Testing the waters: After wooing Karachi, PTI appeals to Sindh nationalists

Party is setting up a scrutiny body to screen people joining the party.

KARACHI:

While Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairperson Imran Khan is taking a break from political activity after a hectic week that included a trip to Karachi, Javed Hashmi joining and a massive rally, vice chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi is in Karachi to meet with key people in Sindh.

Qureshi attended a luncheon hosted by Jalal Mehmood Shah, the president of the Sindh United Party, on Monday.

But PTI hasn’t found much appeal with Sindh nationalists. Shah, the grandson of Sindhi nationalist GM Syed, who is also the convenor of Sindh Save Movement, an alliance of nationalist parties, did not give Qureshi a positive response. “Your party does not recognise the right of self-determination of people of Sindh, so how can we support your party,” Shah is believed to have told Qureshi. He also asked him for time to consult with other nationalist leaders.

“We have communicated to Qureshi sahib that the sense of deprivation prevails in Sindh because of the discriminatory policies of the federal government. Bengalis have already got independence, Baloch are demanding it and the same situation is emerging in Sindh.” He said that the government is not willing to hear the people of provinces about their rights, but said that PTI has promised it would consider their demands. PTI says it is setting up a commission on the issue of new provinces, which will look at economic viability, good governance, geographical proximity and social homogeneity and then present suggestions.

Qureshi will also be calling on Pir Pagara on Tuesday to inquire after his health.

According to PTI Sindh general secretary Hasan Raza, Qureshi will be meeting with Sindh nationalists again in January. PTI is also in talks with the influential families of Sindh, including the Mahars, and believe that anyone on the fence will change their minds when the party holds another rally in Sindh.

Scrutiny Committee

Qureshi also addressed a press conference on Monday to introduce the party’s scrutiny committee. Comprising ten people from PTI and led by Qureshi, it will be vetting people who want to join PTI. “This includes people who want to contest elections and technocrats who want to support PTI,” he said. “Our party wants the induction process to be institutionalised so we can be above personal likes and dislikes and that collective wisdom prevails.”

However, he claimed that “people who want to join PTI should leave their demands at home. They have to join unconditionally.”

The committee will meet twice a month. Qureshi said the party’s “old and principled cadre” can also include its assessment into the process which will also remove any friction. PTI will also “headhunt for electables”.

PTI is also preparing its constitution. Its constitution committee, led by Hamid Khan, met on Monday, and will reconvene on Tuesday.

Qureshi said he prayed for the late former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and had she been alive, the Pakistan Peoples Party would not have become a “Zardari league”.

He reiterated that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s speech to the parliament had created confusion and the government had dug a hole for itself, given that the military has “declared its support of democracy” and the judiciary had stated that the doctrine of necessity has been buried. When pointed out that the chief of army staff’s statement also mentioned that “irrespective of all other considerations, there can be no compromise on national security”, Qureshi said, “There can be harmony. Both can work in parallel as they do in other countries”.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2011.