• Home
• Video
• Books by Ikram Sehgal
• About

Governor’s Rule in Sindh Reaping the Whirlwind

Liaquat Jatoi was an unmitigated disaster as Chief Minister not only for the Province and PML(N) but also for the country. Stepping in as an acceptable compromise to keep Ghous Ali Shah’s grubby hands from the Chief Minister’s slot in Sindh, Liaquat Jatoi ruled over a fractious coalition. Assisted by two brothers, Salik Nazir and Shahid Nazir from the bureaucracy (known locally as the brothers Nazirov), Jatoi governed on the “Zardari” premise that all was fair game in the Province and his partners were deserving of sharing in the loot and booty. As the party that got the maximum seats in Sindh in 1973 elections, PPP could not muster enough strength to form a majority and a weak coalition came into being in which every faction functioned on the principle that every man was for himself in utter negation of duty and responsibility not only to the Province and the country but also to their own conscience. If Liaquat Jatoi was not being periodically blackmailed by Pir Pagaro’s Functional Group then there was a dissident group within the PML legislators who kept him running for cover to Islamabad. The only people he was comfortable with were the solid phalanx of MQM legislators who looked to their sole leader in London for advice in the obtaining of their pound of flesh and some, deriving maximum advantage from Jatoi’s misrule. Karachi is always a big economic cake where a lot of foreign-aided projects are on order. A triangular relationship developed between Liaquat Jatoi, MQM and the Brothers Nazirov to ensure that most of the projects went to companies of British origin. Investigation revealed that the scam started from the pre-qualification stage. By ensuring that major international companies stayed out of the bidding, one can always stack the deck and easily manipulate projects in favour of one’s favourites. As in Asif Zardari’s reign, huge contracts were directed towards the British or those aligned with them. This seemed to suit everybody and a constant stream of visitors became not-so-accidental tourists between Karachi, London (and back). Logistically it suited everybody, where MQM leader Altaf Hussain was living in comfortable self-exile and most of the British companies were headquartered there. With MQM all powerful in the Sindh Government, Chief Minister Liaquat Jatoi was content to remaining only as a puppet on a string. The Federal Government well knew all this but in order to sustain their provincial government in power they had to look the other way at the excesses being perpetuated by their coalition partners. As such they ignored all the clear indications about the Government, being in power in name only. The Kalabagh Dam issue set off alarm bells in the PML(N) hierarchy, particularly when Liaquat Jatoi came out in true colours to show that he marched to a different beat than that of the party.

MQM is truly representative of the Mohajirs in Sindh Province. It is true that they have dissidents, mainly the Afaq led MQM(H), but the solid core support ensures that this is the only party that has a majority in the urban areas of Sindh as opposed to the PPP being a solid majority in the rural areas. They reflect a countrywide Pakistani change in leadership-mode from rural to urban, on the national scene Mian Nawaz Sharif himself is an urban product. However, from here onward there are sharp differences. Whereas most of MQM’s grievances are genuine, their methodology to accomplish their objective has been less than democratic. For a democratic party to constantly blackmail its coalition partners on the one hand and use ruthless measures to suppress their own supporters to consolidate their own position on the other is unacceptable in any democracy. For a democratic party to listen to the dictate of only one man and base all their aspirations on ethnic consideration is asking for trouble because it smacks of fascism. It is true that brutal methods were used against them in repeated operations since 1992 but as much as the extra-judicial killings cannot be justified, the MQM(A) cannot also justify the killing of innumerable persons including off-duty law enforcement agency personnel by their militant gangs. In fact, who in democracy has militant gangs in the first place? The killing of Hakim Said renowned healer and educationist, set off a wave of revulsion, both among the intelligentsia and the masses. It soon became clear that “a smoking gun” pointed to direct MQM involvement at the hierarchical level. There was no choice for the Prime Minister but to act to restore the rule of law in the province of Sindh by invoking Governor’s Rule under the powers of emergency.

Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider, the Governor of Sindh, is a very competent, sensible person whose governance style is for arranging consensus rather than use authoritarian methods as a means of exercising leadership. Carrying himself ably the last 18 months he has proven to be an asset in the performance of his job. One has no illusions that he will perform miracles but certainly his performance will be focussed and sincere. He is perhaps the best possible person in the circumstances to rule the Province. He needs the advice of a known corrupt person like Ghous Ali Shah as much he needs two left feet. In taking strong action and setting a correct course, true to form PML(N) is now trying to put obstacles in its own path. Ghous Ali Shah is neither wanted nor respected in the province. His only claim to political fame is friendship with the Prime Minister. As we all know the Prime Minister’s choice of friends can be atrocious and even while taking the correct decision of invoking Governor’s Rule he has inadvertently sowed seeds of destruction of his own policy by saddling the Governor with this corrupt person. What signal is he giving to the people of Sindh about his own sincerity?

Let Moinuddin Haider do his job, he should choose his own set of advisors with one solitary person selected to run the affairs in Karachi with all the agencies (law enforcement and civic) under one single authority. He must get rid of people like Chief Secretary Salik Nazir sooner rather than later. He must hold Local Bodies elections expeditiously in order to create leadership at the grassroots level and provide an alternate to the chain of command being exercised remote control from London. The law enforcement agencies must be very careful to adhere to the rule of law in going after both terrorists and criminals. The Governor must keep them on a tight leash. We cannot have a repeat of extra-judicial killings or coercive measures on the hapless population of Karachi. One cannot wage war against one’s own people. Therefore, all action has to be taken with measured restraint. The need of the hour is to keep the economic machine of the city of Karachi humming again and that is only possible when an environment is created which is conducive of fair play and justice. Only when merit and merit alone becomes the prime consideration of the decision making process, will we have peace and tranquillity in Sindh province. We cannot ignore nationalist forces in Sindh and one can only hope that instead of exploiting the situation for narrow parochial interests Ms Benazir Bhutto will look at the national interest and rise above herself and narrow provincial considerations. This may be too much to hope but one never knows, miracles do happen.

Governor Rule in Sindh was a must. There was no other alternative. Now that eventuality has come to pass, we must use the opportunity to take positive measures to better the lives of the people of Sindh in general and Karachi in particular. A lot will depend on how much power is given to the Governor and how much the Centre leaves him alone to use those powers judiciously. The PML(N) sowed the wind by trying to bring MQM(A) into the political mainstream and ignoring their obvious de-merits, it is now time to reap the whirlwind!

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.