Have been following the Imran Khan-MQM issue all week. Former Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has also jumped in with his “support” claiming that he knew all along about the MQM ’s alleged “criminal activites including the murder of Hakim Saeed” of which Nawaz Sharif claims that he has evidence proving MQM’s involvement.
Imran Khan’s case ofcourse is built on the evidence that Former Federal Interior Minister General Nasruallah Babar claims he has had for years and was waiting for an “appropriate moment” While we’ll see how all this pans out but is no one wondering the following :
How come Mr. Nawaz Sharif gets to say that he knew that MQM was behind Hakeem Said murder after all these years? If he knew it before, why didn’t he come forward with the evidence?
Speaking of ‘evidence’ where was General Nasurullah Babar all these years with the damaging evidence against MQM all these years?
As responsible citizens, weren’t Mr. Nawaz Sharif and Nasurallah Babar duty bound to come forward?
Speaking of MQM and Imran Khan, is it really responsible of MQM to drudge up someone’s personal life as they are doing of Imran Khan?
What does it say about the voters of MQM who are fine with their party’s line of dredging up someone’s personal life details?
The politics of a country is a reflection of its people. What does our politics say about us as a Nation? That we are interested in who fathered whose baby?
That we are interested in listening to a former Prime Minister who as he admits it had evidence proving a murder but refrained from going to the authorities? That we have a former Federal Interior Minister who stored criminal evidence at home rather than sharing it with the police and is now using it for political purposes?
Some points: Chaudhry Nisar said in an interview ..fairly recently that he didn’t think the MQM was a terrorist party.
Secondly, it is said that the Sharif brothers apologized for their acts of omission and comission when they were in jail in karachi? (it’s also a side point that they did not allow the PPP to form a government when they imposed governor rule in 1998)
Thirdly, the MQM tactics maybe militant and “fascistic” but it is in my opinion not a fascist party..simply because it is a product of the karachi environment..any party that dominates karachi has had to employ tactics like that..if the MQM vanished tomorrow the JI or even the PPP or ANP would use much the same tactics. Karachis problems of violence ..are endemic and encouraged by the establishment. That is the real source of the violence.
It is actually a war between Punjabis and Muhajirs with Muhajirs being represented by Musharaf and Altaf and Punjabis by Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif, and Punjabi electronic and print media. Punjabi chauvuinism has come in open whenever a leader from another ethnicity has grabbed to much power.
Zak: While what you’re saying about the general political environment of Karachi might find has some semblence of the truth, don’t you think it is rather too simplistic an explanation? While it is correct that the May 12 death toll might have been higher if PPPP and ANP activists also had not be armed, it is a fact that MQM has a lot to answer for when we ask ,“ Who started it ?” Not just on May 12th but the general violent political environment of Karachi. Some analysts are also closely watching Hyderabad and Sukkar now for the same reasons.
The_Gladiator: Sir, don’t you think there are some issues that cannot be painted with the ethnicity brush?
The questions which has been put up here are very basic, but I think all these questions are actually different forms of another basic question, “Who was Quaidi-Azam, Sir Agha Khan and what they had to do with creating a homeland for Indian Muslims”. If we do not ask this basic question, then all the rest of the questions lose their roots. If this country was made for, what musharraf call as, “responsible for disintegration of USSR and integration of Germany”, then it lakes the difinition of state and asking such questions are just useless.
A continuation of colonial period is it, what else?
Request:
I been visiting this blog for a long time and many topics here are of interest to my nation. As a pukhtun, I believe we are having problems which are very different from those of Pakistan. Democracy, Judiciary, media or many such other things may have a little concern for us. Our problems have a different dimentions. The creation of Taliban and impowerment of clergy by Pakistan, which is an increasing threat for all the Pukhthoon(both sides of Durand line), manipulation of Pukhthoon masses by the media and a fake type of Pakistani education system, deprivatio of Pukhthuns of their right, humaliation of the liberal and democratic social and democratic forces of Pukhtuns, all these happens irrispective of which kind of government there is in Pakistan, wether military or democratic, whether it is Ifthikhar Chudhry on chair or someone else. I remember that the issue of the assets of NWFP with the WAPDA is older than the Steel Mill case and the Judicial crices. Ifthikhar Chudhry or someone else will never take any action for us and has nothing to do with other problems.
I wonder if the moderator of this blog, who according to my information is a pukhthun, may have a seperate portion for the pukhthun problems so that we the pkhthuns can have a forum for discussing our issues.
Ajmal Khan Sahab! We have an even more basic question in response to your questions. It is: What is Pakistan to you ?
Nasir Khan Sahab! Thank you for stopping by at our blog regularly which is ecnouraging. What you articulate is indeed very important and we can see value in your argument. However, when you say a separate space for Pukhtuns , do you think that you would not like to discuss these problems/challenges in an open space? The challenges/problems that you enumerate related to dis crediting of local political voices, demonizing national heroes through the educational system are they really Pukhtun specific? Don’t all the five plus “nations” living in Pakistan confronted with the same challenges? What about the people of the Northern Areas ? Are’nt they also confronted with the same dilemma.. .in fact their dilemma is worse. So , then why a separate space?
As for your “information” Sir , we are most curious as to where you got this information? : )
When you talk about Pukhthuns, you must bear in mind its proximity with the Great Game and Cold War. By the way the same a similar form of post colonial education is given inother parts of the world including Arab states but it is having different effects in other parts. I am surprised how you think this type of education will have similar results in greenland and NWFP. To clarify my point further, I would be against the US occupation if it would be Greenland if it would be Greenland as it would have no threat from outside but in case of Afghanistan and also NWFP and Pukhthun parts in Pakistan I would wilcome US so that to fill the gap and get it out of the influence of Pakistan, which(Pakistan) support here the extreamist forces and get the liberal forces down. By the way Musharraf and other ‘enlighted moderates’ of Pakistan did not born on 9/11 but it was the US who turned them from a Taliban and Al-Qaeda supporters to the war on terror. Again I surprise how you through so simply all the rubbish on Pukhtuns. Would you till me who were in power in pukhtuns land before the creation of Pakistan. They were the liberal(although not very educated), Khudai Khidmathgar. I accept one reality, and that is the pushtuns are unfortunate as they live on the most important land with less power, which has turned its sthrength into its weakness. Again if you would tell me who were fighting in Kargil, were they Mujahiddin or Pak Army. I get really surprised when I hear from the people of this blog(whom I believe have a manipolation free knowledge), that Talibans or any other such stuff are pukhthuns.
Regarding my information, my friend has introduced this blog to me and he told me about. May be I am wrong in this but I am sure I am not wrong in my openion of who am I to Pakistan, a traitor. Pakistan did never trust me and I can never trust it too.
Individualland, fundamentally, it is Punjabi-Muhajir clash as I have pointed to…that is why media attack on and political campaign against MQM is mostly spearheaded by Punjabis…What Muhajir did was also targetted against Punjabis, who are out to dethrone Mushi, one of their kind…Poor Pashtuns are victoms of a clash that has more to itself than what appears to be…( I am also not ruling out the clash of Muhajir-Pashtun business interests…but I still insist the clash between Punjabi and Muhajir bourgeois is the dominent cause…)…
I think you are either looking at it parochialy, without the relevant historical context, or are being carried away by anti-Muhajir sentiments created by Punjab’s media recently…Remember, how they clashed after partition, so much so that Punjabi bureaucracy killed Liaqat Ali Khan, but later joined hands against Bangalis…
And yes, I am painting it with ethnicity brush for that is what has shaped the turbulent and not so-impressive history of Pakistan…and that is what its fundamental contradiction is apart from a dozen of other contradictions…(Remeber in historical analysis you employ a paradigm…and the ethnic-contradiction-paradigm is what shapes the history of Pakistan)…
And I am sorry but I don’t subscribe to any Pakistani-brand liberalism to look at it from the stand-point of a Pakistan-patriot liberal ( an idea of patriotism that originates from the minds of Lahore-Islamabad based Punjabi bourgeois …in actuality a self-serving Punjabi propaganda) …
As long as my people are a victom of what Pakistan is, I cannot buy all this vision.
I mean clash of Muhajir-Pashtun business interests in Karachi…
“Thirdly, the MQM tactics maybe militant and “fascistic” but it is in my opinion not a fascist party..simply because it is a product of the karachi environment..any party that dominates karachi has had to employ tactics like that..if the MQM vanished tomorrow the JI or even the PPP or ANP would use much the same tactics”
So what is meant here that since MQM is forced by the envirnoment to do what it does as shown on 12th May….and therefore it is not facist even if it uses the facist means? To me that is hardly a justification.
Secondly…Mr Nasir seem to be pointing at very pertinent sides of the issue which some particular brand of ‘ liberals’ seem to consider not worh discussing because they simply do not feel comfortable about them. Shouldn’t we discuss why the establishment kills hundreds of innocent people in the Tribal areas using bombs but negotiates with the ones sitting in Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid? Isn’t it worth discussing why the supreme court simply ignores the issue of net hydal profit to NWFP but promptly takes up Stell mill issue? Shouldn’t someone point out that the citizens of the disputed AJ&K have all the rights in Pakistan but those from tribal areas can’t even vote? Isn’t it worth discussing that the Mohajirs whocame from a variety of places in India have taken over completely the city of Karachi and the local Sindhis only serve as their drivers and cooks and chowkidars? Isn’t it worth discussing that the Pakhtuns(Pakistani!!!!!) in Karachi are living in Ghetos while the Mohajir ( Better Pakistanies!!!!) live in the posh colonies? Isn’t it worth discussing that out of the 100 billion budget of NWFP, the indeginous share of the province is only 10%, the remaining has to come from the centre despite the fact that NWFP hsas tremendous resources. ( U take my piece of bread and then give me a quarter…just to keep me from dying?). Doesn’t it need discussion that a language and culture practised by more than 40 million people is left to die…while that of only 7% is forced on all? Isn’t it worth discussion that every city of Punjab has its own industry curtesy the state… more than 60% of the Pakhtun youth working as labourers in these factories in Punjab cities ( Sialkot, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Shaikhupura…need I go on) since they don’t have bread in their own land? Isn’t it worth discussing that Taliban and Religious parties were and are groomed by the Punjabi domoinated establishment but only in Pakhtun belt for their own interersts? Isn’t it worth discussing that while universities and colleges were being set up in the Punjab and urban Sindh for their kids, in our land they set up madrassas…..alongwith giving licences to the Gulf Arabs to do the same? Isn’t it worth discussion that while the infrastructure in the Punjab is close now to international standrads….the existing road structure in the NWFP has withered to the extent that people have stopped going to places like Swat and Dir and Chitral because of roads? Isn’t it worth discussing that the guy selling corn in every street in Pindi/Islamabad is a Pakhtun but you find no Punjabi doing the same in any part of Pakhtun areas? And last but not the least Isn’t it worth discussing that thousands of Baloch youth are languishing in jails without any coverage by the Punjabi dominated media?
Tell me what other brush can be used except ethnicity to paint the above facts? And why shouldn’t there be a seperate space…..Did I see any blog or any comment on these issues in the existing one….a big NO. Who is interested in what happens to my kid in Dir or Swat or Kurram or Bajaur or Mardan as long as all goes well South of Indus?
My reading is the Pashtuns collaborating with Punjabi ruling classes as junior partners and enjoying the comforts of life south of Indus would never support Pashtun or any other “ethnic” cause strongly. Their comfort zone allows them to refer to “ethnic”, as they put it, only mildly and to the extent that their interests are not hurt.