On the second day of becoming part of federal government, Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) announced on Wednesday that it would hold a people’s referendum on Osama bin Laden’s killing by US forces in Pakistan.
Speaking at a news conferee, deputy convener of MQM Rabita Committee, Anis Qaimkhani said that MQM chief Altaf Hussain has launched the referendum for the general consensus in the country over the issue. He said there are 17 questions in the referendum questionnaire. He said the referendum would continue till May 17. Other MQM leaders were also present on the occasion.
The week-long referendum has been launched one day before May 12, when many parties and legal fraternity are observing black day to recall Karachi carnage of 12 May 2007. Several political parties believe that the violence had been orchestrated by the MQM. Political observers are of the view that the timing of the launching of questionnaire, just hours before a news conference of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif, could be crucial for country’s politics.
Comparing different strategies of MQM and PML-N, they see MQM as supportive to institutions responsible for country’s security and intelligence networks. While PML-N, they say, is becoming more and more critical to the role those institutions, as on Wednesday, Nawaz Sharif cited discontinuation of democratic system, as the main reason, behind most of problems being faced by country. The pundits particularly point out the Question# 9 that compares casualties of armed forces with that of politician in the war against terrorism.
The party is trying to divert people’s attention away from the May 12 commemorations; while on the other hand, it is curry favouring with the armed forces for their strategic importance in the country’s politics. The say the referendum would eventually result in blaming the civilian government for everything that is wrong with the country.
The MQM must stop this farce of a referendum. The issue is that Pakistan should neither confront America, nor allow it to use us, if it does not suit our own national interest. We as a nation must put a stop to this politics of violence, be it by the terrorists in FATA, KP, Waziristan and other parts of the country, or the target killing in Karachi and Hyderabad. We must close our borders to all those foreigners who come here for terrorism, be it men like Osama, Mullah Omar, or the killers of Wali Babar who came from South Africa. MQM must come clean, and stop running with the hares and hunting with hounds. In a democracy there is no room for violence and killing political opponents, nor does getting elected give such a right to anyone.
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