Two very emotive and contentious issues are hogging the headlines, the airwaves and most of the time of the parliament and provincial legislatures. The first is the factious question of the creation of new provinces and the other is the federal government’s somersaults on the local governments system in Sindh. In both cases, the president’s point man and legal eagle Babar Awan is being blamed for creating the fracas.
First, the PPP – in order to appease the MQM – introduced a dual local body system for Sindh. Musharraf’s local body system was revived for Karachi and Hyderabad, while the hastily introduced commissionerate system was to remain in place for the rest of Sindh. When the PPP’s own rank and file protested at the dual system virtually dividing Sindh, the 2001 local bodies system was reintroduced for the rest of the province as well.
But the damage had already been done. The whole of Sindh, including the PPP federal ministers from the province, are up in arms against the local bodies system. The PPP Sindh, the Sindhi nationalists and even the ANP have joined hands. A strike call has been given for today and, if corrective measures are not taken, it could turn out to be a resounding success.
The local bodies system is simply unacceptable to Sindhi politicians: firstly, because it was introduced by a dictator and, secondly, because it created a new elite at their expense. Like the traditional bull in a china shop, in his anxiety to please his political masters, Babar Awan completely misread the situation. Now along with his maverick cabinet colleague Rehman Malik (incidentally both Punjabis), he is persona non grata in the province.
It is a wake up call for the president that he can no longer treat Sindh as the party’s backyard. The sensitivities of the people of the province vis-à-vis the MQM and Punjab have to be taken into account.
The limitations of using the so-called Sindh card have also been exposed. Although the PPP has consistently maintained its position as the most formidable electoral force in the province and would continue to do so in the foreseeable future, it can no longer afford to take things for granted.
The Sindhi nationalists are badly divided and in any case have not much to offer to the electorate. As for the political opposition in the form of PML(N), it has virtually no presence in Sindh – rural or urban. By hurriedly embracing the MQM in the wake of its falling out with the PPP, Nawaz Sharif has inexorably alienated the traditional Sindhis.
While the prime minister has behaved like a helpless pawn in the whole imbroglio merely referring his alienated cabinet colleagues to the presidency, Zardari finds himself in an unenviable position. On the one side, perhaps he feels that peace cannot be restored in urban Sindh especially Karachi without MQM’s cooperation. On the other however, his policy of appeasement towards the MQM is no longer acceptable in the rest of the province.
He has to make a Hobson’s choice by politically doing the right thing. This obviously means to abolish the local bodies system in the province like in the rest of the country and replace it with a system akin to the commissionerate system. For that, he does not necessarily have to bite the bullet.
The MQM should be made to see reason. Zardari, after discussion with his ministers from the province, has asked his ally Ch Shujaat to intercede and ask the MQM to rejoin the Sindh and the federal cabinets. The quid pro quo should be that the MQM agrees to a local body system acceptable to all the stakeholders in the province.
The issue of creating new provinces has taken the country by storm. The Punjab Assembly session had to be prematurely prorogued by the speaker as tempers were so high on the issue that no business could be conducted. Both the PPP and its ally PML(Q) are in support of a Seriaki province in the South of Punjab whereas the PML(N) is in favour of new provinces only on administrative grounds.
Under the present constitutional process, it is virtually impossible to carve out a new province. Perhaps, the idea was initially mooted by Babar Awan merely to gain political mileage by painting the Punjab-based PML(N) in a corner. However, as a result, other political parties have also jumped in the fray demanding new provinces.
The ANP wants a Pashtun province in Balochistan, while the PML(N) favours the revival of a demand for the Bahawalpur province. Maulana Fazlur Rehman wants his home district Dera Ismael Khan to be included in the proposed Seriaki province. Demands for provinces on a whim are a dangerous business. If the divisions are to be on an administrative basis, Karachi and Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan, too has a good case.
Nawaz Sharif’s proposal of forming a commission to examine the issue has been predictably rejected by Babar Awan as being unconstitutional. India has a permanent commission for the purpose. The arrangement has successfully worked. The Indian Punjab is now three provinces: Punjab, Haryana and Himachal.
If the government is really serious about the creation of new provinces, this is the way to go. Fissiparous tendencies in the country, especially in Balochistan and Sindh, are already very strong. Add to this the threat of Talibanisation and it is a heady mix. Hence, there is need to let better sense prevail rather than making creation of new provinces an election stunt.
During all this jostling and infighting, the situation in Karachi remains volatile where more than a thousand people have lost their lives in the past month as a result of endemic violence. The military top brass has expressed its concern in the recently held corps commanders meeting. While supporting the government’s measures in the metropolis and maintaining its hands off policy it has put it on notice.
The British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Adam Thompson, has also expressed anxiety over the law and order situation in Karachi. Ironically, he made these remarks just in the wake of widespread riots resulting in arson, looting and pillage in major urban centres of Britain, including London and Birmingham.
Unfortunately, three British Pakistanis lost their lives while protecting their community in the riots. His Excellency should be looking closer at home. Britain’s reaction is not hard to imagine if any harm had come to its citizens or their property in Karachi.
The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today