28 August will be remembered as the day when another holy cow of Pakistani politics was slain. There are moments in history when the pressures that have built up over a long period of time finally find a crack and burst the dam. The dam this time was the media silence over MQM violence and the crack was Zulfiqar Mirza. Now everything about Karachi is in the open. This is good for Karachi and good for democracy.
What happened? Z Mirza finally said everything in great detail which no one had dared to say before. the politicians will not criticise MQM violence because of its assembly seats, media will not touch it because its cable will be cut, army forgave the killing of its own officers because it needed MQM for its political games and even judiciary chose to forget about 12 May 2007 massacre since the life of senior judges was not safe. But Z Mirza's press conference was telecast live by all channels for over 2 hours. Z Mirza also presented a lot of evidence which he had gathered as interior minister of Sindh. Other media people later added more documents of their own to strengthen the case. The rather blatant use of Quran by Mirza greatly strengthened his case, although most of non-Muhajir Pakistanis already agreed with all he said. This silence cannot be re-imposed by MQM.
What's the back ground? The province of Sindh is divided since 1947 between native Sindhis and urdu-speaking Muhajirs. Their cultures were so different that they could not integrate with each other. First the religious parties (JI and JUI) and later MQM controlled the Muhajir votes. MQM led by Altaf Hussain is so strong that it knows that no party or Army cannot rule Pakistan without their support. So they have blackmailed every one, but this Federal government of Sindhis has survived for too long. PPP and ANP have used these 3 years to organise and weaponise themselves. MQM was coming under increasing pressure from PPP Balochis and ANP Pakhtuns. The tension in Karachi is increasing as the next elections come nearer since PPP wants to redesign the local bodies and the constituencies of Federal and Provincial assemblies. This means death for MQM so it is violently resisting. Zulfiqar Mirza was the leader of the Sindhi nationalist faction of PPP. Rehaman Malik is the person responsible to keep PPP in power by keeping MQM in government at all costs. The restoration of Nazim system after a brief change was necessary to save the Federal government but was unacceptable to Sindhi nationalists.
Why now? Zardari told Mirza to keep quite but he could not. Finally Zardari called Mirza to Islamabad and ordered him to leave politicas and leave Pakistan to become an ambassador in some far off country. This was a huge personal insult for Mirza who decided to end everyone's politics with him. Thus he held that press conference.
Consequences? They are many. Zulfiqar Mirza's political career is of course finished for ever. But the really significant result is that the media silence about MQM violence has ended. MQM will face intense pressure from the media about every killing from now on. This media exposure will force Zardari to choose between the devil and the deep sea. If he pleases MQM, the Sindhis will reject PPP in next elections to be replaced by nationalist parties. If Zardari sides with Sindhi public opinion then MQM will bring down the federal government. At the moment Zardari has decided to save the government and ditch Mirza, but as the elections come nearer, he will start siding with Sindhis and may restore the old Local body system. This will result in violence from MQM and a major and a bloody crackdown from government.
Why it is good for democracy? There should be no holy cows in politics. Everyone should be exposed to criticism from media. Musharraf's barrier was broken on the day he dismissed the Chief justice, Taliban's barrier broke on the day the Swat girl whipping video came out and the Army lost its holiness on the day Osama bin Ladin was assassinated and now MQM has lost its cover. Whatever may be the fate of Mirza, Zardari, MQM and PPP, the democracy has been strengthened by this incident.
What happened? Z Mirza finally said everything in great detail which no one had dared to say before. the politicians will not criticise MQM violence because of its assembly seats, media will not touch it because its cable will be cut, army forgave the killing of its own officers because it needed MQM for its political games and even judiciary chose to forget about 12 May 2007 massacre since the life of senior judges was not safe. But Z Mirza's press conference was telecast live by all channels for over 2 hours. Z Mirza also presented a lot of evidence which he had gathered as interior minister of Sindh. Other media people later added more documents of their own to strengthen the case. The rather blatant use of Quran by Mirza greatly strengthened his case, although most of non-Muhajir Pakistanis already agreed with all he said. This silence cannot be re-imposed by MQM.
What's the back ground? The province of Sindh is divided since 1947 between native Sindhis and urdu-speaking Muhajirs. Their cultures were so different that they could not integrate with each other. First the religious parties (JI and JUI) and later MQM controlled the Muhajir votes. MQM led by Altaf Hussain is so strong that it knows that no party or Army cannot rule Pakistan without their support. So they have blackmailed every one, but this Federal government of Sindhis has survived for too long. PPP and ANP have used these 3 years to organise and weaponise themselves. MQM was coming under increasing pressure from PPP Balochis and ANP Pakhtuns. The tension in Karachi is increasing as the next elections come nearer since PPP wants to redesign the local bodies and the constituencies of Federal and Provincial assemblies. This means death for MQM so it is violently resisting. Zulfiqar Mirza was the leader of the Sindhi nationalist faction of PPP. Rehaman Malik is the person responsible to keep PPP in power by keeping MQM in government at all costs. The restoration of Nazim system after a brief change was necessary to save the Federal government but was unacceptable to Sindhi nationalists.
Why now? Zardari told Mirza to keep quite but he could not. Finally Zardari called Mirza to Islamabad and ordered him to leave politicas and leave Pakistan to become an ambassador in some far off country. This was a huge personal insult for Mirza who decided to end everyone's politics with him. Thus he held that press conference.
Consequences? They are many. Zulfiqar Mirza's political career is of course finished for ever. But the really significant result is that the media silence about MQM violence has ended. MQM will face intense pressure from the media about every killing from now on. This media exposure will force Zardari to choose between the devil and the deep sea. If he pleases MQM, the Sindhis will reject PPP in next elections to be replaced by nationalist parties. If Zardari sides with Sindhi public opinion then MQM will bring down the federal government. At the moment Zardari has decided to save the government and ditch Mirza, but as the elections come nearer, he will start siding with Sindhis and may restore the old Local body system. This will result in violence from MQM and a major and a bloody crackdown from government.
Why it is good for democracy? There should be no holy cows in politics. Everyone should be exposed to criticism from media. Musharraf's barrier was broken on the day he dismissed the Chief justice, Taliban's barrier broke on the day the Swat girl whipping video came out and the Army lost its holiness on the day Osama bin Ladin was assassinated and now MQM has lost its cover. Whatever may be the fate of Mirza, Zardari, MQM and PPP, the democracy has been strengthened by this incident.
