This column is not about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the fourth-largest national political party which claims to represent the middle classes of Pakistan; which relentlessly campaigns against feudalism, openly champions the causes of the downtrodden, publicly encourages gender equality, candidly opposes religious fundamentalism, Taliban terror and discrimination against minorities, equally candidly rejects sectarianism, forcefully combats overly aggressive anti-Indian and anti-US mindsets, claims to have been in the forefront in the struggle for the independence of judiciary, generously champions media freedom and resolutely supports civilian supremacy over the so-called establishment.
This column, in fact, is all about those who have been electing the Party founded by Altaf Bhai, in every election that this Party has fought — be it local, provincial or national — since the late 1980s, as the sole representative of urban Sindh. One would like to assume, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, that the Muttahida supporters vote for the MQM so overwhelmingly because they believe in what the Party stands for. If so, then it is safe to assume that these voters are socially more aware, more enlightened, more liberal and more tolerant than the voters in other parts of Pakistan as the Muttahida’s performance in any of the elections it has contested outside urban Sindh has never been as noteworthy. Also, the Muttahida’s electoral victories in urban Sindh perhaps, indicate that the proportion of middle classes in the population in its constituency is more than what it is in other parts of Pakistan. And that by the same token, these enlightened voters would also be averse to limiting their political space to the ‘mohajir’ constituency or that they would willingly confine the ownership of the national language — Urdu — to this disappearing species because in the first place, those who came from India after Partition, crossing rivers of blood to settle in Pakistan are not ‘mohajirs’ as the term actually applies to those who want to go back to their ‘homeland’, like the Afghan mohajirs do and secondly, their children born in Pakistan, whether one accepts them as such or not, are sons and daughters of the soil and not settlers like their parents or grandparents.
But the kind of bloodletting that has been going on in urban Sindh now for nearly three decades flies into the face of these assumptions. And even if one concedes the narrow-minded notion of limited ownership of Urdu, then the presence of politically powerful enough Dr Ishratul Ibad in the provincial governor’s house for a period far longer (and still counting) than any of his predecessors had the privilege to occupy it and the recent election of President Mamnoon Hussain to the nation’s highest office (shortage of space does not permit quoting here many more such examples from past and present) negate the claim of discrimination as a rule against the ‘Urdu-speaking’ population of urban Sindh.
In recent years, the number of electoral victories that the party’s voters have conferred on the Muttahida is more than matched by the number of successful strike calls that urban Sindh has suffered. Most of Sindh stops breathing after every such call as the air is punctuated with gunfire at the right time and at strategic locations. Successful strikes, therefore, seem more gunfire driven than voluntary acts. If so, then one is obliged to assume that most of Muttahida voters play no role other than that of passive spectators in the ongoing anarchy. It is perhaps, a handful of miscreants possessing enormous firepower, who are keeping urban Sindh in an eternal grip of bloody chaos. Who are these miscreants? That is perhaps, what is called the 64,000-dollar question. Rangers and the Sindh police, backed by seemingly neutral federal and provincial governments, are currently trying to find an answer to this question. One does not expect the law-enforcement agencies to come up with a political answer but an answer that would stand the test of any impartial inquiry and independent judicial review. On their part, one would also expect the voters of Muttahida to extend, in their own interest, all the help needed by the agencies to find the right answer.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (40)
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@M. Ali: Ali you have mistaken. I wanted to say that we, the supporters of MQM, feel that opponents are given more space by manufacturing reasons to criticize
@tariq: U always wanna see bad comments for MQM n then you all r satisfied. MQM folks have complete right to defend themselves.
ET your behavior is not unbiased MQM supporters feel that you give more space to opponent when the topic is MQM.
@FNM: PPP chanced 5 to 6 times to form Federal govt. and they have been in Sindh irrespective of rural or urban areas since 1947, have they made any Paris? Had MQM been given a chance it would certainly made Karachi a Paris, but unfortunately, MQM never ever got controlling power in Sindh. I am wonder how did u say that MQM could make Karachi-Paris. You, yourself have told about the problem being faced in Thar. Tell me who is there either MQM or PPP. Your own PPP leaders are not trying to solve your fundamental problems. One big thing that is being observed for long “KARO-KARI” do you have courage enough to get it stopped.PPP govt. is patronizing this kind of evil deed and they are also involved in it. Not v r u r deceiving yourself. PPP has always turn bad into worse. Very childish comment about MQM. You live in Wadera system thats why you do not talk about Wadera system. You have got admission in NED in Karachi. Could you make it while living in thar. Why there is not University like KU OR NED. Your beloved PPP could make Universities and other educational institution in rural Sindh then why they didn’t make. B’coz Wadera system always want to see you serving them under their feet.PPP is a family party and nothing else. Bhutto----Benazir------Zardari-------and now Bilawal. One thing that you need is to open your eyes and mind. Comment BUT logically.
@Wasay Jalil: It is quite an ordinary happening, ET tends to ignore comments for reasons best known to them. You probably need to post it a couple of times. It might help you to capture moderators’ attention. Another interesting thing that happens on ET is that commenter’s ID is allowed to be used by other people, all the time. There are inane comments posted by fake Aysha Ms every other day, there has been recent advent of Aysha Ns. They also create space for a debate on MQM when the news item is not even remotely related to MQM. So welcome to ET and good luck.
Dear Administrator
I am waiting for my comments which i posted for Rebuttal "The Muttahida" written by Ziauddin Sb. Appreciate for its publication.
Regards Wasay Jalil
@malik59
You are trying to sound objective quoting figures and facts and referring to an article by Dr Waseem who has a history of anti Karachi / anti Mohajir bias; however, you have failed to comment on the very principle of quota system which is intrinsically wrong. While i could understand a certain small percentage of all job opportunities being allocated for affirmative action, how could u or anyone ever justify almost the entire cake of opportunities being set aside to be divided on ethnic and or provincial basis. This is the very fact that has undermined the quality of the civil service in Pakistan and one sees the results around. Can we ever think of having a similar quota system in the private sector and expect it to excel and match international competition. It is the bias that smacks from your writings and others of your ilk which keep Karachi and other urban areas of sindh glued to mqm, despite all its faults. This is a fact which somehow escapes all detractors of mqm.
@Ather: Mr Ather one day you have to appear at Judgement day. What I believe that you r just hypocrite n follower of those stats which r paid to spread negative propaganda against. They r most literated ppl, no fake degrees in their ranks n file. None of them is tax evader or looted the country n made businesses outside. Have Patience & one fine day will come for them
@Usman: Come out of your biases and if have guts speak for Talibans n Gang War Criminals. You only guts for propagating negative infos for MQM.
Former Commissioner of Karachi, participant of Pakistan freedom movement and father of former SBP Governor, Late Hashim Raza was asked this very question in a lecture at an armed forces institute during early 70s that why do people of Karachi call them Muhajirs? To which he replied asking the questioner who he was, replying he was a pushtoon! Hashim Raza sahab said tell me a magic potion which i drink before sleeping that night, when i wake up i turn out to be a Punjabi, Pushtoon, Seraiki etc instead of being known as an Urdu speaking. To which the questioner replied there isn't any. Jaisay aap suba uthain aur aap pushtoon identity nahi khatam kar saktay apni waisay muhajir kehlana aap khatam nai karwa saktai!
@Usman: Bhai sahab it is attitude like this which vindicates stance of the concerned party as always. While frankly there vote-bank is considered the most educated and middle class based vote-bank of the country. So if i were you i would not insult the mandate given by the people for legislators who really own this city. Yeah and mandate from rural areas of KPK, Punjab and Sindh was fair and square? You gotta be kidding me, i think you haven't read FAFEN report esp for KPK and Punjab.
For all above people calling themselves mohajir, the article explicitly states! "those who came from India after Partition, crossing rivers of blood to settle in Pakistan are not ‘mohajirs’ as the term actually applies to those who want to go back to their ‘homeland’, like the Afghan mohajirs do!"
@mrs ahmed: Karachi cannot move forward until: 1- It is freed from MQM's clutches and I call them clutches as their mandate was a forced and rigged mandate 2- Muhajirs (why still use the term) stop crying about being victimised almost 70 years after independence, and stop bringing East Pakitsan into every discussion. . I'm always ammused how MQM supporters' defence is always, 'Why only us?' thereby iplying that Yes, we are guilty of extortion, organised crime, mafia, fascist policies, but its not only us, so we're being victimised. One should feel ashamed at even putting up such a defense.
@FNM: Firstly i praise you for gaining admission on merit , that is what my argument is , there should be merit and merit alone in all jobs and admissions in the whole of sindh as one entity and no rural and urban divide , this is the only pathway of justice through which peace can be achieved , people do not enjoy NED and DOW for nothing , they study hard and compete in admissions through high marks , once this qouta is removed all people with high merit and qualification and ability across all ethnicities would run sindh and no reason that road to progress is not clear
do you know the irony in the Sep48's Quota....??
Mohajirs were 3% of the Population of Pakistan , they were given intially a Quota of 15% ...later increased to 20% in the name of merit....PLUS 2% Seperate Quota for Karachi...Mind you Karachi was a privilaged City ...not backward area.... and ..and ..and.... three provinces....ie the Remaining Sind ..excluding Karachi plus Balochistan plus the then NWFP (KPK) ... three whole provinces ....17% ..
Go figure out ...the justice and injustice in it...
I have given FACTS regarding Quota System without being judgmental , I have not discussed the merit /demerits , the justification the rationale ...whatever ...etc.etc.etc..
..the First Step is to correct History , correct the Record ...
this is for those who say , Bhutto introduced Quota System...so the FACT is Bhutto did not ... it was already enforce in Pakistan ....introduced by Liaqat Ali Khan Sahib in Sep 48 , and remained enforce till Dec 72 , ie 25 years ........... Period. ...that document gives the Then Rationale for it and figures for Sep 48 ....the amended Nov 49 and later the Bhutto's re-adjusted one . Quota is an affirmative Action policy , its supposed to help under privileged and give them a chance to come at par with other ...this is the Just Rationale of Quota.... did it ... did its job ... till 72 ...?? or did it further dis advantaged the already disadvantaged ...?? In my opinion it blocked the progress of Sindh ... Sindh that was already depleted by its Educated middle Class , which unfortunately was NON Muslims ....that 1.2M non Muslims Sindhi , belongling to its Educated middle Class was forced to flee Pakistan , and take refuge in India ....and its Impact on India can be seen by the progress of Indian Gujrat...!! so what was left in Sindh .... a lower Class...and an upper ignorant Class belonging to the feudal and Wadeyra.... that is the situation Bhutto found himself in ...in 72 ... beside Pakistan broken into half....and a complete demographic change vis a vis ... Population Statistics.... for example Punjabis which earlier were 28-30% with 22% Quota , were now ... 60% , and Mohajirs which were earlier 3% ...now ... 7.5% ...and worst ...ethnic Split was breaking at the seams in Sindh ... the Urban -Rural divide ....became in reality ...the ethnic divide .... his readjustments 60/40 split ...though Mohajirs were and are 22% of Sindh Population , was actually an attempt to give the Overall 7.5% Mohajirs ....their due share that is 7.5 % in the national Quota ... in Sindh it still gives them leverage ... 40% though they are 22% ... but its convinently ignored ........... Period.
..now about the rationale ... its still enforce ...rightly or wrongly ... including Quota for Sindhi Students in the Educational institutes of Karachi .. !!
enough Said ..
@Mrs Ahmed I can dicepher that you belong to MQM. You people live in Sindh. Enjoy education in NED and DOW and still feel yourself deprived and cry about quota. I belong to Tharparkar, a remote place of rural Sindh, where thought of living a comfortable life is beyond your imagination. When you take bath with salty after having salt contents beyond sea water, you really understand what urban and rural divide in sindh is? I got admission in NED against 20 seats of Hyderabad Board. I had to fight against quota system by being on merit. It was my Sindh and yet I have to defeat quota system and win a seat in NED. The list of suffering due to linguistics divide goes on and on. Still you people think you people are oppressed. You people are atleast enjoying clean water, good hospitals, transport, roads, education and still you are unhappy. Just think of spending a week in Desert of Thar. Fetch water on your back from wells and you will come to know what life you people are enjoying. Be thankful to Allah in whatever situation you are. I believe had MQM been sincere to Sindh, it would have been a city like Paris but there is a big BUT. You people are deceiving yourself. Who does not know what is MQM? What we are talking is based on face saving facts. We all know the soar scar on our back. Please avoid advocating your beloved party. We all have suffered in Sindh..
Malik59, I am assuming you are an educated person and have read history. Except for East Pakistan, west Pakistan comprised of most backward areas. It was obvious that the people migrating from India who were in govt. services, finance or militiary and were more educated would run the govt. Compare the people of that time to the todays bureacrates and you will see the difference in quality. The quota introduced in 1948 was there for a reason which an unbias person can understand. The quota that was introduced by Bhutto was to give opportunities to people of Sindh and rest of Pakistan on the expense of urdu speaking. Can you tell me why SInd is divided b/w urban annd rural where as you dont have same in Punjab? South Punjab is as backward as SIndh and Baluchistan. At that time it probably made sense to have quota for Sindh but for how long? We all know merit is good for everyone, but govt. of Pakistan and people like you have continued to support Quota to prevent people of Urban Sind to compete with rest of the Pakistan. As long as you dont have merit and equal opportunities for eveyone this country would not move forward. Since population has been the only criteria for resource and job distribution, people of Punjab are the only one whose lives have improved, whether it is money spent on Army, govt. jobs, development or even corruption it has gone to Punjab. So unless you give equal opportunity to all, we will continue to suffer, that include people of South Punjab also. Quota has been there for so long but did it help Sind, NO, remove Quota , let people come on merit and have them serve in poor and backward areas and free them from feudals and land lords. We may hate MQM, but the issue is not MQM but the fact thay we create situtation for people to make parties like MQM or support it.
@tariq, 'In Punjab hindus and sikhs were in majority'..that is the first time i am coming across this fact. can you give a respectable reference for your wild claim?(you have put your name as tariq,but i am sure that is not your real name)
@malik59: Your 1st point is totally manufactured.Where and how 10 lac punjabi's were killed and by whom? 20% quota for Mohajirs was in 1947 and what is now?9.3 million people were displaced anf 90k rapred,Do u know what was the population of Punjab at that time.In Punjab Hindu and Sikh were in majority.
Mqm is a Mafia of killers
I think you should also allay concerns and speak up for removal of vast illegal population of Afghans living in illegal ghettos who should be sent to their homelands, responsible for major crimes in Karachi. Its really shameful that you compare Mohajirs who sacrificed their lives for this country with afghans who ran away from their country to seek refuge as civil war had broken there. The concept of Pakistan came via Nawab Viqar Ul Mulk in a session in Dacca in early 1900s while major efforts were made by Muhajirs of UP, Bengal etc. so basically Muhajirs did majority of effort in establishment of Pakistan. I hope one day you would raise your voice for discrimination against Urban Urdu speaking Sindhis being victimized due to quota system rather then writing a biased article. I would loved to be recognized with a Pakistani identity only but wherever i go im forced to be reminded oohh tum Karachi walay ho! :(
While totally agreeing with Mrs Ahmed may I ask that General Musharraf has done a lot of service to this country. During his tenure country was cruising towards prosperity but now with this so called democracy country is slowly and gradually economically being led into an abyss. Mr Musharraf was/is the most competent and clean leader this country has ever had. The ONLY reason why Musharraf isnt appreciated or liked in rural regions of Punjab esp is only because he isnt a Punjabi and is an urdu speaking! This discrimination against him speaks volume and solidifies the vote bank of MQM due to larger biased attitudes, vote bank of mqm is educated and largely moderate based. This article is purely biased in every manifestation. In 2013 elections I voted for manifesto and moderation and nothing else! I think you must all have read what Dav Whatmore has said about Pakistani players psyche as a whole where they ethnically discriminate people! Goes to show what a backward nation mentally we are.
How long it will take when people realize that MQM is a reality and recognize its mandate. This party has now become the part and parcel in Pakistani politics. Perhaps still we have not learnt from the separation of East Pakistan and now bent on to divide its people in faction and want to see them fighting against each other. Our columnist and media want to measure us on their own scale and convey to public as they wish. Divide and engage people in faction and rule are the best policy for this mindset. Is there anyone who can make me understand the true standard of journalism? Taking money and writing against someone is not an issue particularly in Pakistan, same thing seems here. Should we trust these people? We are proud to be supporter of a political party that is very well organized and disciplined and every passing day brings extension in its support. Simplicity and truthfulness that we have are the main crime of this party for which we are being punished, we have no fake degree case, no corrupt leaders. but one thing that we have unfortunately is politically based murder cases. Majority of its leaders belong to lower and middle class with no personal houses. If MQM is wrong from head to toe why it still exist? Calling MQM terrorist outfit is equivalent to insulting its millions of voters. It means karachities are terrorist who vote MQM. Kindly don’t misguide people and its supporters and make day others.
Two FACTS must be corrected . 1- The rivers of blood flowed between Lahore and Amritsar , only PUNJAB and Bengal were divided , 10 lac Punjabis were killed , 9.3m FORCEFULLY displaced , 90,000 raped , Communal violence were engineered first in Bengal ---Direct Action day Aug 46 , then after its success to instill fear of survival in the Muslims of that Muslim majority province (Bengal) .. repeated in Punjab the other Muslims majority province that was greedily eyed by the Elites ..and post March 47 , starting from Pindi Massacres by the Muslim league razakars of killing 5000-7000 non muslims predominately sikhs , battle lines were drawn and drawn in blood. ..all those you trains you see , streaming in and out ....soaked in blood , are Punjabis .... other came here in relative peace , when the worst was over , Punjab and Bengal divided , a new country formed and thing settling to normalcy .
2- The First Quota System was introduced by Mr Liaqat Ali Khan sahib in Sep 48 ....giving a lot of leverage to the incoming mohajirs .. so at one time , pre 72 they had as high as 44% of the Govt Jobs and hold on bureaucracy with them ....
full article of Mr Waseem on Affirmative Action polcies in Pakistan with all the percentages from the Sep 48 Quota System to the readjusted according to new ground realities post 72 Paksitan can be read here...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/88152660/Affirmative-Action-Policies-in-Pakistan
...so lets for the sake of our future generation start speaking the truth , and stop hoodwinking and distorting history .
@faizaan: Does it not take two to tango? Why are the brunt of accusations and criticisms directed towards the Muttaheda? Why are their offices burnt and ransacked and members outcast whenever they open an office upcountry? The answer is because they stand out for what they represent in the first paragraph. Remember the fight is for Karachi. Salams and have a nice day.
Altaf Bhai for life!!! I love my leader, Altaf Hussain.
@SK: thank you have pin pointed the real issues about karachi which is a glaring ommission by all
The article represents a mindset in the media which results in print and electronic media calling 77000 "unverifiable" votes as "bogus" votes.
MQM is a terrorist party run from London. It claims it is anti-feudal, yet it supports every feudal led government. The facts speak for themselves: Since MQM's inception, law and order has hit rock bottom in Karachi.
In these last 15 years of life I have seen utter chaos why I have seen people killed everyday and so many where is law wher is authority ....help us help us oh Allah!
Your article reminds me like some one is crossing a mine-field, words are so carefully chosen not to offend the head honcho sitting in London, surely no body wants one of their so called " miscreants" to be knocking at your door in the middle of the night.People like you are the problem in the sorry affaires of Karachi, you did not have the courage to call spade a spade. I thought the Rangers and police found Indian made weapons in one of their offices, and above all the massive rigging in the last elections. They are the ones who call themselves Mohajirs, you can color it any way you wish but the fact is they call themselves Mohajirs even after 66 years, I have never read or heard them say that they are Sindhis from Pakistan. How come you neglect to mention that their leader went to India and declared there that the creation of Pakistan was a mistake, he has more affinity with India than Pakistan, but he is living a lavish life in London on the backs of the business community from Karachi. your paper is biased and so do you when it comes to MQM and their heavy handedness.
Looking at the comments, the writer (for whom I have great respect) should have just called MQM a fascist anti-Pakistan, pro sectarian, gun totting, oragnised crime prone party and get done with it. I have seen too many fellow Karachiites die and want my city back from the clutches of the MQM mafia. Free Karachi from MQM!
MQM, the political party exists today because of its supporters and that support base is unlikely to change in the near term. Honorable writer, its best you accept reality and not try to paint pictures that exist only in your mind.
This article appears to be another in the series flooding newspapers in Pakistan which love to pillory mqm but fail to do any investigative bit of journalism as towards the urban issues of Sindh. This approach is very reminescent of Imran Khan for whom unseatimg mqm in Sindh is the only zero sum game which matters to him. The author of this article has been around for a long time and one would have wished that he would have talked about the lack of real representation that the urban areas suffer from in the absence of sufficiently empowered local governments in their areas. I wonder why this elephant in the room remains invisible to these experienced columnists. The yoke of a rural dominated myopic regime is getting unbearable and if mqm can be faulted for one thing, it is its digression from a focus on sindh's urban issues to extra urban matters which should not have been a source of priority for the party until it had turned Karachi and other urban areas into a success story. If its strike calls have to be faulted it should be for not focusing them on the biased actions of the rural bureaucrats and politicians who are running down karachi to the level of rural areas. And if mqm have to be faulted for its militancy, it should be for frittering away its energy on intangible outcomes.
what is your article all about , how pathetic it is that you failed to mention glaring discrimination against children of mohajirs in the for of qouta system in sindh.What other voting option avaible to enlightened true karachiites have , across ethnic lines. PPP, well they had never voted for this party even at its hieght of popularity . JI last 30 years people have rejected them for the obvious reason of hypocracy and using religion for the political gains , karachhites has seen that when Qazi saheb had the previlidge he nominated his daughter rahila qazi to national assembly, where ordinary women is advised to stay home and time and again JI has has agreed on no women vote . ANP well hathiyar hamra zawer kind of people are the not best choice for the liberal educated and progressive minded karachiites. now PTI yes some karachiites who were disillusioned by dual face leadership , he wears tuxedo in the west carrying a drink in his hands and ladies all around finds himself at home and then also appeases taliban with a nod to their kind of islam, yes leader ship great poster boy in his hay days and simply lacks vision , and policy for the people of liberal educated and progressive people of karachi . Now it leaves MQM , a natural choice who believes in multi ethnic ,religious pluralism , gender equality , and also parctices in its folds , the only choice to vote , party which is 100% middle and lower middle class , and talk about woes of karachi may i ask has ever PTI leadership even given lip service gainst qouta system , the mother of all ills in the province of sindh. MQM belives in meritocracy proven route to success , and increase in middle class in all kind of adminsitration based on qualifiaction and ability and abhors family politics. Therefore we must take this 56000 votes not varified by thumb impression by NADRA becomes meaningless , karachiites have one choice and only choice that is MQM By the way karchhites dont like jaali degree and people fail to appreciate not a single jaali degree in MQM ranks , therefore true blood karachiites would always give prefrence to the party which offers genuin qulaified candidates,
Unfortunately we missed 2 opputunities in 1990's to control the menace of spiralling violence in Karachi, after making progress initially. I don't know why,but MQM reminds us of Mussolini's Fascist party that wrecked Italy apart in 1930's/40's. He was also quite a charismatic person and prone to theatrics, in control of a a violent militia.