Pir Pagara, Raja Saein: Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) head Pir Pagara is a well known figure in Sindh and in Rawalpindi where the GHQ is located. The help rendered by a sizeable armed Hur force to our beleaguered army during the 1965 war is not forgotten. He was nominated as the new Pir Pagara by the caliphs of Hur Community following the death from pneumonia of Shah Mardan Shah II in London on January 10, 2012. Pir Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi, commonly known as Raja Saein, the new Pir is a new phenomenon.
He is no longer content with just commanding unflinching adulation and loyalty of the Hur tribe numbering perhaps several millions as his predecessor was. Neither is he keeping clear of active politics as the former Pir Pagara did. He emerged soon after his nomination as a political force to reckon with. His impressive rally in Hyderabad a few weeks ago appeared to bring under one umbrella almost all parties with a following in Sindh Rural. A very important part of his political platform, behind which he appears to have lined up rural Sindh, is the Local Government issue. Despite passage of an Ordinance the matter remains open with MQM on one side and Sindh Nationalist parties on the other and PPP in two minds. This could prove to be a highly divisive, explosive issue.
ALTAF HUSSAIN MQM is a very tightly organised party with several hundred local units active in Karachi alone. Its main strength is in Karachi and Urdu-speaking areas of Sindh. The MQM supremo (top boss) affectionately called Altaf Bhai by his followers, leads perhaps the most tightly knit and controlled political party in the country. If results of the last few elections are to be believed MQM under Altaf’s leadership has put all other political parties in Karachi into a tight corner. The difference in number of votes polled by the winning candidate (MQM) and those polled by the nearest loser in Karachi is several times higher than the difference in votes polled by the successful candidates and the runners up in other parts of the country. MQM has a policy-making body called Rabita Committee sitting in the famous 90 locale in Karachi which advises the Chief on all important issues. This bottom up approach is the hallmark of the party’s policy-making according to the official line of the Party. Exceptions are also come across however. The Party’s U-turn about the March and cancellation or indefinite postponement of the much publicised Referendum (Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan or Taliban’s Pakistan?), are arguably notable examples of departures from the stated policy. At the moment the party is at loggerheads with most other parties with a stake in Karachi, over the voters’ lists verification and delimitation of constituencies in the Metropolis. The party has been trying to create a niche for itself outside Sindh, especially in Punjab, without much success to date. As we have pointed out before, this scenario will remain till MQM is willing to share the power pie in Karachi with other parties and/or ethnic communities. There are reports that the party is contemplating such a move. Well, wait and see. There is much more afoot in the country bordering on turmoil!
MUNAWWAR HASAN Mention of Jamaat-e-Islami under today’s caption is perhaps inappropriate because in this case the party as a whole is the moving force in politics rather than the party head alone. One proof of this is the fact that the heads of the party have been peacefully changed three times through intra-party elections without any disturbance or adverse effects. Urdu-speaking, Punjabi-speaking and Pakhtun heads of the party have succeeded each other in a peaceful manner. Like the MQM, its main rival in Karachi, JI is a party mainly of low and middle-level educated members. The party has grass roots support across the country but nowhere enough except perhaps Karachi to win a seat in the Parliament. Therefore its demand for the introduction of proportional representation (under which a party gets seats in the Parliament in proportion to the popular vote it gets) is understandable quite apart
from the merits of this procedure which are considerable. With the revival of MMA as distant as ever there are possibilities of an electoral understanding of some kind between JI and PML-N. A party allied with JI could earn considerable benefit from the Party’s presence across the country in tightly contested constituencies. Tehrik-e-Insaf could be natural ally of JI but its virulent campaign against PMLN prevents a 3-party alliance coming into being though it could be a “match winning” combination. As these lines are being written JI has decided to join PML-N’s projected Dharna at Islamabad subject to approval of its Shoora. Imran khan has said he supported the objectives of the PML-N Dharna but would not participate in it. A repeat of his “March” yes/no reaction? Let us see what actually happens.
(Concluded) (owajid@yahoo.com)
Wajid Naeemuddin, "Spotlight: Party leaders not parties are power centres – II," Business recorder. 2013-01-30.Keywords: