A new kind of crisis fraught with all kinds of eventualities — like ethnic riots possibly worse than the ones witnessed in the aftermath of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 — seems to be brewing in Pakistan.
A country, which is already faced with numerous problems, cannot afford yet another political crisis. If deepened, the confrontation between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) over new province for the Urdu-speaking community — concentrated mostly in the urban areas of Sindh province — may not only see bloodshed but may prove to be catastrophic.
The MQM, sweeping successive elections since 1988 in major cities of Sindh, is seething with anger over repeated raw deals. Its threats of pulling out of coalition governments in the past have invariably been reversed but this time around it appears resolved not to soften its stance.
Some analysts describe this as part of a well thought out plan to destabilize the government. Dismissing such analyses as “cynical,” the MQM says it is no longer ready to be taken for a ride.
The future of the MQM, its followers and sympathizers depends solely on the formation of a separate province. Actually, these demands are not new and emanated as a result of discriminatory policies initiated in 1972 by then Zulfikar Ali Bhutto-led government. Those policies undoubtedly affected the Urdu-speaking community and continue to do so.
Supporters of this demand claim that the Urdu-speaking community can rely on its education and administrative capabilities to run its own affairs independently.
The vital question, however, is as to how long can the PPP, the most powerful force in Sindh and widely acknowledged representative of the Sindhi-speaking people, can take it lying down. Its reconciliatory tone, displayed so far within the provincial legislature and outside the House, is bound to exhaust some day.
It would mean the beginning of a war of words that could transform into a bloody conflict. The question is: Will the conflict remained confined to Karachi or Sindh, or spread to other provinces as well, as Karachi has a mixed population comprising almost every ethnic group from across the country.
Various seasoned politicians like Aitzaz Ahsan and Defense Minister Khawaja Asif have made attempts to control the situation by offering unconditional apology to the MQM over PPP leader Khursheed Shah’s “insulting” remarks. However, the MQM has so far refused to budge.
The MQM should realize that its stance against the PPP and its decision to revert to the Muhajir cause, which it had abandoned long time ago, has actually astonished both the politicians and analysts.
The party had abandoned its basic cause to make itself acceptable to other parts of the country and to project itself as a mainstream party. However, the outcome of those efforts turned out to be against its expectations.
The political scene is charged now and loaded with all kinds of prospects.
