After 24 hours of violence which saw life in Karachi come to a screeching halt, we hope Zulfiqar Mirza is satisfied. Nothing could stop the rabble-rousing minister on Wednesday night as he made incendiary, and borderline racist, remarks against the MQM and its chief Altaf Hussain. But by Thursday night, he did not even have the nerve to face the cameras or the public, and offered a meek apology via a short videotaped message. Given the pattern of violence in Karachi – which is turned on and off like a faucet – it is inconceivable that the parties involved cannot stop it. It is no surprise then that the intensity of violence started declining in the second half of the day, and the guns fell silent only after the MQM chief appealed to people to ‘end their peaceful demonstrations against the racial and highly bigoted language’ used by Mirza. His remarks and his discreditable apology signify the larger thinking of the Pakistan People’s Party leadership and show where their hearts, and real interests, lie: in elections. Just as the PPP has in the last three and a half years been singularly focused on completing its terms–governance, the people and all other incidentals be damned–now too, with elections drawing closer, they’re only focused on votes. Hence, statements like “Sindh will be divided over my dead body” are aimed at rousing nationalistic sentiments and helping the PPP emerge as the true defender of Sindh. The irony is that most analysts had expected Nawaz Sharif to ultimately use the ethnic card and cause trouble but, as it turns out, it’s the PPP that seems to have decided to nudge the country towards ethnic strife, starting with Karachi.
While PPP leaders and ministers have tried to distance themselves from Mirza’s statements, the truth is that he has only put into words what is the PPP leadership’s overall attitude. But the PPP government must not forget that such raucous, ugly outbursts are usually delivered from a position of weakness and anxiety, and not strength. Governments normally bring out the dog whistles when they are faltering. No one expected democracy to be an immediate panacea to the problems of Pakistan or Karachi. But neither did anyone expect such a hasty return to the terrible days of the 1980s – or imagine that democracy would become the leaders’ revenge against the people.
Copyright TheNews 16.7.2011
While PPP leaders and ministers have tried to distance themselves from Mirza’s statements, the truth is that he has only put into words what is the PPP leadership’s overall attitude. But the PPP government must not forget that such raucous, ugly outbursts are usually delivered from a position of weakness and anxiety, and not strength. Governments normally bring out the dog whistles when they are faltering. No one expected democracy to be an immediate panacea to the problems of Pakistan or Karachi. But neither did anyone expect such a hasty return to the terrible days of the 1980s – or imagine that democracy would become the leaders’ revenge against the people.
Copyright TheNews 16.7.2011
