KARACHI:
Controversial Pakistan Peoples Party leader Zulfiqar Mirza re-ignited political tension in the city on Monday by vowing that he would not abandon Karachi and would take the fight for Sindh to the streets.
He also put forward a challenge to his own party: Try and have the new local bodies bill passed in the Sindh Assembly. Incidentally, he threw down the gauntlet just as his resignation was accepted from the house, effectively stripping him of his MPA status. He insisted, nonetheless, that PPP MPAs were behind him on the bill.
(Read: One more diatribe: Mirza lashes out at PPP-MQM coalition)
This time, Mirza chose Kingri House, the residence of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional leader Pir Pagara, as the setting for his latest diatribe. He went there to meet Pagara along with four PPP MPAs. “I have the whole country with me. Let them know that I will sleep in my home. Come and get me if you can,” he said in an apparent reference to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The PPP was quick to once again distance itself from these statements. “The PPP does not own Mirza’s statements,” Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro said while telling the media that he had accepted Mirza’s August 28 resignation from his parliamentary seat. PPP sources said, however, that Mirza’s party membership was still intact.
For the MQM, senior leader Waseem Akhter said that the government must take action against Mirza before his statements and behaviour result in violence on the streets. “The way guns were exhibited on Sunday is not hidden from anyone. He violated all rules and norms,” he said.
At his residence, Pir Pagara decided not to speak to the media along with Mirza, a possible sign that some politicians are distancing themselves from President Zardari’s one-time good friend and the husband of National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza. PML-F spokesman Imtiaz Shaikh said that Mirza’s meeting with Pir Pagara was a matter of routine. “Everyone comes to see Pir Sahib, even the opposition leaders. So I wouldn’t attach too much importance to it.” He said that Pir Pagara would have probably asked Mirza to improve his behaviour. “The PML-F is in continuous contact with the MQM. We haven’t ended our ties with them at all.”
LG system
Mirza revealed some elements of his motivations at his dinner reception for the media Monday night. “BB [Benazir Bhutto] too directed that one should follow the policy of reconciliation and try to take along all political parties, but at the same time she also urged [us] to draw the line somewhere.”
It seems that Mirza is drawing the line on the local government system which the MQM wants in place. Sindh Assembly members are mulling options on how to reinstate the system instead of the commissionerate that the PPP has backed otherwise. “We will not let anyone pass the bill [seeking to annul the commissioner system],” said Mirza at Pir Pagara’s house. “Leaders of the PML-F, PML-Q and those who eat what they harvest from Sindh’s soil, are with me.”
Mirza said that some PPP parliamentarians were supporting him on the issue. These PPP MPAs include Imran Zafar Leghari, Imdad Ali Pitafi, Fiaz Butt and Nasarullah Baloch. “I am confident that no one in the Sindh Assembly will support such a bill.”
Violence
Mirza continued to be outspoken about the evidence he had on who was behind the violence in Karachi. At his dinner, Mirza said that he would appear before the Sindh High Court on October 24 to record his views about the killing fields in Karachi. He was referring to the monitoring committee assigned by the Supreme Court to see whether its verdict on the suo motu case into Karachi’s target killings was being implemented in full.
Protest
Just as Speaker Nisar Khuhro accepted Mirza’s resignation, closing the door on his possible return to the government fold, coincidentally hundreds of people gathered at the Karachi Press Club with colourfully photoshopped placards of Zulfiqar Mirza.
The protest was held under the banner of the Ahliane Karachi (Representatives of Karachi). But Mirza called the protesters ‘chickens and rats.’ “Previously, the very same people had held the same protest against me under the banner of Mohajir Ittehad. These cowards don’t have the guts to come out and say openly that they belong to the MQM,” he scoffed.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2011.
COMMENTS (15)
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Hats off for you, He is the man who can speak the truth.
Bannig the GANG was a good decision as it was evident that it made enough problems for the Urban Hub. Commissioner system was a tool of British who always wanted to control the common people with the help of local British servants. Therefore it is the system to control and rule the people. On the otherhand LG system bring the leadership from the root level and give the representation to the Local residents for the betterment.
i am amjed ali khan belong to a pukhtoon tribe and i will support mirza keep it my elder brother and lion of pakistan you are a true hero and patriot.
@Hassan: The problem with the local government system that was instituted by Musharraf is that there is no accountability and the government if Sindh is powerless. If you let the control of the police get into the hands of criminals and terrorists with the provincial government totally out of the picture then it simply becomes a local mafia ruled system.
Karachi's local government system has failed due to these reasons.
we are with zulfiqar mirza
Thanks Allah, someone spoken true, We are people of Karachi are hostage.
I am a resident of Karachi, and a Punjabi. We are with you Zulfiqar Mirza. We need fearless leaders like you to set this country right. We are with you, Lion of Sindh!
If Mr. Mirza doesn't like LG system, I can only assume he really hates Sindh, let alone Karachi. He is too lacking in knowledge of this system- and such systems around the world (where they are the silent revolution) to know that it seems!
@Kalim: Dont be so sure of that. If maturity, experience and education have not taught you the ways of life, then my friend you lack wisdom and you are headed in the wrong direction. There are many examples leading to the end of 'mischief makers.' To live and let live is the policy all sensible humans follow. Calm your emotions and read the Quran Kareem and Hadith and you will learn the best way of living your llife. Ask an aalim for advice and opinion if there is something you dont understand. Mind you an 'aalim.' Salams.
respect
This man should stop posturing like Bhutto to the Awami League. Didn't end well, never does. Constructive criticism should be appreciated and changes need to be made in the system overall and in Pakistani politics not just the MQM, but this man is hell bent on taking over the city with his ethnic prejudices and destroying the peace of the city. May Karachi and its hard working and educated, civilized people ever prosper, safe from the likes of such jahil demons.
I would like Mirza to stop whining. And tell us his plans. Enough with the bad mouthing of every other party. We know you stand in the same league until you come clean yourself. Tell us your plans. Till then, let some peace prevail.
Good luck. We are with you. Keep hitting them strong and be brave. The entire country will come out to support you soon enough.