Daily Times

The Pakistan People’s Party, though in power since 2008, has not delivered in any sphere of life – education, healthcare, security of life and property, poverty alleviation, or a clean administration embedded in rule of law, observance of merit in recruitments, promotions, transfers and postings. There has been a progressive degradation in all the provincial departments. The Chief Minister has been at loggerheads with the Inspectors General of the provincial police – may he be Iqbal Mahmood, A.D. Khwaja or Kaleem Imam. The Sindh Public Service Commission, though headed by a former Ambassador, has failed to regain public trust as the premier institution for recruitment of high ranking officials on merit and remains mired in disrepute and controversy. The government has been rocked every other day by a new episode of corruption – the latest being the pilferage of over two million bags of wheat from different godowns of the Food Department.

The opposition comprises landlords and Sajanashins from the ranks of Grand Democratic Alliance or the urban-based representatives of PTI and MQM who have no knowledge of Sindh and its woes. Until July 2018, MQM used to emerge as the second largest political party of the province – winning almost all the National and Provincial constituencies from the urban centers of Karachi and Hyderabad. It remained the unchallenged political and administrative master of the two cities from 1988 after banishing the Islamists from the urban centers. Unfortunately, it could not strike a resonance with the common populace of Sindh. There remained an unbridgeable gulf of distrust preventing the middle class Sindhis to find a common cause with MQM.

There were many reasons for this divide ranging from MQM’s ambiguous position on the issues of utmost importance to Sindh such as the restoration of democracy, provincial autonomy, fair distribution of waters and other resources like oil and gas and jobs in the federal administrative structures and corporations, construction of dams to its obsession with a distinct Mohajir identity or nationalism, hostility to Sindhis and other ethnic groups living in these cities. The provocative demand for carving out a separate Mohajir province out of Sindh came as the final devastating blow to any hope for a joint political struggle for the rights of the second big federating unit by both the Urdu speaking and the majority Sindhis.

MQM incurred the wrath of security forces in the backdrop of precarious law and order situation in the early 1990s. It split into two factions with the rebellious one spearheaded by Ashfaq Ahmed and Aamir Khan. The divide was underlined by factional infighting reddening the streets of Karachi with the blood of many young leaders and workers. This intermittent bloodletting climaxed in further disintegration of the party in 2016. Earlier, some senior leaders of the party, disillusioned with the continued violence, formed a new political party – Pak Sarzamin Party (PSP). Out of all these factions, only the MQM-Pakistan partially retained its previous electoral strength in the general elections of July 2018 losing an overwhelming majority of National and Provincial constituencies to Pakistan Tehreek Insaf in Karachi.

We should have the courage of forgiving our past blunders and unwelcome truths. We cannot afford to keep harping on old tunes with a closed mind and an obscure vision

There are many splinter groups of MQM today. With the exception of the PSP, the core demand of all these groups – carving out a separate province out of Sindh – remains unaltered. The only subject they unanimously carry forward to hoodwink their voters is the fantasy of a Mohajir province. This is an audaciously irresponsible and provocative position with the potentially dangerous consequence of pushing the common abode of both communities intoa civil war or triggering an endless hostility among the ethnic groups living in Sindh much before the inception of the country. The PSP has publicly renounced the demand of partition of Sindh though it has failed to make any breakthrough in the Mohajir constituencies.

We may recall the 18th Amendment in the constitution of Pakistan by a unanimous vote was made in response to the chronic clamour of the smaller federating units for more autonomy, or devolution of powers. The devolution of powers should not stop at provincial capitals and should logically trickle down to the third tier of governance in the cities, towns and villages as practiced in the developed democracies. This ensures good governance at all tiers doing away with the causes of discontent in any segment of the population. Sindh today needs a united voice to realize its economic potential for progress and prosperity. A divided house is always vulnerable to the manipulation by predators.

With this political system of governance in mind, the politically conscious citizens and opinion makers of the province – professors, retired officers, intellectuals, writers, journalists – from both communities put their heads together to work out a feasible political paradigm seeking consensus on the main issues that have been impeding the evolution of social harmony, political co-existence and a unified position on the subjects of utmost significance to this land.

This is the opportune moment to start this dialogue between the two communities which, if sincerely carried forward, has the possibility of concretizing into a politically unique and ethnically broad-based political plate form before the next general elections. This will turn Sindh into a new land – a harmonious common abode for all segments of its population. The Sindh Vision is in a unique position to initiate this dialogue. It can organize a broad-based conference with the participation of eminent persons from both the communities for identifying the main issues causing friction in the province and formulate recommendations.

The recommendations, if properly projected, will compel the existing political parties to make changes in their manifestos. The participants should not be averse to seek a new political plate form if there is a consensual agreement on it. The salvation of our heterogeneous society lies in this joint political struggle. We should have the courage of forgiving our past blunders and unwelcome truths. We cannot afford to keep harping on old tunes with a closed mind and an obscure vision. We should look forward to a progressive and prosperous future for our posterity.

The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books