Jumping ship: Chachar unhappy with ‘step motherly’ treatment

Sardar Haji Khan Chachar is currently serving as an adviser to CM.

SUKKUR/ KARACHI: The leader of Ghotki’s influential Chachar tribe, Sardar Haji Khan Chachar, has once again become disillusioned with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party.

Chachar, who is currently serving as an adviser to the chief minister on narcotics control, is said to be considering resigning from the post as well as from his membership of the party.

The tribal chief had been a PPP stalwart since the 1970s, but had later quit it to join the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q). However, PPP’s MNA Faryal Talpur and federal minister Khursheed Khan managed to bring him back to party’s fold last April. He has been serving as an adviser since the last six months. Talking to The Express Tribune on Wednesday, Chachar said that his constituents and fellow clansmen had complained about the lack of development projects taking place. He added that his constituents had “better hopes from the PPP,” and that leaders of his tribe had directed him to take up the matter with the PPP leadership.

“I have only been given a vehicle with a government flag. This is not enough. People in my area are asking for development projects and jobs, but the chief minister and other government officials are ignoring me.” However, there were reports that Chachar was unhappy after PPP’s alliance with the Mahar group, which also holds enormous sway in Ghotki district. Sources said that Chachar felt that the PPP initially used him to counter the Mahar’s influence in Sindh, but he was being shunned after the ruling party formed an alliance with the group.

There were also reports that the Pir Paga-led Pakistan Muslim League-Functional had approached the PPP legislator. However, Chachar maintained that he would visit Karachi and talk to President Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the PPP’s co-chairperson, and complain about the “step motherly” treatment meted out to him. “If the president refuses to see me, then I would be compelled to resign.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2013.