How can anyone give credence to the claims being made by agencies now?
If people suspect the intentions of the non-political establishment they have strong reasons for this. When agencies do political engineering they leave behind a lot of loose ends. This is all the more true about Saulat Mirza’s confessional video. While it has created enough sensation, it has also raised a number of questions that remain unanswered.
A confessional statement from the death cell, appearing hours before the hanging, is something unheard of. The jail manual allows none to approach a death row prisoner except his relatives. The Superintendent of the Mach Jail denied that the video was shot inside the jail premises. Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti agrees with him.
Soon after recording the video the hanging was postponed for 72 hours. What necessitated the move? Ch Nisar announced on the floor of the National Assembly that the postponement was caused because Saulat Mirza had fallen ill. This is corroborated by Bugti but flatly denied by the jail doctor who is supposed to be an authority on the issue. The man told media that Saulat Mirza was in good health and there was no legal bar on hanging him.
How the video reached the media, where it continued to be displayed on Wednesday night and through Thursday, also remains unexplained.
The COAS says the army is resolved to cleanse Pakistan of all kinds of terrorism. Everyone will support the position.
How the video reached the media, where it continued to be displayed on Wednesday night and through Thursday, also remains unexplained
A number of MQM activists have been arrested on charges of terrorism, ranging from target killing to putting the Baldia garment factory on fire. It is for those nabbed to clear their names if they can.
If the arrests are motivated by a genuine desire to put an end to lawlessness they would be perfectly in order. But if the aim is to indulge in political engineering to control the MQM through devious means and subsequently manipulate it for political purposes, this will create more problems than it is going to solve. This is what happened in the earlier efforts of the sort and that’s what is going to happen now.
What is doubtful is the earnestness of the non-political establishment. The British government has been demanding the extradition of two MQM activists arrested at Karachi airport soon after the murder of Imran Farooq in September 2010. They have been in the custody of the agencies all these years. They were not handed over because those controlling the agencies did not want to. These were obviously needed to make the MQM act as directed.
The agencies have failed to learn from the past. They knew the past history of MQM. They had heard the speeches that Altaf Hussain delivered. They were well aware of the role he played in developments in Karachi. They obviously wanted to keep Altaf Hussain under their thumb rather than get him behind bars in London.
None knew better than the ISI and MI the way the MQM used violence to achieve its political aims. In an exercise in biological control the agencies created the MQM Haqiqi as the original MQM’s predator. By creating a new monster the agencies did no service to Pakistan. This was a highly dangerous move which failed after years of bloodshed in the streets of Karachi and city closures causing losses to the economy.
There are reasons to question the agencies’ motives. The sensation that Saulat Mirza’s video has created is nothing new. During Operation Clean-Up, launched against the MQM in 1993, a similar campaign was initiated against the party. It was maintained that Altaf Hussain wanted to carve out an independent state called “Jinnahpur” out of Sindh. Maps of “Jinnahpur” were supplied to the media which displayed it prominently. It was also maintained that the MQM had kidnapped and tortured a serving Major of the Pakistan army.
A couple of years back some former army officers, including a retired Brigadier who had been an intelligence chief, appeared on the TV to claim that “Jnahpur” was no more than empty propaganda devoid of any substance.
The case of Major remained pending in the courts even after the overthrow of the PML-N government in the 1999 military coup. Finally Musharraf, who was both the president and COAS, withdrew the case and made MQM a part of his cabinet. The action showed the once highly debated case too was another piece of fiction. Had any civilian government withdrawn it, the prime minister was likely to be branded as a foreign agent and his life made hell.
The action against the MQM is seen by some as part of a grand design against political parties across the board
There were numerous cases lying in the courts against Ishrat-ul-Ibad. These were withdrawn again not by any civilian government but by Gen Musharraf. Ishrat-ul-Ibad was then appointed Governor of Sindh What is more, he was given extra powers than visualised in by the constitution. MQM was provided important portfolios in the Sindh cabinet.
How can anyone give credence to the claims being made by agencies now? Many would acclaim what the agencies were doing now in case they had a reputation for being straight.
The question being asked is if those who matter want to keep their target limited to the leaders and activist in the MQM? The action against the MQM is seen by some as part of a grand design against political parties across the board.
The political parties, like other institutions in the country, keep skeletons in their cupboards. Most people know this and are concerned about it. They have, however, a practical approach to the issue.
As far as corruption and misuse of authority goes, no institution can claim to be manned by leaders unaffected by the malaise. The difference is that in certain cases corruption has been institutionalised and no oversight, let alone enquiry, by an outside independent body is allowed. The holy cows are to be treated different from others.
People hope that with regular elections in a strengthened democracy, it would be possible to overcome the drawbacks. But as the history of the country shows there are forces which do not want democracy to be strengthened.
What is more, these forces have their henchmen among political parties, culturally backward sections of society and in media. These elements have suddenly become active. As unusual agitation witnessed among domesticated animals before an earthquake, the noise created by these forces can be heard in the cafes and TV programmes.
