Bitter truth
Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza is a loose cannon and, if rubbed the wrong way, will fire away. At the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Dr Mirza was hit by a barrage of complaints by the city’s industrialists and traders for failing to give them adequate protection. Obviously stung by the criticism, he said that “people cast votes for extortionists; they should now talk to their elected representatives for law and order”. Dr Mirza pinned the blame for the deteriorating law and order situation mostly on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). “Dr Imran Farooq was murdered in London, but buses of Pakhtuns were torched in Karachi. Did Asfandyar Wali kill Dr Imran Farooq?” asked Dr Mirza. He went on to allege that when “they [the MQM] want to kill any Pakhtun, Sindhi, Punjabi or Baloch in Karachi, they go about executing their plan methodically”. What Dr Mirza said is politically inappropriate given that the MQM is a coalition partner of the PPP government both at the Centre and in Sindh, but nevertheless is a well known truth. The timing may be wrong, his method of delivery may be unsuitable, but these charges against the MQM are neither new nor something that many can deny. The MQM is notorious for spreading violence in Karachi. In recent months, the security situation in the city has deteriorated and the heat is definitely on Dr Mirza since he is the province’s home minister.
However, Dr Mirza did injustice to the businessmen by saying that they were complicit in this regard because they pay extortion money to such parties. If truth be told, since the government has so far failed to protect the business community from the bhatta (extortion money) mafia, they are forced to pay ‘protection money’. The victims and the terrorisers should not be lumped in the same basket. The businessmen pay the money for their survival. It is the responsibility of the Sindh government to bring the culprits to book so that the people can breathe a sigh of relief. Dr Mirza was also wrong on another count when he tried to provoke the situation by stating that “the situation in Karachi will worsen and a large number of Urdu-speaking people will lose their lives if these ethnic groups [Baloch, Pakhtun, Sindhis and Punjabis] come forward and make an alliance”. This was not just irresponsible of the provincial home minister but could also lead to a political fallout. The PPP’s coalition partner, the JUI-F, pulled out of the coalition yesterday. The PPP is already facing a tough time getting the RGST bill through parliament and with this sort of provocation from Dr Mirza, the MQM may well threaten to pull out as well. On a number of occasions, the MQM has threatened to leave the coalition government but they always retreat from the brink, which suggests more pressure tactics than intent. The MQM has decided that a delegation would meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani after Muharram and protest at Dr Mirza’s provocative speech.
Karachi’s situation is already fraught with tension. The city has many armed groups present on its soil. The MQM is the largest political party in Karachi. How the MQM wins the elections and continues to terrorise the citizens, especially the Pakhtuns, is no secret either. Given the party’s penchant for violence, the PPP will have to tread more carefully in the future.
(my editorial in Daily Times)
However, Dr Mirza did injustice to the businessmen by saying that they were complicit in this regard because they pay extortion money to such parties. If truth be told, since the government has so far failed to protect the business community from the bhatta (extortion money) mafia, they are forced to pay ‘protection money’. The victims and the terrorisers should not be lumped in the same basket. The businessmen pay the money for their survival. It is the responsibility of the Sindh government to bring the culprits to book so that the people can breathe a sigh of relief. Dr Mirza was also wrong on another count when he tried to provoke the situation by stating that “the situation in Karachi will worsen and a large number of Urdu-speaking people will lose their lives if these ethnic groups [Baloch, Pakhtun, Sindhis and Punjabis] come forward and make an alliance”. This was not just irresponsible of the provincial home minister but could also lead to a political fallout. The PPP’s coalition partner, the JUI-F, pulled out of the coalition yesterday. The PPP is already facing a tough time getting the RGST bill through parliament and with this sort of provocation from Dr Mirza, the MQM may well threaten to pull out as well. On a number of occasions, the MQM has threatened to leave the coalition government but they always retreat from the brink, which suggests more pressure tactics than intent. The MQM has decided that a delegation would meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani after Muharram and protest at Dr Mirza’s provocative speech.
Karachi’s situation is already fraught with tension. The city has many armed groups present on its soil. The MQM is the largest political party in Karachi. How the MQM wins the elections and continues to terrorise the citizens, especially the Pakhtuns, is no secret either. Given the party’s penchant for violence, the PPP will have to tread more carefully in the future.
(my editorial in Daily Times)
Comments
It is fascinating how people write about the MQM as if they were first-hand witnesses to what the MQM does. As a researcher and a writer I have yet to find proof against the MQM. Maybe you will not disappointment me.
What is your proof for the above?
Change the skin, wash the heart, it will do your body good!
For proof, please ask any ordinary Karachiite how much bhatta they pay to the MQM and he/she will let you know. I have friends and family members living in Karachi, who have to live in constant fear due to the MQM. And the torture cells and everything else is well-documented. Please do some research on the internet and read up on the issue.
And just for your information, I am not from the PPP camp. My family belongs to the PML-N but I am equally critical of the PML-N too. If you only read up the other stuff I've written, you'll find out that I am not in the habit of making false claims.
I continue to see baseless allegations against the MQM with more frequency in your newspaper than any other newspaper. Some articles have names and some go nameless.
Also, it does not really matter how well-organized the MQM's media presence is. What matters is when you put your name to a piece of writing, you must be able to substantiate it in a court of law.
The very least you should be able to do is to provide unchallengeable references to get printed in a reputable research periodical.
Are you suggesting in so many words that you don't have any proof except he-said, she said aka old wives' tales?
Either you have proof or you don't. If you do have proof, you should be able to provide it. I am challenging your credibility here and you want to wait for a lawsuit? Strange indeed!
There is an Urdu saying "na nou mun tail hou ga no radha nachay gee." That is to throw some wrench in an discussion so that until a fairly impossible happens the wrench thrower does not have to do much to justify her position.
If I wrote something and you challenged my credibility, I would not wait until being called into a court of law. I would provide proof.
Either you have proof or your have old wives' tales. They are mutually exclusive.
[but then again, since you're such a staunch MQM supporter, you will even doubt the credibility of the authors, but owell...]
I do like you courage to engage though. :)
So I am expecting reasonably unchallengeable proof to establish journalistic standards Daily Times works with.
I am hoping that you will not disappoint me.
IUR
Unfortunately, this is how issues are "resolved" in the land of the pure.
Someone makes a baseless statement. Another person challenges that baseless statement and supposed "well wishers" suggests "chore, jane den."
The baseless statement then reappears somewhere else because of the law of inertia. That is:
"A baseless accusation will continue in motion or remain stationary until and unless a force is applied to it."
Such force is applied by challenging the baseless statements. The accuser is asked to provide his/her sources. When the sources are provided then the validity of the sources is ascertained.
Then either the baseless accusation is found to be not so baseless and should be accepted. Otherwise, it needs to be retracted by the accuser.
This is how scholarship is evolved while the truth and falsehood are separated from each other.