Finally, he calls it quits. Zulfiqar Mirza, likened to a gung-ho home minister by his detractors, proceeded on indefinite leave ostensibly voluntarily, leaving his portfolio to Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. His removal came just ahead of the expiry of the MQMs two-day ultimatum to the federal government to ensure security and safety of the citizens of Karachi.
The decision was taken a day after the business community observed a strike in the countrys commercial hub which remained blighted with gang battles and target killings. It was nothing more than an attempt at appeasing the MQM leadership which has been demanding the Home Ministers removal from the provincial cabinet because of his frequent outburst s against the party. The traders strike provided it another opportunity to edge him out by issuing an ultimatum to the PPP leadership that the MQM would decide its future strategy if law and order situation in the provincial capital didnt improve within two days.
Zulfiqar Mirza is gone but not without creating a constituency for himself. He will remain best remembered for taking on criminals and those who patronised them. Giving expression to public sentiments, he braved all pressures and threats to expose the elements extending patronage to the elements involved in charging bhatta from traders or kidnapping those who refuse to acquiesce. He knew who got achy and where it hurt the most. But as a home minister, you cannot simply look the other way when a businessman hands you a parchi from extortionists and asks you to take action against the people threatening him with dire consequences if he didnt pay the money. Thats precisely how former Home Ministers interaction with a businessman could be summed up during his recent visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a media briefing.
The former Home Minister was on record having stated more than once that the MQM was a political reality and even offered to step down if doing so could resolve the growing tension within the ruling coalition. Once, he also accompanied Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Interior Minister Rehman Malik to Nine-Zero to deliver an Im-sorry-if-Ive-hurt-your-feelings message to the MQM leadership. But while in office he could not think of mincing his words and going soft on the people patronising criminals just because they were political allies and could bring the coalition in the centre down by pulling out of it. To put it in another way, he wasnt prepared to abdicate his responsibility of restoring peace to the metropolis where a minor incident could trigger a wave of killings.
President Zardaris decision to send the Sindh Home Minister packing has added more confusion than clarity to the PPP leaderships priorities in politics. If Mirza was punished because he failed to contain the surging crime in the metropolis, then Rehman Malik should have been shown the door long ago because he has not been able to galvanise the security apparatus into action despite being updated about a growing nexus of militant groups and gangs involved in criminal activities. The fact remains that it was a political move initiated by the PPP to normalise relationship with the MQM after the parties failed to paper over their differences in a series of meetings they had from time to time.
That the PPP wants the MQM by its side at a time when a showdown is expected between the federal government and the superior judiciary which is about to take up some important cases is not difficult to understand. There is no denying that after having been ditched by the PML (N), the PPP found itself in a tight spot and was constrained to muster political support from other democratic forces at the federal level. But what the PPP leadership has failed to realise is that after yielding ground on the issue of the home minister, it is not going to see an end to the politics of blackmailing in the near future. The MQM has a history of becoming part of every coalition and then resorting to arm-twisting tactics.
The story of Karachi is as much about the lawlessness as it is about the political patronage under which crime keeps thriving. None of the three coalition partners can escape the blame for ignoring the issue which should have been the governments top priority. All three parties in the ruling coalition need to do a lot of soul searching to figure out what went wrong and how to restore peace in the countrys commercial hub. The MQM has to do a bit more to improve its image now that it contemplates expanding its organisational base. Merely changing the nomenclature from being a regional party to a national party wont work. Its leadership will have to shed the extra baggage before venturing into the Punjab.
The writer is Executive Editor, Pakistan Today.