ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Peoples Party veteran said that Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Senator Babar Awan – both also of the PPP – should be banned from entering Sindh because they engineered a ‘controversial’ political deal with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to revive the once-scrapped local government system.
“We don’t want them on the soil of Sindh again. They are behind the sell-out of the province,” said PPP’s Zafar Ali Shah in a speech delivered to the National Assembly here on Wednesday, as the house continued a debate on the law-and-order situation in Karachi and Balochistan.
Shah – who on Tuesday surprised all by staging a token walkout against the latest political arrangement in Sindh – is renowned for his sharp criticism of PPP’s leadership.
But on Wednesday there seemed to be more support than expected from within the ranks of PPP when he launched an outburst against Rehman and Awan and all those involved in what the senior politician called ‘ridiculous flip-flopping’ during the latest wave of violence across the city.
At least a dozen PPP members thumped desks and others shook heads in endorsement when he said that Sindhi people would never accept the new deal because it strengthens those wielding guns — a clandestine reference to MQM.
“Those controlling Sindh are cheats… they are not genuine people. The chief minister is helpless,” Shah said.
He accused the MQM of trying to capture the city and its bureaucracy through its violent associates known as sector in-charges.
The words from Shah came on the heels of similar sentiments expressed by several other PPP leaders after the provincial government revived the local government system earlier this week — first for Karachi and Hyderabad and then for the entire province.
ANP walkout
The opposition to the PPP decision was not received solely from within the party ranks.
One of its allies, the Awami National Party (ANP), also jumped into the wrangling to pile up pressure on the government for what they called a midnight assault on democracy by the Sindh government.
The ANP expressed its opposition of the revival of the commissionary system with another walkout.
The party faced other issues before staging the walkout: Several members snubbed calls by one of the ANP leaders asking to carve a new Pukhtun province out of Balochistan and merging the country’s lawless tribal areas into Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa.
Advocate from Balochistan, Muhammad Usman, retaliated and said that ANP should not ‘poke its nose’ in the affairs of a province where Pukhtuns were represented by other groups as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 11th, 2011.
COMMENTS (23)
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Babar awan has been banned by rawalpindi bar where he started work as a lawyer because of his corruption. Rehman malik is corrupt former FIA office. How we sindhi's can give them control of our motherland into hands of most corrupt people.
sindis are sure to make another province in sindh if they oppose local government system.
If these politicians continue to fight with each other then that day is not far when the Supreme Court of Pakistan will call Triple-1-Brigade Command to take over the government.
I suggest Zardari to use ' CCLEANER ' application to wipe out such moles in his party. :P
To all those people who are crying that the latest developments are moving us towards the division of Sindh should remember that it was Z A Bhutto who literally divided Sindh by introducing the Quota System. Why don't these people call for removal of this discriminatory Quota System? Why is it only the local bodies system? If this system was introduced by a dictator, Gen Musharraf, then the previous system is a gift of the British Raj which was re-introduced by another local dictator, Gen Zia. If the jiyalas are so very loyal to Bhutto clan then why are they demanding the restoration of a system promulgated by Gen Zia? Moreover, why is the Jamat-e-Islami (JI) siding with the Sindhi Nationalist parties over the issue of local govt system? JI itself was ruling in the first tenure of the Musharraf made system & was a vocal opposition during the second tenure in CDGK Council. All of these are clear signs of hyppocracy.
I don't believe in any division of Punjab or Sindh. Zafar Ali Shah is really a genius and perfect person. There is not any administrative or ethnic division required. Only the good governance is needed to counter all problems.
After Sir Mirza , you are the one who spoke and proved that you cant sell your Mother-Land "Sindh"
Reman Malik and Babar Awan need to be banned from Punjab as well.
Funny, when Babar Awan goes around Punjab with his sinister propaganda, Sindh is happy, but when the same sinister propaganda is applied to Sindh by their own party, they dont want them here.
@asad malik:
i agree,i've observed the same thing in islamabad,no punjabi wants to speak his/her mother tongue.no one here also reads punjabi newspapers,everyone reads urdu ones.
Bring back the Old British system, which they used to control the locals & then these people call them democrats?
What Hypocrites, the local bodies system is enforced all around the world by these so called leaders of Sind want to take Sind back in time of the British so they can control their area people. What a Bunch of Losers!!!!!
All Hail Democracy!!!!!!!
Shahji!!! It takes a lots of GUTS to tell your President and PM that enough is enough!! Well done and keep up the good work. We need senior and sensible political leadership like you and not those who are just here to rob he nation and the poor people
the title is funny ....sounds like the two casts should be banned from entering Sindh.
I am also happy it shows the state has crumbled from within... whether MQM gets anything or not is not an issue the fact that Pakistan as nation has collapsed! We are balkanised!
@shoiab khan:
the people of punjab won't wake up.i've lived in lahore and pindi my entire life and today i see that the vast majority of punjabis don't speak their mother tongue,no one in punjab reads punjabi newspapers ,everyone reads urdu papers and watch urdu channels whereas our brothers in sindh read sindhi papers and mostly watch sindhi channels.
why are we punjabis so ashamed of our language and our culture? why don't we take pride in punjabi language and dresses?
Please dont just say iut do it....
i salute you shah ji nice move.
Very Good Shah Sahab.. they both are enemies of sindh. they dont have any right to take any decision in matters of Sindh. They even dont have the manner to talk and how to dress what they will think in fever of sindh.
ppp stop your racial hatred of punjabis.this sinister conspiracy of ppp to break up only punjab while keeping all the other provinces intact won't work.the ppp has shown its true racist face now.the people of punjab need to wake up now and recognise the people trying to destroy them.
why is the pml-n sleeping? why not hold protests and long marches against the ppp which is doing all it can to destroy punjab ? nawaz sharif should come out aggressively against ppp's attempts to break up punjab.when the ppp sindh people say that sindh will be divided over our dead bodies then why do they have such double standards for punjab? why doesn't ppp punjab also say that punjab will be divided over our dead bodies?
Doesnt the ANP realize that merging FATA in KPK would be like handing over the province to a likely revival of the MMA in 2013. There is no demand for a seperate province in Sindh but if the proposed splits do take place then yes inevitably Sindh too shall be partitioned.
Why dont these Political Mafia ask the people of Karachi and other parts of Sindh about the system of their choice?? Why this Mafia wants to enforce the Commissionerate system by force? They are not at all in a position to impose their own liking on the people.