Attempts are being made to find a method in Zulfiqar Mirza’s madness. It has been suggested that the PPP stalwart’s tirade against the MQM and Rehman Malik is part of a well thought out plan by Zardari. Jalal Mahmud Shah believes that the move is aimed at taking the wind out of the Sindhi nationalists’ sails. Some wonder if it is a move to expose and weaken the MQM to finally either get rid of it or to negotiate with it from a position of strength.
There are indications that support the view that the outbursts may not be an altogether spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions. Mirza’s resignation from the party and government posts was accepted post haste but not the one from the Sindh Assembly seat.
Speaker Nisar Khuhro was present at the meeting where it was decided to take disciplinary action against Mirza but his resignation from the Assembly was not even mentioned. Zardari also decided to let Fehmida Mirza retain the post of Speaker National Assembly. The action taken against Mirza was on grounds of discipline alone. The party however did not deny the serious charges he had levelled against Altaf Hussain and his party.
None in the nationalist camp is willing to take Mirza seriously. There is a widespread perception that he could go back any time on whatever he had said. Loyalty to Zardari is more important for the fire eating former senior minister than anything else. He reiterates his allegiance to the party and its chief at every press conference. A day before Eid, he told the media that those who criticise the president should consider Mirza as their enemy. He has been repeatedly asked why he does not blame Zardari for pursuing a policy of reconciliation with those he considers responsible for hundreds of killings in Karachi and who according to him are trying to break up the country; he has failed to offer any explanation. When pressed again and again, he hints at Zardari having been misled and blackmailed. This would satisfy few. The PPP leadership has to bear the blame for allowing the killings to continue to please the MQM.
Meanwhile, Mirza is continuing the tirade against the MQM and Rehman Malik. After the marathon press conference in Karachi, he has spoken at Hyderabad and Badin. MQM was again and again accused of being involved in target killing, extortion and of pursuing an anti-state agenda while Rehman Malik was accused of being hand in glove with the party.
The successful strike by the nationalist parties stopped the tying of the knot between the PPP and the MQM for the time being. Whatever Mirza’s intentions, his outbursts have further delayed the return of the ethnic outfit to the ruling coalition.
What would have happened if the nationalist parties had not initiated a Sindh-wide campaign against the dual local government system followed by a successful strike against the imposition of the Zia-era local government system?
The government would have imposed two systems on Sindh, one for Karachi and Hyderabad and the other for rural Sindh, thus, laying the foundation of the division of Sindh that remains MQM’s ideal. During the period, important Sindhi ministers were holding Iftar parties with the MQM leaders and had vowed to offer the Eid prayers together with them. The agitation by the nationalists put a spanner in the works.
When the plan envisaging the dual system was replaced with the Musharraf-era LG system, the idea was to hasten the MQM’s joining of the cabinet. The successful strike by the nationalist parties once again delayed the return of the MQM to the government’s fold. In the absence of the province-wide agitation and the strike, Sindhi legislators would have blindly supported any LG legislation okayed by Zardari.
As things stand, no one can ignore the threat of crowds storming the provincial assembly in case it tries to pass a bill that compromises the Sindhis’ interests. The credit goes to the nationalists for foiling the plan prepared by Babar Awan and Ishratul Ibad and approved by Zardari. It was because of the strike that the second plan, which was equally harmful for Sindh, has yet not been brought before the provincial assembly.
Zulfiqar Mirza’s campaign against the MQM has really hurt the party. Before Mirza initiated the tirade, speaking against Altaf Hussain by name was a taboo in Sindh except for some of the nationalist parties. The attack has sent Altaf Hussain to hospital while the MQM has failed to challenge Mirza on facts. Meanwhile, it is for the first time the party is on the defensive.
While Mirza has put the MQM in a tight corner, he has also raised questions about PPP leadership’s own policies. Why has Zardari been insisting on keeping the MQM in the coalition even after the highly damaging evidence presented by Mirza? And how come Rehman Malik was given the top most civilian award despite warnings by Sindh’s senior minister that the man was directly responsible for the killings that have taken place during the last three years in Karachi?
The writer is a former academic and a political analyst.