Pakistan Peoples Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement on warpath
By guestwriter at 27 November, 2009, 5:21 am
By Imtiaz Ali and Fasahat Mohiuddin
KARACHI: The simmering tensions between the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) erupted on Thursday when Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza
said he would make startling disclosures about the cases against the MQM leaders within a week, demanded suo motu notice of the alleged fraud committed by the party in getting these cases closed, and talked tough on the NRO, but got a befitting response from the MQM.
Just a day after Mirza blasted the MQM at the PPP rally for opposing the use of the Sindh Card, his tirade against the MQM was seen by analysts as a move to pressurise the judiciary and the establishment to back off from reopening all the NRO cases, due on Nov 28.
In another tit-for-tat move, the MQM announced that it was planning a huge rally in Karachi just after Eidul Azha to be addressed by party Quaid Altaf Hussain, who will chalk out the next course of action for the party.
Analysts said the two coalition partners in Sindh were moving towards a head-on collision as NRO cases reopen in the Supreme Court in a few days and the question of President Asif Zardari’s resignation heats up. The MQM was the first party to demand his resignation.
In a hard-hitting press conference with Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah sitting beside him, Mirza alleged that 3,500 MQM cases were withdrawn in Sindh under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) after a huge fraud was committed with the judiciary.
Speaking to media men after the launching ceremony of PPP Sindh’s new media cell near the Bilawal house, he claimed these cases were not closed as the concerned files were not approved. He said he would present startling disclosures about these cases within a week. “I want to open the eyes and ears of people within a week,” he said.
The MQM leadership, stunned by the tone and tenor of the PPP onslaught, replied with calm but vigour. Member of the Rabita Committee Salim Shahzad said the MQM cases were quashed through a tribunal under the NRO, but if Mirza deemed it a fraud “then the entire NRO was a fraud”. He added if this was the PPP’s policy, then President Zardari should express it.
The MQM leader added if the Sindh home minister wanted to reopen these criminal cases, his party was ready to face them, adding if the Supreme Court (SC) or the high court announces to re-open these cases, the party would welcome the decision.
The Sindh home minister urged the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the cases closed under the NRO in Sindh and order their investigation. He said all cases should be reopened.
He said the PPP formed an alliance with the MQM on the basis of “forget and forgive” but their allies were working against the PPP by becoming a tool of the establishment. Using strong language, he said “if they want to fight with us, we are ready for it”.
He also took a strong exception to claims of the MQM leadership that they were not involved in corruption cases. “Respectable friend and soft spoken Dr Farooq Sattar should explain under what charges he had gone to jail in the recent past. Had he gone to jail to distribute charity, distribute jobs or were there corruption charges against him?” Mirza asked.
He said on the wishes of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, Karachi was blocked on May 12 to prevent Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry from coming here. He alleged killings took place on that day under “official patronage”.
Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said the provincial government had taken strong notice to switching off the street lights during the video speech of President Asif Zardari to the party’s 43rd foundation rally near the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah on Wednesday evening.
Qaim said he called the home secretary and the district coordination officer (DCO), Karachi. The chief minister said he had ordered the Sindh home secretary to furnish a report within three days in this regard.
The chief minister said he observed that there was “complete darkness” when the president was delivering his video address and recalled that the twin blasts at Karsaz had occurred after the street lights were switched off. “We will take action against whosoever is responsible,” he said.
The chief minister said the PPP wanted cooperation with everyone, especially the PML-N. Shah said they did not want acrimony or chaos in politics. He said cases against Asif Zardari dated back to 1996 and none of the cases resulted in conviction during the last 12 years. He said two judges had given decision in the SGS and Cotecna case but a seven-member Supreme Court bench had declared that the judgment was based on manifest bias and set aside the conviction. As a result, the judges were compelled to resign.
He said “in politics, mistakes could be forgiven but not blunders”. The chief minister claimed the level of corruption had come down in Sindh to a large extent. He said the Anti-Corruption Establishment had prepared data about it, which revealed that corruption had been reduced in the province. “Overall, we are moving towards betterment,” he claimed.
He said politics demanded patience and tolerance. He claimed that the reconciliation policy initiated by Benazir Bhutto and followed by Asif Zardari had paid “dividends” in terms of increasing political understanding among the political parties though “ups and downs” were part of politics.
He said the government should be criticised but animosity should be avoided. If someone does not like the face of anyone, then he or she should not take “revenge” through the media. In his response to the PPP, Salim Shahzad said the MQM was geared up to defend itself against the allegations. He said the statement by Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza regarding waiving off 3,000 cases in Sindh under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) might be his own opinion. However, this is not the policy of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
He asserted in addition to the criminal cases, all other cases should be reopened. “No threat could frighten us in the past; nor will it happen in the future,” he said, adding that the cases against the Muttahida were filed during the PPP’s tenure and all these cases were criminal to the complete exclusion of corruption cases.
The people conspiring to destabilise the government want to spawn rifts between us, Salim said. “We are an ally of the government and want the government to complete its tenure.”“We will not play into anyone’s hands nor will we be a part to any conspiracy. We did criticise the government but we did not level allegations in the past nor will we do the same now.”
Regarding a question on bitterness with the PPP, he said the MQM’s stance on the NRO might be the reason for it, adding the country was facing many crises hence circumstances necessitate tolerance.
“If we went wrong somewhere, we will apologise, if they (PPP) are wrong, then they should set their direction right,” he said, urging against levelling of allegations, as it would cause harm to democracy. Instead, the criticism should be aimed at reformation, he added.
On a practical note, the MQM leader vowed that Rabita Committee members would meet the PPP leaders and will try to strike reconciliation between the parties.Shahzad said a Rabita Committee member wrote down some poetry, which was his own opinion and the party had nothing to do with it. However, the party was reviewing it. “December comes every year and we are not waiting for any December, as the Muttahida wants the government to complete its full term,” he maintained.
I hope that Karachi is still peaceful even after these two corrupt men are colliding as the history has been that whenever MQM has issues with other parties in the government the violence in Karachi starts because MQM is the terror party which starts the violence. I hope it doesn’t happen this time and MQM acts like a responsible party rather a terrorist party.