The verdict on history

The News
International

Nasreen Jalil

The recently held conference in London voicing the grievances of the smaller provinces of Pakistan has prompted a host of polemical write ups in the leading English and Urdu language newspapers. The conference was addressed by four influential political speakers, representing the four different province, all of whom bitterly critcised the unfair role of the Punjabi-dominated armed forces and establishment in the political life of the country. They accordingly demanded that a new constitution be framed for Pakistan as the existing one had, as per their experience, failed to protect the political and economic interests of the minority provinces.

As expected, however, the parochial section of the press picked up Mr Altaf Hussain exclusively for launching the counter-offensive. Picking up a few remarks, totally out of context, from his extempore speech, an onslaught has been launched against him, side-tracking the main theme of the conference. The game plan seems obvious. Raise undue controversies and thereby divert the attention of the people from the critical national issue pertaining to provincial autonomy.

Mr Anwar Ahmed who never misses any opportunity to malign MQM and Mr Altaf Hussain, naturally jumped into the arena with his article entitled, "Verdict on history". Mr Anwar Ahmed, an inveterate champion of the Punjabi cause, and we don't hold any grudge against him on this account but we expect of him to be fair and even-handed in dealing with the problems of other provinces. Unfortunately he has always been disappointing in this regard. He is highly allergic to and stubbornly unyielding towards any suggestion for change in the political set up in the country such as the creation of more administrative units or grant of greater autonomy to the province. Since he belongs to the privileged class in the existing system, he is all for its perpetuation. However his methodology to dub all criticism of the establishment as nothing but Punjabi baiting, Punjabi bashing etc has now become stale, hackneyed and overplayed. It does not provide the shield to protect the status-quo.

Mr Altaf Hussain is one of those new brand of political leaders who do not believe in delivering public speeches monotonously from a prepared test. They fully involve the audience in the proceedings. Altaf Hussain excels in such style of public address and turns the proceeding into a somewhat "question and answer session", wherein many issues are thrown open for eliciting quick reaction and response of the audience. However, one has to have some good sense of humour as well as sharp wit to understand the real significance of his remarks.

The journalists interviewing Altaf Hussain or those reporting the proceedings of the convention totally failed to guess the element of sarcasm in his reference to the famous couple of Allama Iqbal. One can clearly see from the exact text of the proceedings that he was making a dig at the questioner, probably hailing from Punjab, that it was a Punjabi poet that had composed the national song of India. The boot was on the other leg. But it apparently passed over the heads of the journalist in London and the columnists back home. His misunderstood remarks were accordingly misconstrued.

History takes strange turns and twists. It is full of ifs and buts. Had Nehru not sabotaged the cabinet plan which had already been agreed to by the Muslim League, the whole of the subcontinent would have now been singing, "sare jahan se achcha Hindoostan humara", much to the immense delight and pride of the people of the Punjab, including Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz.

As regards the futility of the 'two nation theory', Altaf Hussain was actually asking a question (not making a statement) from the audience to tell him as to what benefits had actually accrued to Sindhis, Balochis, Pathans, Mohajirs and the existing Muslim population of India from the theory. By posing this question he was in fact highlighting the predicaments of these people. The obvious question then was whether Pakistan was created for the people of Punjab alone.

The present day Pakistan is nothing but a Punjabi Pakistan. Punjab dominates the country's political life, the administrative services, the military establishment, the economy and the general decision-making process. The Punjabi-led federal government is totally parochial and completely oblivious of the miseries of the smaller provinces. And yet if any voice is raised against this unjust situation, the forces of the privileged people, interested in the status-quo, come out in the open brandishing their naked words to kow down the people making such noises. The message the London conference wanted to send was that enough was enough and that the time had come for action and not filibustering.

Anwar Ahmed has also asked Altaf Hussain to answer as to what benefits his voters have achieved by the policies of his party. For a journalist who is supposedly a keen observer of the workings of the civil and military governments of Pakistan, it is indeed a very irrational question. Does he not know how the so-called secret forces, the guardian of the Punjabi interests, frustrate all development and welfare schemes proposed by the smaller provinces? MQM-sponsored projects have invariably been either not taken up at all or left out incomplete. It is also being asked as to why MQM could not sustain its political alliance both with PML and the PPP. The answer is plain and simple. A few examples will help explain the real state of affairs.

In 1997, MQM and Muslim league entered into an alliance to form the provincial government in Sindh. One of the agreement clauses provided for the appointment of a MQM representative as the governor, after the party had surrendered its right to the post of the Chief Minister being the major party of the alliance. But even this was not allowed by the hidden hands and the democratically elected PM expressed his helplessness in redeeming the pledge. Another item of the agreement was the release of such MQM workers who had been rotting in fails for years without any trial. But here again agreement was complied only partially due to the intervention of the invisible forces.

The problem is that both PML and PPP have been compromising democratic norms just to cling on to power. Mrs Kulsoom is now complaining that the generals never transferred full powers to her husband when he was the PM on two occasions. Is it not a bit too late to broach on this subject? In 1992, when the army started action against MQM, the then Muslim Leagues' partner in power, without the specific approval of Nawaz Sharif, the PM, he was greatly upset and expressed his regrets to MQM chief both of whom were then in the UK. However on return to Pakistan, he changed his stance and proudly claimed that he had sacrificed 15 votes of the federal legislature for the sake of principle. What principle? The principle was to cling on to power at any cost.

Similarly, Ms Benazir Bhutto, in order to acquire the post of PM in 1988, held out a firm assurance to then COAS that she would not interfere with the foreign and nuclear policies of the government, as if she was not going to be the head of the government. What kind of prime ministership was that? Both these leaders were content to surrender their authority to the all powerful establishment so long as they were allowed to carry on with the loot of the country as they wished. Since MQM was not ready to make political compromises and was taking a stand against the undue interference of the establishment, it had to pay the price. It was repeatedly ousted from power. Incidentally, those who had compromised on principles also did not last long in power and were dismissed twice when found devalating from the designated path. When the big and mighty political parties with heavy public mandate could not withstand the pressure of the establishment, how could MQM perform better than what it actually did for its voters?

Referring to the composition of the present ruling hierarchy, Anwar says that Mohajirs should now be happy and satisfied as they are well represented in the federal government. MQM is not interested in seeing a few members of its community occupying incidentally some senior position in the government. Its focus is only on the welfare of its people and its province. As we have said before, no individual is in a position to alter the policies of the establishment even if he may be the holder of the top most military position.

See how smoothly General Musharraf has been dissuaded from pursuing his plan to redress the grievances of the smaller provinces by giving them high political and financial power. The proposal for building strong provincial governments have cleverly been replaced by a plan to develop strong local governments. The issue of transferring political and financial powers from the federal government to provinces has been placed on the back burner and shall apparently remain there till the life time of the present regime.

The speakers at the convention have warned in no uncertain terns that unless things move fast (for granting extensive provincial autonomy) the current demand for autonomy will lose ground to an agenda for independence. Unfortunately, this important message has apparently lost its full impact and force due to the machaevalian plan of confusing it with unnecessary issues. Inertia has been the chronic malaise of the federal governments of Pakistan. It has never learned to act in time and in the right measures. Every body knows that we would have saved the nation from many humiliating experiences had our reflexes and responses been timely and matching with the needs of the hour. What is needed urgently now is to recast the constitution and make it more realistic and acceptable to all the provinces in equal measure.

The constitution of a country is a living document. It is modified from time to time keeping in view the changing ground realities. The present constitution was framed at a time when the country was in a trauma. Unfortunately it has not worked for the well being of the people at large. Its failure is quite obvious as none of the smaller nationalities are satisfied with it.

When Altaf Hussain demands the framing of a new constitution, he does so for the sake of his love for Pakistan. Like many other seasoned politicians, he feels that unless a just and realistic constitution, truly representing the aspiration of all peoples, particularly of the minority provinces, is designed and enforced afresh, the Titanic of the Muslim ummah is bound sink. It is thus now for the Punjabi establishment to rise to the occasion and act positively to save the country from the impending disaster.

The writer is a former MQM senator