters who expect their representatives to perform.

PPP critics predict some nasty surprises for the party in the 2018 elections, but given the track record and the absence of an effective leadership within the opposition, it is likely to win Sindh for the third time in a row, albeit with a slashed number of seats.

The Unholy Nexus

By Amir Zia

May 19, 2014

The News 

In no other major city of Pakistan do we find this kind of criminalisation of politics and politicisation of crime. Karachi’s sheer population size and its diverse ethnic composition make the situation complicated against the backdrop of rampant corruption at the official level and past attempts by the security agencies to prop up one political or ethnic force against the other

Crime and politics usually go hand-in-hand in the urban jungle called Karachi. This has long been an open state secret in the land of the pure – a sort of fact that always remained in the knowledge, but seldom formally acknowledged, at the official level. 

Ask our elected lords and masters about the unholy nexus between crime and politics in Sindh – especially Karachi – and they will either indulge in self-denial or blame their rivals for this evil.

However, the hard fact remains that Sindh’s political parties – representing rural as well as urban areas – are mostly responsible for Karachi’s law and order woes. The PPP, its part-ally, part-rival the MQM, the ANP, the small Sindhi nationalist groups, the religious and sectarian parties – they all have contributed to our city’s plight, each according to its size and weight. 

Therefore, it was interesting to see on May 14 some of these very political stakeholders sitting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the top military brass that included Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to ponder over the law and order challenges of Karachi. The reported crux of the chief secretary Sindh and director general Sindh Rangers’ separate briefings on the occasion was how political patronage and interference in policing have been hampering the operation against criminals and terrorists from getting desired results.

The two briefings reportedly exposed the collapse of governance and administration under the PPP-led rule in Sindh since 2008, which should hardly be a revelation for former president Asif Ali Zardari, who was sitting next to the prime minister, and his other PPP top stalwarts including the Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. 

Some of the figures presented during the briefings were an eye opener. For instance, out of the 1,747 hardened criminals arrested since the launch of the Karachi operation on September 5, only 27 have been convicted. The two major political parties – the PPP and the MQM – have proved to be the biggest hindrance for both the police and the Rangers, preventing them from performing their duties. 

The PPP ministers kept the pressure on the police force by their successful and unsuccessful attempts to bring police officers of their own choice on important slots and thus creating a sense of uncertainty among the senior members of the Karachi police team.

The provincial government even dragged its feet in issuing the red warrants for the arrest of notorious criminals who allegedly have connections with some of the members of the ruling party here.

The MQM kept the heat on through its series of protests and attempts to make the operation controversial, accusing the law-enforcement agencies of extrajudicial killings of its workers and their alleged forced disappearances. The Sindh government, on its part, failed to activate the four committees including monitoring and grievance committees that have to ensure the effectiveness and transparency of the operation.

If Army Chief Raheel Sharif made it clear that the operation won’t succeed until the political forces take its ownership for peace and rule of law in the city, the prime minister warned against allowing terrorists from using the ‘political umbrella.’

It is perhaps ironic that the push for peace and indiscriminate action against criminals is not coming from the two main stakeholders in Sindh’s politics, but from the federal government and the military. The political forces of Sindh appear as the reluctant partners in this operation, which prime minister has vowed to take to its next phase now. 

The reluctance of the local political players of Sindh seems understandable. Most of the extortion mafias operate their rackets in this teeming port city with the blessings of one or the other political, ethnic, religious or sectarian group. The encroachment of prized land is made possible here only under political patronage. These forces fight bloody turf wars. They kill rivals and dissident members of their own. Some openly allow thugs in their ranks to indulge in the deadly drug and weapons’ trade. The gun-wielding boys do all the dirty work of their political bosses and, when free, also take assignments of their own.

In a nutshell, most major political stakeholders of Karachi are a part of the problem of lawlessness, crime and violence. Their narrow vested interests and financial stakes are the biggest obstacles in establishing rule of law here.

In no other major city of Pakistan do we find this kind of criminalisation of politics and politicisation of crime. Karachi’s sheer population size and its diverse ethnic composition make the situation complicated against the backdrop of rampant corruption at the official level and past attempts by the security agencies to prop up one political or ethnic force against the other. And in doing this, our agencies have shown a lot of tolerance for crimes, acts of terrorism and killings committed by militants considered on the right side of the fence.

Is this going to change any time soon? Maybe…The army chief reportedly assured the civilian leaders of “100 percent” sincerity and cooperation in beating crime and lawlessness in Karachi, which is a heartening development. Prime Minister Sharif’s often repeated resolve to bring peace in Karachi should also raise expectations that the government will match its words with action.

In the past, many such high-level meetings did create a lot of hype and hope for peace, but the bitter fact remains that despite all such tall claims the ground reality in Karachi remained unchanged. The main reason for this remains the lack of political will that prevented any meaningful structural reforms mainly in the police, and the judiciary.

The police need to be freed from political interference and must be given operational independence. The government must also ensure that all the recruitment and appointments in the police force are on merit and officers are appointed for a fixed term.

Similarly, there is an urgent need to introduce modern investigation techniques, which cannot be done without changing the entire training manual of the police force. The old colonial-era system, which has been corrupted and tarnished over the years, won’t simply work in the present times. None of these recommendations are new. Many of our veteran police officers have been urging for such reforms for decades now. Is anyone listening? 

There also remains a dire need to set up more courts, including anti-terror courts, for speedy dispensation of justice. A witness-protection plan along with foolproof security for judges and prosecutors are also a must.

The government needs to remove the dichotomy in the legal system, which it has introduced by placing a moratorium on the death penalty. This only benefits people convicted for heinous crimes, including terrorism and murders.

Only a holistic approach, political will and structural reforms can help realise the dream of beating crime and terrorism. Our rulers have paid enough lip service to this cause. It is time for action. Let’s hope that this time the civil and military leadership does not end up disappointing the people.

 

Heroes And Villains

By Amir Zia
Monday, January 13, 2014
The News

The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends. 
 
Top civil and military leaders are showering tributes on the slain super cop of Karachi Mohammad Aslam Khan, aka Chaudhry Aslam, who was martyred in a suicide bomb attack by the local Taliban militants in Karachi on January 9 along with his two other colleagues. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif praised his bravery and condemned the terror attack. Army Chief General Raheel Sharif lauded his services and said that the whole nation remains united against terrorism. 
This horrendous attack has saddened the nation in general and citizens of Karachi in particular. Regardless of the controversies that swirled around Chaudhry Aslam all through his career, he was a brave-heart. He became a larger than life character in his lifetime for the single-mindedness and zeal with which he fought criminals and terrorists alike. At least five assassination attempts, including a bomb attack at his house in September 2011, failed to dampen his spirits. He courted danger and risked his life on a daily basis and never seemed to cower under pressure.
For criminals and terrorists, he was a living nightmare – a merciless officer who used to turn up the heat on them. Human rights groups may object to his style and method, but ask a common citizen of this crime and violence-plagued city and you will find great support for officers like Chaudhry Aslam.
While many politicians, including those in power and the cheerleaders of the Al-Qaeda-inspired Taliban, confused the issue of terrorism by calling it a foreign war and begged for talks with the enemy of the state and the people, Chaudhry Aslam was amazingly clear-headed about his mission.
“If the state shows its scared then it loses the right to call itself the state”, he was quoted as saying in a story carried in this paper. “As long as I am alive in Karachi, I will never let that happen.”
In this day and age of uncertainty and muddled thinking, Chaudhry Aslam’s certainty and clarity of mind needed more than simple courage. He acted on what he believed.
Prime Minister Sharif has rightly called him courageous. But isn’t the prime minister’s statement highly paradoxical and ironic? Why? Because the PML-N government believes in talks with an enemy that is committing brutalities against this nation almost every single day. Yet, there are politicians, including PML-N stalwarts, who are ready to forget and forgive all the heinous crimes and acts of terror committed by the Taliban. They believe in appeasing the Taliban by offering them talks and remain reluctant to fight the war against terrorism and extremism which are consuming our society from within. Should we call this policy a tribute or betrayal to the blood of our martyrs? 
It is the extremists who are calling the shots and proactively pursuing their agenda – from attacking sensitive defence installations and killing security officials to blowing up schools, bombing places of worship and murdering polio vaccinators. But the civilian government remains directionless in confronting this life and death internal challenge faced by Pakistan.
Chaudhry Aslam is not the first officer who has been martyred in the line of duty. Sadly, he won’t be the last one either. He has been lucky that the entire nation rose to pay tribute to this brave officer. However, the sacrifices of others, who went down unsung, are no less important.
Among the recent victims, we have a 14-year-old boy from Hangu, Aitizaz Hasan. He was martyred while challenging a suicide bomber targeting his school. The list of such courageous men, women and children is long and getting longer.
Still many politicians and religious leaders in this Islamic republic – from Imran Khan to Munawwar Hasan – have the audacity of calling this conflict a ‘foreign’ war. They mourn the deaths of terrorist kingpins like Hakeemullah Mehsud with greater emotion than the martyrdom of those killed for Pakistan.
How one would like to see Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan now take up the floor of parliament to condemn the martyrdom of Chaudhry Aslam and Aitizaz Hasan as he did in his emotional outburst of grief over the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a US drone attack.
When the battle lines and the distinction between heroes and villains are so blurred in the minds of decision makers, Chaudhry Aslam and the like – despite all their bravery and conviction – can only win tactical victories. The war can be lost if timid and weak leaders are in-charge. Yes, the army of lions can collapse like a bubble if the leadership is in the hands of jackals.
Our men-in-uniform are performing their duty with courage despite all the grey shades that have been included by our politicians in the theatre of war that is now Pakistan. The conduct of the civilian leaders offsets and undermines the courage and sacrifices of our security officials.
Have thousands of our brave soldiers, army officers and policemen given their lives in vain if the rulers want to strike a deal with militants who want to use Pakistani territory to foment terrorism and violence within the country and across the globe? What about all those civilians killed in terrorist attacks and suicide bombings? Will their families get no justice? Will they be content that Maulana Samiul Haq and a few others like him have been assigned by the government to try to bring the Taliban on the negotiation table despite knowing that they reject Pakistan’s constitution and democracy?
Compare the bravery of Chaudhry Aslam and others, who fought and died for Pakistan, with that of the PML-N leaders in the way they shrunk back from lifting the moratorium on death penalty after receiving threats from militants wanting to save death row terror convicts from being executed.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and aides must rethink the choices they have made so far and the road not taken. It is heartening that they are acknowledging the courage of our fallen heroes, but it is high time that they must also take some heart and provide the ideological leadership that is needed to fight and win this internal war. The civilian leaders need to confront the extremist narrative that has seeped into popular discourse, and provide a counter-narrative by taking ownership of the conflict.
The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends. These heroes need to be paid tribute to by the actions of our rulers and not by the compromises they make with their killers. Let’s fight this war to end war.
Tailpiece: The assassination of Chaudhry Aslam raises questions about the direction of the much-celebrated operation against criminals and terrorists in Karachi. There have been hundreds of arrests and many criminals shot to death since the start of the operation on September 5, but aren’t our law-enforcement agencies – by design or default – ignoring the vast ungoverned territories of the city where the writ of the state remains non-existent. 
There are many low-income neighbourhoods that have been virtually taken over by the Taliban. The Pakhtun secular Awami National Party has long been forced to pack up its operations from these areas. More than 50 ANP workers have been killed. Here, Taliban courts now decide matters, settle disputes and collect funds. The law-enforcement agencies are unable to make their presence permanent in these localities and at best can conduct hit-and-run operations. These are the very places where killers of people like Chaudhry Aslam rest, regroup, reorganise and plan their future ventures.
Any operation against such terrorist safe havens is directly linked to the federal government’s decision on how it plans to fight or not fight this war on the broader level. The few Taliban fighters arrested here or killed there will remain fire-fighting measures in which Chaudhry Aslam’s absence will be felt a lot.

Delusion Versus Reality

By Amir Zia

Monday, December 9, 2013

The News 
The lull in killings that followed the start of the Karachi operation is part of the old pattern in which after every spike in violence there comes a similar period of relative calm. 

Despite the three-month long continuing operation against criminals and terrorists, Karachi remains as dangerous and lawless as ever. Refuse to accept what many of our top government officials want us to believe – that the operation has brought the crime rate down and managed to rein in killers, extortionists, drug peddlers and robbers.

Our rulers live in a make-believe world. They wear rose-tinted glasses and feel safe in their bubble. The high walls of official residences, siren-hooting motorcades and empty roads – where no trespassing is allowed when the lords and masters of today’s Pakistan move from one place to another – make everything around them appear hunky-dory.

But the rough and tough real world of Karachi’s ordinary citizens is unsafe and treacherous. In this world, killing and being killed by a bullet is far easier than getting an appointment from a doctor at a government health facility or enrollment of your child in school. Whatever the government statistics may claim, here killers strike at will. Assassins come, shoot and simply walk away. The business of killing has become as simple as that.

The first six days of December are enough to put a big hole in the grand delusion that the Karachi operation is heading in the right direction. These six days saw more than three dozen people shot to death in various parts of the city. December 3 proved the worst, a day on which more than a dozen people were killed. The list of victims included Sunni and Shia clerics, seminary students, policemen, political activists and several ordinary citizens. 

Let the top police and rangers officials bask in the glory of ‘successful raids’ by their men, which led to the arrests of over 10,000 suspects and seizure of a huge number of weapons. The chest-thumping done by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his talented Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and bigwigs of the provincial government fails to alter the ground reality where the non-state actors have greater control over violence, which should ideally be the prerogative of the state.

Despite the operation, assassins have effectively managed to underline the bitter fact that the police and the Rangers are not the masters of the situation in this teeming port city.

The lull in killings that followed the start of the Karachi operation is part of the old pattern in which after every spike in violence there comes a similar period of relative calm. Haven’t Karachi-ites seen this before?

The players and faces of executioners change and new brutal forces join in the game of death, pushing lawlessness to the next higher level. But what doesn’t changes is the state’s inability and unwillingness to deal with the challenge. As a result Karachi – with its myriad ethnic, sectarian, social, economic and political conflicts and contradictions – now seems to be resting on a gunpowder keg which can ignite and explode anytime.

The state institutions are on the back foot. After every fresh bout of violence, they either get into a fire-fighting mode or prefer to take a backseat and let the conflict temporarily subside on its own. In both these cases, the root causes of the strife remain unaddressed. 

Take for example the issue of sectarian killings. The security forces do arrest notorious militants, but they are seldom brought to justice because of weak investigations, poor prosecution and a highly flawed judicial system. These convicted operate terror networks from prisons against the backdrop of an ill-judged moratorium on hanging placed by the previous government in 2008. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government continued with the cessation in hanging in the larger interest of convicts. In today’s Pakistan, convicted murderers have human rights, but those they kill – and their families – have none. They are just forgotten to appease the European Union, the rights groups and the outlawed terror organisations.

This is only one aspect of the problem. The state and its institutions also fail to act against those nurseries which produce the extremist mindset. Pulpits and seminaries continue to operate unregulated. The current government has gone an extra mile to appease extremists by its desperation to hold talks with the Al-Qaeda-inspired local Taliban. No wonder, our security forces do not know whether to treat these forces as friends or foes. The security apparatus stands paralysed thanks to the confusion brought about by the mantra of talks by the right-wing religious opposition and even the government’s stalwarts – foremost among them being our interior minister.

When the man in charge of the country’s internal security fails to recognise threat and give direction, it would be unjust to blame the security agencies at his command to do the needful. The same is the case with militants affiliated with political and mainstream religious parties. They also benefit from the shortcomings of the prosecution and the judicial system.

Political considerations prevent security officials from going for a decisive action. The so-called operations and crackdowns are carried out in fits and starts. Policing gets further compromised when sitting provincial ministers patronise ring leaders of extortionist and criminal mafias. 

Let’s not forget the banned Peoples’ Amn Committee of Lyari and its ties with some of the stalwarts of the Pakistan People’s Party. No wonder the committee’s top-gun Uzair Baloch escapes abroad so easily. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, despite its emphatic lip-service on breaking ties with militancy, continues to harbour militants under its wings. 

There are a few things that never change. The Awami National Party, the Sunni Tehreek, the Jamaat-e-Islami and several others including Sindhi nationalist parties all have armed gangs at their disposal and many of them directly involved in crime and terrorism.

To add to this problem is the fact that authorities are seen as unfair players in Karachi’s cauldron. The PPP now represents the interests of the rural ruling class. Most of its actions – including continuously framing and changing laws to make the local bodies as ineffective as possible; supporting one gang of outlaws to counter the muscle power of the MQM; and heavily biased structure of provincial taxation – are seen to be against the interest of the urban population.

Unfortunately the PPP leadership is perceived as too self-serving and corrupt to manage the affairs of Karachi fairly. The police and other agencies at the provincial government’s disposal get tainted and their actions become controversial because of the trust gap between the rulers and the ruled. Disconnect between the government and aspirations of the people remains a major stumbling block in dealing with crime and terrorism in the city. 

The multitude of social problems and vast economic disparities only makes the Karachi challenge more complex and grave. They provide readymade ingredients, which allow crime mafias and terrorist networks to thrive and expand. 

The crisis in Karachi can still be managed, but it requires difficult decisions. The police force needs to be free from political pressures. It should be seen as a neutral player, working for the supremacy and rule of law rather than the whims of ministers and for advancing their political goals.
Along with a crackdown on criminals and terrorists, there is a need to clean the grounds that breed them. This requires investment in education and economic and social uplift. The government needs to do away with the dichotomy in law by lifting the moratorium on the death penalty. This will help in establishing the writ of the state and prevent private vendetta. Judicial reforms for quick dispensation of justice also remain long overdue. They should be high on the priority list.

The most important step is the introduction of an effective and powerful local governance system, which our major political parties love to hate since it erodes their power and clout. But for a pro-people democratic order, powerful local bodies are a must. Are the elected representatives in the mood to do the needful? So far all indications are negative. They appear content to live in their delusionary world as Karachi suffers and remains caught in the vortex of lawlessness and disorder.

Clarity Versus Confusion

By Amir Zia
Monday, November 11, 2013
The News

Ironically, the local Taliban perception about Pakistan is closer to the Americans, who also view our civil and military authorities with great suspicion and accuse them of duplicity and double cross.
Let’s give the local Taliban militants their due. Let’s admit and muster courage to applaud their clarity of mind, singleness of purpose and strength of conviction. The manner in which they swiftly selected the new leadership and restated their agenda in unequivocal and unambiguous terms should serve as a lesson to our fickle-minded and wavering civil and military leaders, who are pleading and begging for talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and its allies. 
The US drones did get Hakeemullah Mehsud, but so what? There are plenty of others to offer their heads in his place. During conflicts and wars, neither is there any room for doubt nor any time to mourn and groan for long over the bodies of fallen comrades. The doers see the world in black and white. The grey areas are for good-for-nothing armchair pseudo-intellectuals and chatterers.
The depressing, long-winded speeches – such as the ones delivered by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in which he discussed Mehsud’s killing with great grief and sense of loss – are often seen as self-defeating. This kind of melodrama hardly serves any purpose. While the interior minister lamented over Mehsud’s death and cursed and blamed the US for obliterating the man he portrayed as Pakistan’s only hope for peace (eureka!), the militants took the slaying of their leader as an opportunity to expand their message and beat the drums of war louder.
Less than a week after Mehsud’s killing, the TTP selected the hard-line cleric Mullah Fazlullah, aka Mullah Radio of Swat, as its new ameer and named a little known militant commander from Swabi, Sheikh Khalid Haqqani, as his deputy. The duo is known for uncompromising and rigid views, radicalism and penchant for merciless actions.
The TTP also took no time to reject peace talks with the government and vowed to avenge the death of its leader by taking the battle to the plains of Punjab and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League high-command which has so far enjoyed immunity from the dreaded terror assaults. The TTP also reiterated that the mainstream liberal parties – the PPP, the ANP and the MQM – will continue to remain high on the hit list of its militants and suicide bombers. The Pakistani security forces are already the declared enemy of the TTP, Al-Qaeda and their allies which see them as an ally of the US and the west.
In a nutshell, there is no double-talk. No indecisiveness. No confusion – but only steely resolve and determination. The militants want to remodel Pakistan in line with their interpretation of Islam and they are ready to pay and extract the price for it. Democracy and Pakistan’s constitution have no place in their world order. They openly say so. They are determined to take on the US and its either perceived or real local allies. They never hide this fact. They want to continue using Pakistani territory to foment terrorism around the world. They do it without apology. Killing or being killed is necessary to achieve their goal. They are not afraid of it. Actions define their words and words supplement their actions.
This is an adversary that blows up schools without remorse. It carries out suicide bombings at mosques, imambargahs, churches, markets and other public places without guilt. And it attacks security forces and sensitive defence installations with pride. If forcibly stalling the polio vaccination is seen as a sacred duty by the TTP and its allies, making an assassination bid on teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai is also considered a just cause.
A glimpse of what Mullah Fazlullah is capable of doing was reflected during his reign of terror in Swat not very long ago. It was the army that had to reclaim this territory, which Pakistan had lost to the militants. He is also the man whose group took the responsibility of the killing of Pakistan Army’s Major General Sanaullah Niazi in a roadside bombing in Upper Dir this September.
According to the 19th century Russian revolutionary, Mikhail Bakunin – considered the father of anarchist theory –“the urge for destruction is also a creative urge.” In that sense the Taliban can be called creative (with apology to Comrade Bakunin) as they are committed to destruction even if they fail to produce a better society.
With Fazlullah on the steering wheel of the TTP – the juggernaut that is a loose amalgamation of more than three dozen big and small militant groups across the country – ordinary Pakistanis should get ready for tougher times ahead.
Now compare the clarity of purpose and resoluteness of action of the TTP and its allies with the confusion and virtual state of inaction within the ranks of Pakistan’s elected government, mainstream opposition and the civil and military establishment. The government, and many of the opposition politicians, continue to repeat the mantra of holding negotiations with militants as the one and only option despite the TTP’s firm ‘no’ to talks following the appointment of its new chief.
But perhaps the vision of our leaders is too clouded and blurred. They fail to see the reality or grasp the gravity of situation. No wonder, Nawaz Sharif, our third-time elected prime minister and a most experienced hand, remained stuck to the old script in Karachi while expressing his desire to hold peace talks without taking into account that the TTP has already removed whatever mirage of talks there was on the table.
The TTP is definitely in no mood to oblige. It sees the Pakistani government and the army as American stooges. It distrusts the government’s words and actions. Ironically, the local Taliban perception about Pakistan is closer to the Americans, who also view our civil and military authorities with great suspicion and accuse them of duplicity and double cross. This speaks volumes about the wisdom and political acumen of our strategists and policymakers. 
If the militants are able to build pressure by resorting to acts of terror and drilling their narrative at every level through the well-oiled propaganda machinery, their apologists and backers in the mainstream political parties – from Imran Khan to Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Munawar Hasan – confuse the issue of extremism and terrorism by focusing on the symptom rather than the real cause of turmoil.
They have the audacity to trigger debate on whether Hakeemullah Mehsud was a martyr or those Pakistan Army soldiers who are killed in the line of duty. If – to believe Munawar Hasan of the Jamaat-e-Islami – Pakistani soldiers are fighting the American war, they therefore do not deserve the title of martyrs. End of the line.
Most civilian leaders – by design or default – see American drone assaults as the central cause of conflict in Pakistan rather than the result of the presence of Al-Qaeda and its allied foreign and locals militants on our soil. Pakistan’s failure to establish the writ of the state on its territory triggered these drone assaults. If Pakistan wants to put an end to them, it will have to ensure that its territory is not being used to provide shelter to terrorists from around the globe or launch attacks on other countries.
But the Sharif government, bowing to the pressure of the Taliban and their friends, is focusing more on taking up the issue of drone strikes both at internationally and domestically rather than addressing the real causes of extremism and terrorism.
In this context, the mantra of peace talks appears more bizarre as the government has so far failed to define rules of engagements with these extremist groups. And now after the TTP’s clear ‘no’ to the talks, all debate on this issue is useless. The sooner our rulers realise this and pull themselves out of their state of self-denial, the better for the country.
We as a nation are right in the middle of this protracted conflict. We have either to prevail or perish. There is no third choice. It is time for the leadership to show courage, conviction and clarity of mind to overcome the challenge. Confusion, inaction and efforts to appease extremists will serve no purpose. The delay in action will only go against Pakistan.

MQM’s Dilemma

By Amir Zia

Monday, May 27, 2013

The News

The best course for the MQM would be to act as a democratic and responsible opposition, lobbying both at the centre and the provincial levels on the key issues of improving law and order in Karachi, giving it a mass transit system and reviving the local bodies

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has been undergoing a massive organisational shake-up these days as its founder and supreme leader Altaf Hussain declared a crusade against crime and corruption within the party ranks. Many office-bearers at different tiers of the party have been suspended, expelled or sidelined to make room for those waiting in the wing.

In a much delayed but desperately needed step, Hussain officially and openly forbade senior party officials and workers from collecting donations, indulging in the land encroachment racket and advancing business and commercial interests by exploiting the MQM’s name and clout.

According to the grapevine, some once middle-class MQM stalwarts – who are now multi-millionaires in dollar and pound sterling terms – proved as corrupt and greedy, if not more, as politicians hailing from feudal, tribal or business backgrounds. They built huge business empires starting from the congested North Nazimabad roads to Dubai and stretching up to the United States.

Altaf Hussain, many of his die-hard companions and – above all – his ardent followers have every reason to feel angry and betrayed at the way a party representing the lower and middle classes has been exploited to fulfil personal agendas and greed.

The process of accountability, self-evaluation and self-criticism within the MQM started soon after the May 11 elections in which this urban-based party managed to retain its share of the national and provincial assembly seats in Karachi and Hyderabad, but witnessed a four percent drop in its overall share of popular votes.

Although the margin of victory for MQM candidates remained large in most of its traditional constituencies, the number of votes polled in favour of the once discounted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should give cause for concern to the MQM think tank. The PTI candidates emerged at the number two position in most MQM-dominated areas with a sizeable number of votes. The PTI also bagged one national and two provincial assembly seats in Karachi, brushing aside the traditional anti-MQM forces – the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Awami National Party (ANP) – which once competed and often won from there.

Many upper-middle and middle-class Karachiites, who had never voted before, came out in droves to vote for the PTI. Many women and youngsters in the lower middle-class neighbourhoods – the MQM’s support-base – also voted for the ‘bat’, underlining the yearning for change even through the untried and untested PTI.

Apart from the cult appeal of Imran Khan, the PTI also managed to attract the voters of those parties that had boycotted the elections, alleging rigging and irregularities during polling in Karachi. This negative voting also boosted the PTI’s fortunes.

The voting pattern shows a surge in the number of votes polled against the traditional political forces, including the MQM, underlining a slight shift in Karachi’s political culture and emergence of new fault-lines. The answer to this noticeable shift in voting lies in the five year misrule of the PPP-led government of which the MQM remained a partner almost till the end. Yes, unlike its former allies, the MQM successfully defended its turf, but this time with a slightly slimmer victory margin and a huge psychological blow as many educated and professional Urdu-speaking families voted against it.

Why do an increasing number of Karachiites – especially the apolitical educated middle- and upper-middle class – feel so frustrated with the old political order, including the MQM? The reason is the failure of these mainstream forces to address any of the issues that affect, and hurt, the lives of the common man.

The list of some of the mega-failures of the PPP-MQM rule starts from the spike in political and religiously-motivated violence in Karachi in which nearly 7,000 people lost their lives. The irony was that militants belonging to the three ruling coalition partners – the PPP, MQM and ANP – were locked in bloody turf wars in the city. Their members were killing, kidnapping and torturing each other to death as the top leaders, by design or default, failed to translate their vision of unity to their rank-and-file.

This period also witnessed an unprecedented rise in street crime and extortion. Traders, business-owners and industrialists staged extraordinary shutter-down protests against the extortion mafia led by the PPP-backed Amn Committee of Lyari, which proved more brutal and ruthless compared to the old boys on the scene. As street crime, extortions, killings and lawlessness increased, the common man began to feel more helpless and defenceless on the streets of Karachi.

The MQM’s frequent protests and discussions with its senior coalition partner failed to change the situation on the ground. The nexus between crime and politics remained as strong as ever as all the political and religious parties contributed to the mess according to their size and power.

More guns, gunmen and guards remained on the roads and people had nowhere to turn to. If, on the one hand, criminals-cum-political gangsters continued to harass the people, on the other motorcades and armed guards of elected representatives, bigwigs, the rich and the powerful terrorised them through their sirens and automatic rifles.

There were no visible attempts to serve the people and improve their lives in the partnership of the rural and urban forces of Sindh. The PPP took the MQM for a long ride on the issue of local bodies which are vital to run and manage big cities like Karachi. By the time the diluted local body bill was approved by the Sindh Assembly, the time was up for this government. And the PPP, using its majority, proved quick to scrap even that in the last days of its term once the MQM decided to partially part ways with the government, but leaving its nominated governor firmly in the saddle.

The one other mega issue of Karachi – the mass transit system – also remained untouched by the former ruling coalition. There has been a steady deterioration in whatever existed in Karachi in the name of public transport. If until a few years ago people dangled at the footboards of rickety old buses and vans, now they have to hang for their lives at their windows, rear-bumpers and rooftops. And we hear that in our region, other cities of similar or even smaller size including Mumbai, New Delhi and our own Lahore already have or are in the process of installing mass transit systems.

The list of the former ruling coalition’s failures and the way it disappointed the masses can be stretched a lot more – from mismanaging health care and education to the lack of provision of even basic civic amenities. All praise to the MQM’s organisational structure, which pulled off these elections despite the dismal performance of the past government.

Moving forward, the MQM will have difficult choices to make – not just in terms of cleaning its stables and reorganising the party, but also in the matter of rejoining or not another PPP-led coalition at the provincial level. There would most certainly be pressure from within the MQM to be part of the PPP-led coalition. But if the past is any guide, this unity of diversity hardly stands a chance to deliver anything in the larger public interest.

This time around, the MQM stands on a much weaker wicket with few bargaining options in the future coalition setup. At the centre, Nawaz Sharif has comfortable numbers. He doesn’t need to run after the MQM to get himself or his nominee elected as prime minister or president. In Sindh too the PPP can easily run the show minus the MQM.

In this situation the best course for the MQM would be to act as a democratic and responsible opposition, lobbying both at the centre and the provincial levels on the key issues of improving law and order in Karachi, giving it a mass transit system and reviving the local bodies. The party should also fight and purge criminals, killers and the corrupt from its ranks to emerge as a pro-people and clean political force in the city. Is this a tall order for the MQM? Going by its record it seems so. Let’s hope that sceptics are proved wrong.

The New Age

By Amir Zia
Monday, May 13, 2013
The News

Pakistani voters have voted with maturity. They have done their job. The challenge now for the new parliament and government is to make history by delivering what remained undelivered during the past five years – a clean, efficient, and corruption-free government.

All naysayers and doubters have been proved wrong. Pakistan went to the polls on May 11 and emerged victorious. Voters – young and old, men and women – ignored the Taliban threats and turned up at the polling stations in huge numbers to cast their votes, even in some of the most volatile parts of the country.

By ensuring an unprecedented turnout, Pakistanis also defeated those parochial fundamentalist forces which brand the process of democracy and elections against the principles of Islam. On the polling day, majority of Pakistanis again gave a loud and clear verdict in favour of democracy and the constitution.

All those conspiracy theories about a possible delay in elections or the last-minute derailment of the democratic process were blown to pieces. The military played by the book and those looking towards the GHQ for any overt or covert signals were left disappointed.

Agreed that the day witnessed several incidents of violence and terrorism in different parts of the country that consumed around 50 lives and left dozens others wounded. It is also a fact that at many polling stations the electoral process was marred by mismanagement, irregularities and even outright rigging. In Karachi, thousands had to wait patiently outside some polling stations for hours as ballot boxes, paper and staff arrived late.

But all this will prove a mere footnote in history. The bigger picture for the times to come will be that Pakistan witnessed overwhelmingly free, fair and transparent general elections in which people participated with extraordinary enthusiasm. Despite all the troubles and challenges of today’s Pakistan, by-and-large the mood remained festive and full of optimism on the election day.

At a Karachi polling station, where I waited for more than four hours in a queue along with hundreds of others, the biggest imprint on my mind remains how people voting for rival candidates shared jokes, threw witty one-liners at one another, indulged in serious and not-so-serious political discussions and agreed in their criticism of the slow pace of the balloting process.

Strangers became momentary friends. Some kind-hearted, good souls were offering free bottles of water and juice to the exhausted people waiting for their turn to vote. The younger ones were making way for the elderly and, surprisingly, no one was trying to break the line or showing any sign of impatience. This was Pakistanis at their best. The first-time voters beamed with joy as they walked out of polling booths showing off their marked thumbs. Many were taking photographs of one another – and even of their own thumbs – for Facebook and other social media platforms. The brave families were accompanied by their children including infants. It was indeed a heart-warming experience.

The Pakistani voter seems to have come of age. Although many parts of the country continue to remain in the grip of feudal lords and tribal chiefs and the electoral fate of candidates in many constituencies are still decided on the basis of clans and kinship, today’s voter has started to ask the right questions and judge and scrutinise candidates more minutely. The common Pakistani is now more politically aware – thanks to the media explosion – and is definitely more demanding. The ordinary voter cannot be taken for granted now. This trend remains irreversible.

Imran Khan’s tsunami, though failing to surge, played some role in mobilising many young voters and bringing issues such as corruption to the centre-stage.

The political parties will have to raise the bar of their performance manifold if they have to stay in the game and ensure the continuity of the democratic process. They have to be more open, more accountable and democratic to woo the present and future voters.

In a diverse and populous country like Pakistan, these parties will have to be pluralistic if they want to reach new frontiers and expand or maintain their current support-base. On the tangible level, they will have to take care of their public image, which cannot be made by pretence alone. The politicians will have to walk the talk. In the age of an open media and an independent judiciary, corruption and graft will surely sink their chances of getting re-elected.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) under President Asif Ali Zardari failed to get rid of this negative image. This remains one of the key factors for its severe beating in these elections.

The political parties also need to snap ties with criminals and mafias, which have politicised crime and criminalised politics. Karachi remains the prime example of this trend in which all the major parties have contributed in making the situation worse.

The PPP, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Awami National Party (ANP) and other, lesser, entities must move to get rid of extortionists, criminals and killers within their ranks.

The MQM managed to hold on to its turf in these elections amidst allegations of rigging and use of strong-arm tactics in select constituencies, but the party must read the signs of the time and reach out to the new, politically aware and educated voter, who primarily wants rule of law and peace in the city.

Under the able hands of President Zardari, the PPP, unfortunately, has been reduced in these elections as largely being a representative of rural Sindh. It needs to do a lot of soul-searching and rethinking. The tricks and double-games of patronising criminals under the garb of so-called peace committees, turning a blind eye to corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement threaten to wipe out the once popular legacy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir. Yes, suppression by dictators could not damage the PPP, but the ways of Zardari and his close coterie did exactly this in the last five years. Will the young Bilawal Bhutto Zardari be able to make a difference in the coming years? Will he be able to weed out the corrupt from the PPP ranks and give the party a new vision and ideological basis? At least for now, Bilawal’s chances of performing such a miracle appear slim.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won the nod of approval from the majority on the basis of positive public perception about its efficiency, capacity to handle the economy, an experienced team, and as a party holding moderate views.

Nawaz Sharif – all set to make history by becoming prime minister for the third time – will have to perform a high-wire act now to come up to these expectations which include turning around the economy and handling the challenge of extremism and terrorism. At the same time, he also needs to curb some of his strong instincts, which landed him in trouble in the past.

In today’s Pakistan, muzzling the press won’t be the answer to criticism of his government. It is undoable now. On this front, he must learn the lesson of tolerance from the PPP. Trying to attack the Supreme Court premises with the help of goons also won’t be a bright idea in today’s Pakistan.

Managing civil-military relations also remains a key challenge for the coming Sharif government. The institutions must work under the parameters set by the constitution and not compete against each other. The desire to dominate and the failure to build a consensus on key issues – such as the war against terrorism and extremism – can prove lethal for the country and its democratic process.

Pakistani voters have voted with maturity. They have done their job. The challenge now for the new parliament and government is to make history by delivering what remained undelivered during the past five years – a clean, efficient, and corruption-free government. A government that can tackle the twin challenges of economy and terrorism. Is that too much to ask for?