Nov-Dec 1998 issue

"Nawaz Sharif wants to be king, to perpetuate his rule indefinitely"

By Idrees Bakhtiar

Q. The MQM was until recently an ally of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League. Did you at all expect that a crackdown may be launched against your party?

A. Once the army operation was launched against us on June 19, 1992, we never ruled out the possibility that similar action could be repeated in the future. But we were not expecting Nawaz Sharif to go back on his promises and become our enemy. The first operation was also initiated during his tenure, but after his government was sacked he had claimed that the June '92 operation was initiated by the army without his approval. When he came to power a second time, we asked him if he could guarantee that a similar crackdown would not be launched against us after we joined hands with his party. At the time, he gave us firm assurances and said on oath that if the MQM was targeted again, and if he was not able to stop such action, he would quit the government.

But now it is clear that he is not what we thought him to be. He is sharif only in name, he harbours grudges and thinks like an enemy. He has now begun to show his true colours.

Nawaz Sharif wants to be king, to perpetuate his rule indefinitely and to become the richest man in Asia. His thinking is not democratic, and he wants to turn the entire country into his personal jagir.

Q. The MQM has in the past allied itself with both the Sharif and Bhutto governments, but all such accords have eventually fallen apart. This creates the impression that your party cannot get along with anyone…

A. When we enter into an agreement with and party, we enter into an agreement with any party, we have only one aim in mind: the preservation and continuation of democracy. That is why we signed an accord with the PPP despite ideological differences with that party. We had agreed on 59 points, none of which were fulfilled. Then we signed an accord with Nawaz Sharif, l but he violated the terms of that agreement in 1992, when the operation was launched. All these accords are no record. Ask any international court or panel of international observers to examine them. Let them decide who violated the agreements.

We have constantly been making sacrifices. When we signed an agreement with the PPP, we were in the majority in the urban areas [of Sindh] but were not awarded ministerial posts in proportion to our seats in the assembly. Then we signed an agreement with Nawaz Sharif. We have 28 members [in the Sindh assembly] and he has only 14. According to all democratic norms, the chief minister should have been our nominee. But the minority party insisted on having its chief minister and we agreed. We sacrificed our rights as a goodwill gesture. Despite such concessions, not a single point of the agreement was honoured.

We were never given an effective role in the administration. Meetings on law and order in Karachi were attended by the chiefs of the Inter-Services Intelligence, Military Intelligence and Intelligence Bureau, as well as the commissioner, IG, chief minister, chief secretary and a few representatives of the Muslim League. But the party with the largest number of seats in Karachi was not allowed to participate in these meetings.

If we had been given effective powers to run the affairs of the city and the province, and had failed, then we would have been at fault. We have not violated any agreements. They made promises to us but did not fulfil them, they cheated us and then created circumstances under which we were left with no option but to end the agreement.

Q. Karachi has been in the throes of violence since 1985 and, since then, thousands have been killed. Do you think peace will ever return to the city?

A. Permanent peace in any area can only be achieved when the fundamental rights of the local people are honoured. If they are ruled by outsiders, peace can never be maintained. It is a question of the rights of the people of Karachi and other urban areas of Sindh.

Riots and disturbances have been engineered by the [intelligence] agencies to deprive the people of Karachi of their due rights and to divert their attention from the real issues. We have no quarrel with the Punjabis, Pathans, Sindhis or Baloch, but whenever we talk about our rights, riots and disturbances are engineered by vested interests. It is the same policy of divide and rule that the British used.

Q. So how long do you think the bloodshed in Karachi will continue?

A. Peace can be restored within a month. But first the rights of the people have to be honoured. They should be given their due share in the government and administration. They should be given proper representation, and the mandate of their elected party should be respected. But if provincial autonomy is bombarded with the cannon of the federation, there are bound to be explosions. Peace cannot be restored this way.

Q. Your party was part of the government during both Benazir Bhutto's and Nawaz Sharif's tenure, and as such had your share of representation. But peace never returned to Karachi. why?

A. We only had a share in the ministries, not in government affairs or the administration. That was the basic problem.

They have been deliberately causing disturbances in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur, branding us as anti-Pakistan, and then claiming that such people cannot be handed the responsibility of administration. It was they who broke up the country and forced the majority province to secede. And now they want to get rid of the rest of country.

Today they are calling the mohajirs traitors themselves are levelling accusations of treachery against the children of freedom fighters, people who made sacrifices for the independence of the country, who built Pakistan. The agents of the British Raj have now styled themselves as patriots.

Q. There is a proposal to make Karachi an arms-free zone. What do you think of this idea?

A. What is the point of declaring Karachi alone to be arms-free? No weapons are being manufactured in the city, but even if all arms are recovered from every house, the manufacture of weapons will continue elsewhere, and they will continue to be smuggled in. We believe in non-violence and are opposed to all forms of terrorism. But the entire country should be declared a weapons-free zone, not just Karachi.

So many people have been killed in Lahore and other parts of the Punjab, but these areas are not declared weapons-free zones. Arms were displayed openly during demonstrations by religious groups in Peshawar. Rocket launchers and even anti-aircraft guns were on show. Why are arms not being recovered from these people?

The fact of the matter is that more people have been killed in terrorist attacks in the Punjab [than in Karachi], while most of the people who died in Karachi were killed by the agencies or their agents. So why is one city being singled out? This shows the degree of the establishment's hatred for Karachi. It is malicious propaganda to defame the people of the city.

Q. The previous government, the current administration and the security agencies have all accused the MQM of involvement in terrorism. Why?

A. Because the MQM is the only party that represents the people. It is a party of the middle classes and wants to eliminate feudalism. There are no waderas or jagirdars among its rank and file. These classes know that if the MQM comes to power, it will force them to return the money they have siphoned out of the country. They are afraid of the MQM and that is why they accuse it of terrorism.

Q. Aren't certain elements within your party indeed involved in terrorism?

A. Can any party claim that all its members and supporters are angels? Every party has some unsavoury elements in its ranks, but you cannot blame the party for the actions of individuals. At least the MQM has a very strong system of accountability. We take action against anyone who is found resorting to undesirable acts, without regard to their stature within the party. In fact, action has even been taken against the convenor of the Rabita Committee.

Q. The MQM recently entered into an agreement with the Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, a Sindhi nationalist party. Earlier, you had criticised the JSQM, and some of its activists were allegedly involved in carrying out an attack on Aftab Shaikh. Why then did you ally yourself with the JSQM, which is not even the representative party of Sindh?

A. The MQM never had any problems with JSQM and it has been proven that the attack on Aftab Shaikh, and later the carnage in Hyderabad on September 30, 1988, was carried out by the intelligence agencies. But we have not entered into any agreement with the JSQM. It is just that the co-ordination committee has come to and understanding with them on certain issues such as the Kalabagh dam, the National Finance Commission award, the water accord and provincial autonomy.

When we held talks with the JSQM leaders, we made it clear that the MQM is working to safeguard the rights of the people of Sindh, but within the framework of Pakistan. We do not want to secede, and we don't want a separate homeland. As far as the slogan of Sindhu Desh is concerned, it is their slogan, not ours. When a section of the population is discriminated against, a sense of deprivation is created. That is why the people have been forced to raise the slogan of Sindhu Desh.

Today the mohajirs are being pushed to the wall-they do not receive justice in the thanas and the courts. No one listens to their problems, while at the same time they are being accused of terrorism. They are being harassed, their localities are besieged and searched.

The MQM believes in the solidarity of Pakistan. Altaf Hussain believes in the unity of Pakistan and the people listen to him. But if this oppression continues, if the mohajirs continue to be pushed to the wall, then the development of separatist tendencies in the development of separatist tendencies in the minds of the mohajirs would not be their won the treatment meted out to them. The responsibility for such a turn of events will not lie with the mohajirs, but with the establishment.

Q. What will be the MQM's future line of action?

A. For the time being, the co-ordination committee has filed several petitions. The first step is to fight on the legal front. But we have many other options as well, and will decide what to do next when the time comes.

Q. In the past, MQM members of the national and provincial assemblies had resigned in protest. Are any resignations likely to be submitted in the days to come?

A. We are looking into this option. But for the time being, the question of resigning from the assemblies does not arise.