With the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement gaining momentum, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf appears to be strengthening efforts to discredit its opponents.
On Monday, PTI lawmakers took objection to the speech delivered by Mahmood Khan Achakzai, whose Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party is part of the 11-party anti-government movement, a day earlier at the PDM rally in Karachi.
PTI MPAs Arsalan Taj and Shehzad Qureshi submitted a resolution before the Sindh Assembly, condemning what they termed ‘mockery of the Urdu language’ by Achakzai. The lawmakers demanded legal action.
The act of contemplating the Urdu language is in violation of the Constitution and the objective is to divide people, opined Taj. In response to a media question on the day, Taj reiterated his party’s stance that the PDM members were only running a campaign to evade accountability. The premier will not let them do so, he vowed.
Two days prior, lashing out after the PDM’s first rally, Prime Minister Imran Khan had vowed that his government’s anti-corruption crackdown would come down harder and his opponents would see “a new Imran Khan.”
Members of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, the coalition partner of the PTI in federal government, also hinted at the “disingenuousness” of the opposition parties on Monday.
At a press conference, MQM-P leader Faisal Sabzwari censured Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz for organising rallies to hide their assets and nepotism.
Flanked by MQM-P’s Khwaja Izharul Hassan, Muhammad Hussain, Abdul Waseem and others, Sabzwari centred his critique at the PPP’s failures in Sindh where it leads the provincial government.
“Who stopped the provincial government from providing facilities like better roads, hospitals and water in Karachi?” he asked.
Sabzwari also raised concern about the Urdu language, objecting to what he saw as a ‘rejection of the national language’ and accusing Achakzai of playing politics of division. He opined that the 11-party PDM was also an offender as it remained silent.
He further asked why the opposition parties were quiet when a province is demanded for the people of urban Sindh, adding that neither the guests nor the hosts of the PDM rally were from Karachi.
The perceived slight
Addressing the rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah on Sunday, Achakzai had stated that PDM leaders wanted to build the Pakistan that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah dreamed of.
“The state was supposed to be a Muslim state, which would ensure justice, where power would rest with the parliament, where the Constitution would be supreme and people would be independent,” he said, delving into events leading up to Partition and independence from colonial rule to make his point.
“Pakistan wasn’t given to any of us in charity. The people of this land [Pashtun, Baloch, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi] have lived here for centuries,” he said.
Hatred spreads because of injustices, not anyone’s speeches, remarked Achakzai. “I mean this in the softest manner...but the people of this country - Pashtun, Baloch, Sindhi, Seraiki etc - are not willing to live as second-class citizens. We don’t need anyone’s charity. Just give us rights to what comes from our land.”
He gave the example of Sindh, and said that the first right to the resources of Sindh’s land should be of the people living in Sindh. “By Sindhi, I mean all the people living in Sindh,” he said, adding that the Constitution states the same.
Respect the peoples - of different ethnicities and faiths - who live here, said Achakzai to a charged crowd. “And respect [and recognise] the languages of the peoples including Pashto, Balochi, Seraiki...” he continued. At Sindhi, he noted that it is respected as it is recognised as a national language, and with regards to Urdu, he said, “Urdu is our lingua franca indeed but it is not our [respective] first language.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2020
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