‘Sindh One, Sindh Two’ formula: PPP, PML-N censure MQM in Senate

PML-N Senator alleges MQM has vested interest in floating the proposal of division.

ISLAMABAD:

Days after Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussian reportedly demanded another province in Sindh at a public rally, the party told the upper house of parliament that its leader’s statement was misconstrued.

“Altaf Hussain did not mean division of Sindh,” said MQM Senator Col (retd) Syed Tahir Mashhadi after lawmakers from two political rivals – Pakistan People Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – joined hands and delivered fiery speeches to warn the MQM against creating ‘divides’ among the nation.

“I’m a proud Sindhi, my children are sons of Sindh’s soil. How can we demand of the province’s division?” he added in a reconciliatory tone.



Earlier, PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan alleged that the MQM had some vested interest in floating the proposal of ‘Sindh One and Sindh Two’ and instigating people in the name of Mohajir.

Khan said the move was calculated and was aimed at diverting public attention from the ongoing high treason case against former military dictator General (retd) Pervez Musharraf for abrogating the Constitution on November 3, 2007.

He said the MQM even branded army generals as Mohajirs, Punjabis and Sindhis, which was not acceptable. “There is no Mohajir, Sindhi or Punjabi… we all are Pakistanis and this rhetoric to divide the nation must stop,” he added.

The PML-N senator said the MQM chief had not raised his voice when Musharraf disgraced renowned nuclear scientist, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, who was also a Mohajir. “The father of the country’s nuclear programme was humiliated on charges of nuclear proliferation, but the MQM remained tight-lipped,” he added.

Senator Mukhatar Ahmed Dhamra of the PPP also censured the MQM and said any division of Sindh in the name of so-called Mohajir mantra would be strongly resisted. “Branding some people as Mohajir is part of a hidden agenda. It must be stopped as this creates problems for the country and we will not allow anybody to divide the people of Sindh,” he added.

However, the MQM’s Senator Nasrin Jalil maintained the people would come up with such demands if the government failed to address their problems.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2014.