Dec 7, 1998
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PAKISTAN Walking The Razor's Edge By bringing Sindh under emergency, Nawaz Sharif has taken a political gamble that may backfire. By Zahid Hussain
The move came even as the prime minister was locked in a battle with the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, which has blocked the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill that declares the Islamic shariat as the supreme law of the land. The bill which gives sweeping powers to the prime minister to enforce Islamic laws was earlier passed by the National Assembly. As his war with the Opposition-dominated Senate intensified, Sharif opened a new political front by declaring emergency in Sindh. He said the decision was taken to stop relentless killings, adding, "It's a step to save Pakistan and take the city (Karachi) out of hell." The immediate provocation was that the civil administration had collapsed in the wake of widespread violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in the past 11 months. In October, Sharif dismissed the Sindh provincial government accusing his former coalition partner, the Mutthida Qaumi Movement (MQM), of having a hand in the violence. The MQM represents the Mohajirs or Urdu-speaking Muslims who migrated from India after Partition and now politically control Karachi and other urban areas of Sindh. For years the MQM has been agitating, seeking an autonomous, local self government and an end to the discrimination against them. In recent years, the movement has been locked in a fierce battle with its dissident faction, the Haqiqi (Genuine), believed to be supported by the Government. This has been the cause of much of the violence spilling on to the streets and the city being ruled by criminal gangs. As part of the crackdown Sharif set up special military courts to conduct summary trials of those involved in terrorism and lawless activities. Hundreds of MQM activists were then arrested. Among the detainees are Shoaib Bukhari and Wakil Ahmed Jamali who were members of the provincial cabinet which was dismissed last month. They were allegedly involved in several cases of terrorism and the police claim to have recovered illegal Kalashnikovs from them. An additional 490 alleged terrorists, most of them supporters of the MQM who had been arrested earlier, are also to be put on trial by these courts. The MQM has denied the charges and accused Sharif of establishing an autocratic rule in the country. Altaf Hussain, chief of the MQM who lives in self-exile in London, says the organisation would not bow down to "fascism". Opposition leaders and human-rights activists have come down heavily on Sharif for the "extreme step". "It is a negation of the Constitution and basic fundamental rights," says Asma Jahangir, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "The mini martial law declared in Sindh will have grave consequences for democracy." Senator Iqbal Haidar, spokesman for the Opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), points out that "it is an admission by the Government of its failure to maintain law and order". The military courts have been given sweeping powers and their ruling cannot be challenged in any civil court. Sharif has justified the move saying that terrorists were becoming bolder each day, even threatening witnesses, judges and their families. "It is also a part of the Islamic system of justice," he says. The ground for federal rule and deployment of the army was prepared when the prime minister publicly accused the MQM of being involved in the murder of Hakim Mohammed Said, a highly respected former governor of Sindh, and gave them three days to hand over the alleged assassins. Police investigation claimed that the MQM activists under instructions from their leaders had gunned down Said. "The assassination proved to be the last straw which led to the Government decision to impose Governor's rule in the province," says Mushahid Hussain, federal minister for information. "No government can sit quietly watching the people being killed on the streets," maintains Governor Moinuddin Haider. The MQM leaders, however, deny that the organisation was responsible for Said's assassination and accuse the Government of using the incident to clamp down on them. "What could MQM gain from killing the person who is much revered in the Mohajir community?" asks a senior MQM leader. Ironically, the party, which had 28 of the 109 seats in the Sindh Assembly, had propped up a minority coalition government led by Liaquat Jatoi of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML) for a year-and-a-half till last month. But that didn't decrease the incidence of violence in the city. The MQM was becoming increasingly disillusioned with Sharif and the prime minister was waiting for an opportune moment to strike. Said's killing came in handy. The parting of ways was predictable. But the former allies are now locked in a bitter war which may lead to a fresh round of violence. Most MQM militants have gone into hiding to escape arrest. But given the lessons of the past two operations, peace will remain elusive in the strife-torn city. The Government's unprecedented step to impose federal rule and calling in the army carries serious political implications as they are seen as a violation of provincial autonomy and a move to further consolidate Sharif's autocracy. The issue has brought together all the Opposition political forces, including the MQM and the PPP. Most political leaders allege that Governor's rule was imposed just to save the PML government. "We are sitting on the edge of insurgency and civil strife," warns PPP chief Benazir Bhutto. Sharif has clearly brought himself more trouble. On the economic front, there may be a temporary respite with the US giving the green light to the IMF to reschedule the country's foreign debt. But politically Sharif is wielding a double-edged sword. |
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Pakistan prime ministers who have tried to douse the
fires of sectarian strife in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, in the past decade have only
ended up burning themselves. The continuing violence in the commercial hub has been a key
factor in the fall of three civilian governments which have come to power after the
country's return to democracy in 1988. So when an embattled Nawaz Sharif declared a state
of emergency in Sindh suspending all civil rights and called the army out in Karachi on
November 20, it was seen as a dangerous political gamble. 
