Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has decided to pull out of talks with the government over the party’s resignations from the assemblies, ARY News reported on Saturday. According to a statement the party lawmakers resignations from all three legislative floors were final and the MQM would not hold further talks on the matter. The MQM’s Rabita Committees in Karachi and London taken the decision in an emergency joint meeting, the party statement said. The party has decided to abandon the parliamentary politics temporarily and will focus on the “establishment of a province and welfare activities,” MQM statement further said. The party meeting criticized Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s behaviour during his Karachi visit and termed it arrogant. It also dismayed the prime minister’s not visiting Rashid Gadil at hospital. The meeting asked Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam – F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman not to get involve in mediation anymore and announced that all party lawmakers should be considered resigned from their seats. Political corners have criticized PM and said that the prime minister could have asked after the health of Rashid Godil, for instance, and at least given some expression of support for tracking down those who sought to murder him while wishing the injured MNA a speedy recovery. Such a gesture would have limited impact, however, in placating the political leadership of the MQM. The party in Karachi has some decisions to make, and they must be made by its leadership alone. Playing a drawn-out game with the resignations is likely to make it look weak and indecisive, while the act of resigning will damage the party’s political standing even more. For its part, the government should sharpen its actions while blunting its rhetoric. It is one thing for the interior minister to seek to advance a legal reference with the UK government against the MQM chief Altaf Hussain. But it is quite another to issue public statements following every meeting with the UK high commissioner stating the facts that came under discussion. What is the purpose of this, other than to taunt the party’s political leadership? If a legal reference is indeed going to be handed over to the UK government, then it is better to simply advance the matter without rubbing it in the face of the MQM constantly. At the same time when MQM demands for new province it also seems quite akward. The demand for a new province in Sindh, if pursued seriously, could have serious repercussions on the country’s stability. A wiser course would be to ask for greater powers at the division level. This would decentralise power in the country and allow the MQM to work for the betterment of its supporters in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions. Is the aim really the betterment of the people of Sindh?
The division of provinces must be done for administrative measures only. It should not be based on hatred, revenge or making specific areas for particular groups or ethnicities. The MQM is a party whose office bearers and parliamentarians can be found walking and living amongst people and are approachable. The MQM provides free food and health care for many, try to keep city clean and provide amenities whenever they get chance, they listen to people’s grievances and win elections. However, the leadership is stuck in its own daydreams and will lose the traction they have at the grass roots. In the current movement of the MQM, many will see a foreign hand. Demands for a new province from a powerful majority party reek of a desire for an unstable Pakistan and future secession. Altaf Hussain has proven by his incendiary speeches that he cannot be trusted. Can we trust the MQM?
pk.shafaqna.com
