Family politics: In Hazara, political bonds prove thicker than blood

Family members contest against one another from different political platforms.

ABBOTABAD:

The politicians of Hazara are known for their fickle loyalties as the political history of the last sixty years is replete with incidents wherein local politicians hardly hesitated in ditching their mentors who facilitated them in becoming electable.

Keeping this track record intact, many election candidates have either changed parties or opted to run as independents. Now Hazara is witness to a new phenomenon in which brothers, cousins and close relatives are contesting from different platforms.

While some may be pitted against one another, some are secretly influencing voters in favour of their near ones.

PK-49 and NA-19 are two such constituencies where two brothers are contesting from different platforms. Former district nazim, Dr Raja Amir Zaman, is the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) candidate from NA-19, while his younger brother Raja Faisal Zaman is contesting from PK-49 on a Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz ticket (PML-N).



As Amir is seen canvassing with PTI’s PK-49 candidate, Akhtar Nawaz Khan, Faisal is interestingly most likely to support his brother’s rival for the National Assembly seat, Omar Ayub Khan, who is representing the PML-N.

In a related vein, the PTI’s Yousuf Ayub Khan is unable to support his cousin Omar Ayub in PK-50 as both are contesting on different election tickets. Omar has not yet addressed any public meeting with his cousin’s competition, Qazi Asad, who is also the PML-N’s candidate from PK-50. Asad defeated Yousuf in 2002 and later his younger brother Arshad Ayub in 2008. However, after having joined the PML-N, he is forced to remain cordial with their cousin Omar under the party’s disciplinary rules.

Meanwhile, in PK-53, Shuja Salim Khan, a former provincial minister, is the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) candidate for the constituency, while his first cousins Habibullah Sani and Ejaz Akhtar Khan are contesting against him as independents. In the same constituency, Tariq Khan Swati, a former provincial minister and district president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), is also in the race against his nephew’s son Babar Salim Khan Swati. They are both close relatives belonging to the dominant Swati tribe.

Four scions of Sadaat Biradri are in the run against each other. They include PPP ticket holder and former minster for industries Ahmed Hussain Shah and his elder brother former MPA Syed Akhtar Hussain Shah, who are running for the PK-54 seat. Both are the sons of Syed Muzammal Shah, who was a former federal minister and one of the most influential figures of Kaghan valley. Elsewhere, former MPA Syed Mazhar Qasim, who recently quit the PML-Q and joined the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), is standing from NA-20. His son Mazhar Qasim is also contesting on a JUI-F ticket for the provincial assembly seat, while his first cousin Syed Munir Shah is in the race as an independent candidate.

Observers believe the four Syeds, who are all close relatives, could divide their respective vote banks in a way that benefits PML-N’s Mian Ziaur Rehman. Azam Khan Swati is a PTI ticket holder for the same constituency, while his younger brother Laeq Muhammad Khan is JUI-F’s candidate from NA-21. Here, Nawaz Sharif’s son-in-law Captain Safder is also running on behalf of the PML-N. Unlike other constituencies, however, both Azam Swati and Laeq Khan have been supporting each other proactively.

In PK-55, former provincial minister Shehzada Gustasib Khan is an independent candidate who is facing his first cousin Sardar Khan, a PPP ticket holder. These two candidates have placed their supporters and family members in a very difficult situation indeed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2013.