Daily Times

A political change in any society does not come in the aftermath of a neophyte and unpopular political leader’s rhetoric made for it. It comes after many years’ indefatigable and unrelenting struggle the charismatic, experienced and popular political leaders, who have made extraordinary political contributions and have given unforgettable sacrifices for their people, make for it.

Hailing from the urban professional class, a journalist-turned-politician, Ali Qazi, created his new political party named the Tabdeeli Pasand Party (TPP) during a public gathering in Hyderabad, Sindh on April 8, with an objective to bring change through vote and to ensure social justice, good governance, and the provision of safe drinking water, health and education to the people of Sindh.

The TPP is believed to be a third political force that will bring about a political change in Sindh, defeating the PPP and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) in the upcoming elections. The fact is that it’s pretty unlikely that there will be any political change in the recent future in Sindh because, at the moment, the PPP in Sindh is in the fortified position and its winning in the upcoming election seems inevitable.

Sindh has been confronting serious problems such as the fragile socio-economic conditions, high poverty rate, low literacy ratio, fast sky-touching unemployment, the grave condition of the health-care system, the acute shortage of clean drinking water and the damaged sewerage system. Despite this, after going through the political history of Sindh, you will find that in the elections from 1988 to 2013, the PPP has been the only winning party in all the elections in the province. Similarly, in the approaching general elections, Sindh will see no political change and once again the PPP will achieve success all over the rural Sindh. Moreover, because of the breaking up of MQM into three or more political bodies, chances for the PPP have increased to win some seats in Sindh’s urban centres, Karachi and Hyderabad.

The fact is that, in Pakistan, the powerful group of feudal politicians, a creation of both the dictatorial governments and democratic fiascos, dominates the provincial and national assemblies. Currently, of the overall legislators, at least 75 percent are landlords. And surprisingly almost 95 percent of the law-makers in Sindh assembly elected from rural Sindh are also feudal lords. This influential feudal political class not only controls public offices, funds and huge properties but also use their authority and feudalistic power to suppress the voice and emotions of the citizens.

In Pakistan, a powerful group of feudal politicians dominates the provincial and national assemblies. They not only control public offices, funds and huge properties but also use their authority and feudalistic power to suppress citizens’ voices

With the undue help and support of most of the local police officials and bureaucrats, they pressurise and threaten their voters, applying various strategies and channels. This is how they have always been successful in winning the elections. And shockingly the clutches of the authoritative feudal class are becoming stronger day by day as the PPP, which was the party of common people, has become the party of feudal politicians. Therefore, it is clear from the prevailing situation that to dismantle the deep-rooted feudal social order is not a piece of cake.

Ali Qazi has been the editor of the prominent Sindhi newspaper Kawish and the CEO of Sindhi TV channel Kawish Television Network (KTN) for long. Taking advantage of the positions, practically, he did nothing for the uplift and welfare of people of Sindh. For him, it was better to highlight the burning issues of Sindh such as low literacy rate, lack of health-care facilities, high unemployment and fast growing poverty.

He should have made documentary movies on them and should have telecasted on his TV channels: KTN and Kashish. On the contrary, many of the dramas and telefilms aired by his channels, representing Sindh’s society as the society of dacoits, killers and terrorists, have been displaying weapons such as rifles, guns and pistols in almost every scene plenteously. The programmes pose the damaging impacts on Sindh’s peace-loving culture and also disrupt the healthy and constructive grooming of new generation.

Though hailing from the urban professional class, the TPP head initiated his political career with a public gathering at Bhit Shah, a small town in central Sindh, on 22 January 2012.Yet he is the novice and inexperienced player in politics as he has yet not contested in the election, while the PPP leadership is highly experienced and shrewd in electoral politics and expert in the political manoeuvrings. Thus in the upcoming elections, it is not possible for him to bring any change. But if he succeeds in winning his own seat, it will be a feather in his cap.

Optimistically speaking, Kazi, doing most things practically for the people of Sindh, should continue his struggle. It should be borne in mind that change does not come by merely raising slogans and making speeches in gatherings for it or making an analysis of the serious state of the socio-economic and political situation existing in Sindh on TV channel. It needs some constructive initiatives to be taken to bring problems to light, which people of Sindh have been grappling with for many years. Surely, the day will come when people of Sindh will stand against feudalism, bad governance and status quo and will bring change through a vote.

The writer is an academic and can be reached on Twitter @ARShykh

Published in Daily Times, May 1^st 2018.