The 'New' Party in Punjab

So MQM is finally here [in Punjab]. They mean business and they will probably stay. Will they 'smile and conquer', that needs to be seen? The reaction towards MQM's arrival is mixed as one can imagine and its a natural one. MQM has few good things to brag about lately (e.g. Mustafa's Kamals) but they also carry a certain baggage (rather body bags :p). The biggest hurdles in their way are probably these:


The Leadership
Like most political parties in Pakistan MQM too does not have a clean image vis-a-vis leadership. Looks of Rajnikanth mixed with strengths of Dawood Ibrahim, speckled with humor of a street comedian gives us the top man of MQM. He is none other [possible till he is alive] than the most hilarious, the master of remote controls and the biggest user of long distance phones ... iiiiits Altaaaaaf Husseeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiin (Tha tha, dhishon dhishon, dhazz dhazz). It will be naive (and a bit dangerous too) to say that MQM should change their leader if they want to be a serious national political player. However, since in Pakistan a lot gets forgotten, we can easily forget about the past of Altaf bhai, although the party still needs to manage the image of their leader.


B&B
This can mean bed and breakfast, bread and butter (Beavis & Butthead may be) in ordinary circumstances but when it comes to MQM, B&B can also mean 'Bhatta' (بھتہ) and 'Body Bags'.  Also include MS and SC. You can guess these acronyms while you are reading this post, the answers are given at the end. Again this image needs to be managed and these words should never be heard in public, "Since the arrival of MQM street crimes in Punjab have risen". Whether it is done by hooligans hired by Q-League to get fingers pointed at MQM or Shahbaz Sharif forms a special cell of Punjab Police to commit crimes in the name of MQM; if for once this image gets reinforced in the minds of Punjabi public, the consequences will be detrimental for MQM.


Ethnic Bias
MQM has been a party which has thrived more on creating and encouraging, ethnic biases and differences among people. It has never been seen as a uniting force. It has safeguarded the interest of the ethnic group it initially represented by establishing a dominance by force rather than being a messenger of peace and understanding among various ethnic groups. Do I sound too sweet here? Okay please forgive me, I also know how things get done around here but whats wrong in saying nice and sweet things (looks nice written in a blog post). The arrival in Punjab itself indicates a shift in the overall party policy however there is a fair chance that in Punjab too MQM adopts a few down trodden ethnicities and then struggles their (bloody) way to get those ethnicities both their fair and unfair share. The convention speech of Altaf bhai did have some hints to it, when he talked about Siraiky belt and South Punjab. Will MQM be a fore runner and a clean political player in Punjab OR will it play the usual hold-on-gunpoint-and-get-things-done game?


Now lets come to the good things which the arrival of MQM may signify in Punjab. To begin with it is by and large a good and positive gesture by a political party who was strictly taken as an ethnic party to move towards the national horizon. This step in itself can strengthen the unity and integrity of federation. It also indicates that the political party has come of age and is mature enough to think beyond just their own 'Gali Mohalla'. 
Secondly the timing of this move could not have been any better. The government of PPP has miserably failed to address the problems of common man. Mian Sab the great is as usual intoxicated by heavy doses of 'Siri-Paya', 'Nihari', 'Hareesa' ..... (and the list goes on). He is practicing shooting these days and has chosen his own foot as a target. In short the most naive way in which PML-N is cooperating with PPP for whatever noble reasons of  stabilizing the system and strengthening democracy, the impression going out to the already fed up public is that PPP and PML-N are partners in crime. People ARE waiting for a third option. Yes, the same third option for which Captain Khan is fruitlessly trying for almost a decade but has failed so far. My short message to Captain Khan is that has he ever reached the masses in the way MQM did in their convention. Altaf can pull crowds while sitting thousands of miles away but why has Khan failed to connect with people he lives among?
My perception as of now and today is that if MQM plays its cards wisely and cleanly they do have a chance. Folks they can pose a serious threat to Mians, Chaudhris and Ghosts of Bhutto. But will they drop their baggage and come out clean or is it their bread and butter?? (Oh! that B&B thing again!!!)


(MS: Mobile Snatching
SC: Street Crime)

The Kyrgyzstan Model?

Are we [in Pakistan] heading towards an anarchy? Or are we just in the middle of one? Lets have a look:

1. Army is already busy in an almost full scale war in the traditionally safe and secure western border areas (talking of the border tribal belt itself). Much worse they are fighting within the borders. The insurgents/miscreants are after all the citizens of Pakistan and the "collateral damage" kills our own innocent people and ruins the country's infrastructure. When the army men lay their lives, it weakens our own army and the thought of killing a Muslim brother demoralizes our men (especially in lower ranks), who are motivated by the concept of 'Jihad'. Not to mention the issues of IDPs and the hatred that is bred by such operations in the hearts of local population. Military operation might have been inevitable but we are yet to see its required outcome and pacification of the local population (our brethren) for whatever material and emotional damages they suffered. 
2. Those tribal areas in which our own army is not engaged, the ever notorious US drones are operating and killing the ones spared by the ground forces. Just goes on to add insult to injury. 
3. Move a little up north in the same region and we have a new kind of upheaval. There are people who are out to prove Shakespeare wrong, "Whats in a name". Ask someone living in Hazara [division] and he/she will tell you, its all about the name. Rest of their province is celebrating the change of name [of their province] from NWFP to Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. 
4. Then lets take into account the cities of Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore and few others at the same time. Here the bravadoes, from those areas mentioned in the first paragraph, equipped with twisted religious interpretations and lots of explosives go for bombing sprees that kill security forces men and the innocent civilians alike. 
5. Then we have a local version of IRA .. which we call BLA (Balochistan Liberation Army). 
6. To add further spice we have an acute shortage of electricity. On one hand it is ruining the business, industry, employment opportunities, peace of mind and smooth running of daily lives, on the other hand it is tarnishing the image of government and deeming it as a failed entity. Thirdly it has also brought the angry common people on the streets. 
7. Things were already quite "smooth" when our "beloved" neighbor also jumped in to "lend a hand". They are blocking the waters of our rivers by building .. DAM[N]s. Resultantly we are having a short fall of irrigation water as well. It also aggravates the power crisis.
8. Soon we are going to have a new wave of inflation when a proposed 15% VAT on products across the board and 6% rise in electricity prices comes into effect. The streets will be filled with protesters again. I mean those streets that were spared by an insurgency, bomb blast, celebration/protest for/against the name of a province, bomb blast, protest against shortage of essentials (other than oxygen), bomb blast, protest just for the heck for it, bomb .......

In above paragraphs I have listed some of the most major and mostly internal problems that come to the mind of an ordinary Pakistani. Not to mention the more deeper and complex issues at the national and foreign fronts. Now if we consider the uprising in Kyrgyzstan it was mainly due to rise in heating and electricity tariff, coupled with usual ills of corruption and nepotism. Whereas is Pakistan we have multiple issues. Issues that are much more complex, deeper and grave. Hence we can safely conclude that Pakistan is NOT heading towards a Kyrgyzstan-like uprising. Being a nation of creative, sovereign, original and independent people we'll do something in our own right. (باقی الله خیر ہی کرے - آمین )