On Wednesday, MQM tendered its resignations in all three legislatures, the Senate, National Assembly and the Sindh Assembly, all submitted in person. The entire affair can be seen as more than a mere political spectacle, since the context of the resignations is far more serious than the way they were tendered. The MQM has been under serious pressure due to the Karachi operation and its head, Altaf Hussain, had clearly started to lose his cool. Last week, police presented another set of alleged MQM-supported target killers while resolutions were passed against the MQM in almost all provincial and national assemblies. An MQM member was reportedly killed a day before the resignation. The resignation letters themselves raised serious concerns. If the party sticks to its guns, 25 seats of the National Assembly and 54 in the Sindh Assembly could see by-elections. The mainstream political parties did not support the MQM’s decision. The PPP and JUI-F are trying to convince the MQM lawmakers to withdraw their resignations. After Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s intervention, the acceptance of resignations has been deferred. In a meeting with parliamentary leaders of various political parties, the PM decided not to accept the MQM lawmakers’ resignations. The PML-N has decided to treat the MQM resignations issue the same way it treated the PTI’s resignations. The PM also decided to form a committee comprising party representatives to negotiate the issue with the MQM. The MQM says that they were not exerting any kind of political pressure. They simply want the government to address their concerns regarding the Karachi operation. Allegations of extrajudicial killings by the MQM, if proved true, will create more problems and chaos. The PML-N government has to deal with this new taxing challenge. The government needs to resolve the issue by employing a sensible approach. Only forming a committee to convince the MQM to withdraw its resignations may not be enough. The government needs to ensure impartial monitoring of the Karachi operation through an independent committee to check extrajudicial killings and any other alleged vicitimisation of the MQM.
The frustration and anger of the MQM leadership is apparent. There may in fact be some truth to the MQM allegations that the police and paramilitary crackdown on the party has led to unlawful actions against party members.The military-run operation against criminal elements in the MQM looks almost certain to continue. Once outside parliament and the Sindh assembly, the MQM will really have no platform from which to press its complaints. If anything, the party will be in an even worse position than it is right now. Perhaps the MQM should also reflect on why it is unable to garner much public sympathy, especially outside its base.The MQM is a legitimate political party with a genuine voter base, but the party does have a dark side. At various points in the party’s history, its militant wing has virtually eclipsed the political side. Altaf Hussain and senior party representatives have always denied all allegations of violence and extortion, but the denials are not really credible. The denizens of Karachi in particular are all too familiar with how the party has used violence and intimidation to perpetuate its control of the city. Blanket denials did not convince anyone in the past and they are unlikely to now. Consider that at no point has the MQM actually helped or aided the state in its quest to track down and arrest those who have kept entire neighbourhoods in a state of fear for many years, perhaps even decades. Yet, even with the MQM’s non-cooperation and belligerence, it should not be allowed to needlessly destabilise national politics. The MQM has yet to accept reconciliation gestures by the political establishment and has stood its ground in demanding a judicial commission on the Karachi operation before it considers returning to the assemblies. With the issue yet to be fully resolved, we must express a concern for the sanctity of the assembly and the public mandate of lawmakers. The example set by the NA speaker Ayaz Sadiq for the PTI may now come to haunt the political future of Pakistan. While it would be good to find a compromise with the MQM, are resignations going to be the next spectacle that all political parties are going to play when under pressure? To stop this some strict rules and procedures must be enforced so that the rules are not bent every time there is a new political expediency involved.
pk.shafaqna.com
