The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led coalition government in Sindh seems to be heading towards another “fragility test” as the ruling party’s lawmakers in Sindh Assembly doubt the intentions of their colleagues from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) regarding the ongoing campaign in the city for a separate Mohajir province.
The provincial legislature, under the chairmanship of Speaker Nisar Khuhro, on Friday echoed with outcry from lawmakers, including MQM members, condemning the act of wall chalking and posters being displayed in the city in favour of the Mohajir province.
The House also adopted a condemnation resolution unanimously which was tabled by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F)’s Nusrat Seher Abbasi.
“This assembly strongly condemns the act of wall chalking, pasting of posters on walls in Karachi regarding the establishment of a Mohajir province by breaking Sindh,” it was stated in the resolution.
“(The assembly) demands from the Sindh government to expose those behind such acts and take action against them,” read the draft carrying signatures of at least 12 lawmakers from the National People’s Party (NPP) and PPP, mostly female.
Though the draft was passed with a unanimous vote and MQM legislator Muhammad Moin Aamir Pirzada made a speech to condemn all hidden hands wanting to territorially divide Sindh along ethno-linguistic lines, he suggested that the provincial leaders in the government should bring all those demanding cessation or a separate province to the table to bury the issue once and for all.
But, the statement failed to satisfy the PPP lawmakers, Sassui Palijo and Humera Alwani, who, in a post-session media briefing, apprehended some complicity on the part of their MQM allies for their failure to sign the anti-Mohajir province resolution.
Alwani claimed that she herself went to the MQM lawmakers to get their signatures on the resolution “but they did not respond”. “We will talk to the chief minister [in this regard],” she said.
Earlier, Sindh Culture Minister Sassui Palijo also stressed the point that MQM’s support on the resolution should have come with its lawmakers’ signatures.
She went a step further to say that the proposal for holding talks with the separatists should not have come from the MQM. “No negotiations will be held with these forces nor any legislation be made with regard to the division of Sindh.”
Earlier, senior provincial minister Pir Mazharul Haq told the House that the issue warranted a political wisdom not to give much importance to these demands, being made by “hidden authors”, who cannot digest the prevailing reconciliation-driven political climate. “The presence of PPP, MQM and PML-F among others in Sindh Assembly is indicative of the fact that people have rejected such forces.”
The speaker said all party representatives were present in the House to vote for or against the resolution to which the house said “Ayes” unanimously.
During the Question Hour, Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro told a questioner that the room of the jail in which President Asif Zardari was imprisoned in the past had been converted into a library.
The House would meet again on Monday at 10:00 am.
MQM supremo is hypocrite of highest order. Look what he has done to the province of Sindh. He is holding the province at ransom. He is the architect of Jinnahpur. Whatever he says about the integrity of the province of Sindh is just his lip service. He will never succeed in his ulterior motives.
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