Everyone had great
expectations from the May 11, 2013 general elections, and thank God Almighty the cup passed over our heads, but it is very sad to say that no change came in Sindh. Same old corrupt faces returned joyfully singing ‘Hojamaloo’ and dancing to the beat of drums. We were told a great change would come and the country would be changed. But has anything changed? As far as Sindh is concerned the answer is a big no. From media reports of a few days it seems quite clear that the PPP even after having a clear mandate in Sindh is desperate to take MQM back in government. One does not know why; it seems that they are inspired by the dynamic leadership of the MQM or by its politics of aggression. But that happens when you place an 80-year-old man without skills, capability and ability to handle pressure.
Now the unfinished deals of Zulfiqarabad, the port of Manora and the controversial local bodies government system would be fulfilled. The MQM would definitely get its due share. It is another historic fact that the PPP representing a majority of Sindh has, again and again, betrayed this land of great history expanding now to 6,000 years of its glorious past. It has faced many disasters, and witnessed many groups of people, and whoever wants to ruin it just to take control of its bounties and natural resources.
Nowadays, another big news regarding Sindh creeping into popular as well as social media is that ‘Mohajir Suba Tehreek’ has come back to life again as soon as the MQM sat on the opposition benches in the Sindh Assembly. It seems true that once you have tasted power, you become eager to have it again by hook or by crook. We can easily witness that eagerness building up amongst the popular leadership of the MQM. The media is aware of the hostile language used by Altaf Hussian aka Bhai through his telephonic speeches. Then it was seen that a worker stood up and slapped members of the Rabita Committee; all this shows how badly the MQM wants to be in power. And for that they have moved their best pawn, ‘the movement for a separate province for mohajirs (refugees)’ by dividing Sindh. The leaders of this movement quite openly announce in public: “Sindh is not a holy cow that it cannot be divided.”
Salim Hyder, a leader of the Mohajir Suba Tehreek, said in a press conference that Karachi is a city that belongs to mohajirs, and no one could stop them from making it a mohajir province.
Though the leaders of this movement often deny the support of the MQM, but actions speak louder than words. It was the MQM who wanted to move a bill in the last National Assembly for a Seraiki province; they openly support Baba Hazara who demands a separate province. The only reason the MQM supports them is so that they in return would support them and their sleeping partners to gain a separate province for Urdu-speakers.
This is not a new thing for Sindhis; from the recent short history of Pakistan we know that such bad times have come upon Sindh repeatedly. We see deep roots of this conspiracy from the late 1960s and early 1970s. As Mansoor Qadir Junejo in his book The Jinnahpur Conspiracy Case writes, in 1996, when Ms Benazir Bhutto returned from her tour of Europe, she declared some astonishing facts regarding the division of Sindh. It was disclosed to her that Karachi would be made a free port like Hong Kong and Singapore. Qadir mentions the Mohajiristan Liberation Organisation, which published a leaflet including a map of ‘Jinnahpur’. It was further mentioned in that leaflet that if dividing Sindh and establishing ‘Mohajiristan’ is treason, then dividing India and establishing Pakistan was a greater treason, and it was the Sindh Assembly that first passed that resolution.
Jami Chandio in his article, “The Question of Understanding MQM’s Politics” writes that according to him there are two major reasons for the formation of the MQM. He claims that migration was never in the pact of the partition, and excluding Mr Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the mainstream leadership of the Muslim League was Urdu-speaking, coming from UP and CP. They had their own vested interests in the newly-born country. Another point that Mr Chandio mentions is seeing the unity, struggle and resistance of Sindhis, the establishment in 1983 used its tools and laid the foundations of the MQM to divert the people of Sindh. And thus Sindhis started a new struggle to protect the boundaries of their motherland, which seemed to be in danger.
Dr Israr Ahmed, one of the greatest religious scholars of Pakistan, holds international stakeholders responsible for breaking up Pakistan, with a few local hands helping them. Dr Ahmed in his booklet Dangers to Pakistan’s Existence writes, “In a book by the name The Twin Eras of Pakistan published in 1992 in New York, our political and military history is discussed. The intellectuals and political pundits in the west predict that Pakistan would be divided into eight parts; four amongst them would be independent states, and three would purely come out from Pakistan. According to them these three independent states include: Republic of Balochistan, including the whole of Balochistan for it is rich in natural resources, and is a prosperous and developing area. Second would be Karachi and Hyderabad, for Urdu-speaking people, named ‘Liquatpur’ or ‘Liquatabad’ and the third would be Sindhudesh.” The truth of this statement could be found in the logic that whenever it comes to the establishment of new provinces, we find the leadership of the Urdu-speaking population standing in the front row.
Likewise, some myths have been created regarding the ‘rights of the Urdu-speaking’. For example we hear repeatedly that thousands of innocent Urdu-speaking people were killed during the two military operations in the 1990s. The MQM leaders give the impression that Sindhis were uncivilized, illiterate and uncultured, and they came here and gave the original Sindhis civilisation, culture and a new lifestyle.
Amar Jaleel, a true Karachi lover in his book Literature and Politics puts light on the situation in Karachi in the following words:
“…In such a situation, Mumtaz Bhutto, with power and might, announced from radio and television that from now Sindhi would be the official language of Sindh. On the other hand, Urdu-speaking people misunderstood it and thought their language was being wiped out from Sindh.” Jaleel further writes that the riots of 1972-73 were the greatest riots in the history of Karachi at that time.
It is quite clear from this recent short history that there are people who are involved in the conspiracy of dividing Sindh, but the people of Sindh have always resisted and stood against these conspiracies. They have defended their motherland, and they know fully well how to defend it. The entire country is on fire, please don’t add fuel to it. If Sindh is not a holy cow then it is not a piece of cake either that you cut it and shout: ‘Bhai! Happy birthday!’
The writer can be reached at [email protected]