Politics of alliances

Politics becomes a matter of opportunism, and not principles, whenever political, or better call them electoral alliances, are formed in Pakistan. 

Recall the history of alliances, and one realises most of the alliances harmed democracy and the country. 
It all starts with the infamous Pakistan National Alliance (PNA).

A populist, right-wing band of nine parties started its struggle to block the rise of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the 1977 elections. 
The alliance failed to dislodge PPP chairperson Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In the ensuing chaos, the army dictator stepped in and dislodge Bhutto and cornered the PNA. 
Then came another infamous Islami Jamhoor Ittehad (IJI).

Another nine-party group, all conservatives, aimed at blocking the rise of Bhutto's daughter, Benazir Bhutto in the 1988 elections.
The alliance ended in smoke in 1993 leaving its trail in the form of Nawaz Sharif.
Came 2002, and emerged the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), which saw its rise and fall between 2002 to 2007.     

This has become a norm to form electoral alliances ahead of elections and dissolve them right after the elections. 
The ultimate causality in an alliance is political ideology. 
As elections are around the corner, Pakistani politics is returning to its true alliance form, leaving a bad taste in the mouth of political science experts.

Consider the attempts to form an alliance (or merger) of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) in Karachi, and the revival of the defunct MMA in Lahore.

The attempt to form MQMP-PSP alliance proved to be a dud after the presser called to announce the move became a venue for contradicting and belittling each other. Prior to the alliance formation, the PSP kept on creating cracks in the MQM-P by winning over the loyalty of its leaders, whereas the MQM-P choosing not to give importance to defections. Necessitated by external and internal factors, both hostile bedfellows sat on the dialogue table without any success. MQM-P convener Dr Farooq Sattar, later, told a crowded press conference that he had been forced to forge an alliance with the Mustafa Kamal-led party. The move created a fissure in the MQM-P; soon Dr Farooq Sattar felt it appropriate to give up both the party office and politics. Within an hour, he was again speaking to a press conference to retreat from his earlier announcements. The intensity of reaction in the MQM-M over a handshake with the revolting people, in a way, strengthened the MQM-P.

The development has exposed the role of the establishment in the Karachi politics. The patronage of certain factions to influence the politics has long been the working of the establishment. The MQM, then led by Altaf Hussain, was established by the establishment to counter the PPP in the 1980s. The party, at a later stage, followed its own script, attracting the wrath of the security agencies. The interference of the establishment, however, proved detrimental to the direction of politics, creating a Sindhi-Muhajir divide, which had been unheard of since the creation of Pakistan until 1980. The divide is to remain forever.

The other attempt to revive the defunct MMA is also not a welcome development. 
The MMA was formed before the 2002 elections, soon flying on the anti-American wave in then NWFP; the alliance emerged as the third most powerful party in the parliament after the Pakistan Muslim League and the Pakistan People’s Party. The religious party alliance made its government in the NWFP and had a share in Balochistan besides grabbing the slot of the opposition leader in the National Assembly. Though all parties of the MMA were averse to each other, the alliance ruled the province for five years leaving the footprints of radicalization and extremism in the province which impacted the results of the election 2013. The alliance died unnaturally soon after the dissolution of the 2002-2007 assemblies. These parties, not even at talking terms, have entered into talks for the MMA revival another time. The fate of the alliance is not much difficult to predict.
By the time, this blog is being written, there is news that a 23-party assembly, called Pakistan Awami Ittehad, led by Gen Pervez Musharraf, has been born to contest the 2018 elections.  

Politics is and should be for ideology, not for winning more seats in the election. Alliances should also be for the sake ideological goals, not power corridor.
There are some examples of shining alliances, as well. 
Who can forget the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy? 

The massive left-leaning band waged a non-violent struggle for civilian rule in Pakistan. 
The movement started in 1981 and ended in 1988.  

It is time for the parties to set their ideological goals straight before entering into an alliance. 

Donald Trump needs lessons on hate speech, love speech

Many would believe that once Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric was just an electioneering trick, and once he is in White House, he, being the president of the most powerful country, would act wisely. 

No. Nada. 

Nothing has happened since November 8 last, the day an overwhelming majority of Americans voted the Republican’s nominee into power. Negativity or one must say outright hatred, towards the Muslims, is trending upward by the member of the public and opinion makers in the US, the land which would boost its principles above faith and creed. Islamophobic gets an official credence when the head of the State is found to be indulged in inflammatory actions and words. 

He tried to ban the entry of Muslims to the US, which thankfully was thwarted by the courts. Courts may ban the president actions, being deemed anti-America’s great foundations, but they may not nip the trend, which is not confined to America now. 

On July 9, a bag stamped with a swastika and containing a pig’s head was thrown at an Islamic school in Brisbane, Australia. Of course, America, being the world leader, sets in the trends world over. Though leaving a pig head at the mosque might be disgusting and provoking, incidences of anti-Muslim harassment, such as arson and vandalism at mosques and bullying at schools have become an order of the day. A Pew survey found that half of the Muslims in the US say that in 2016, they have faced some discrimination, such as being treated with distrust, threatened or called an offensive name. The number is likely to increase this year. Sixty-four percent of those with a more distinct Muslim identity said they had recently faced some type of discrimination.

In these trying times, if one thinks so, the role of the US mass media is very important. It seems the US media is not taking anti-Muslim harassment and violence a top news. The media at times is hogged with anti-Semitism matters while hate speech against Muslims is very conveniently shelved or downplayed. In its 2015 "hate crime" statistics, the FBI reported some 664 anti-Semitic incidents and 257 anti-Muslim incidents. Those are crimes, not speeches, as Northern Wyoming Daily News wrote on July 29, 2017.

The sorry state of Islamophobic cannot be blamed on the whole world, as the extremist Muslims have also chipped in a large share in the hate trends. The game changer 9/11 was all planned, executed and claimed by the Muslim militants. The emergence of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq, Syria, and parts of Europe will only flame sentiments against the Muslims.

The problem is not likely to go away very soon. Its growth, however, can be stemmed by taking appropriate and instant measures. All faiths need to start finding common grounds among religion and promote acceptance and respect of the differences. The biggest responsibilities, however, lies with the Trump administration. It needs to take corrective measures and embrace the Muslims living in the US. The gesture will have its far-reaching impacts on the world over.

The return of political rallies

It is heartening to see back to back public rallies being held across Pakistan by major political parties where vociferous speakers address a charged crowd amid deafening chants of slogans. Yes, the election time is around the corner. 

The return of public rallies in our cities is a good sign. 

On the rallies front, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is ahead of its opponents. 

The party convenes a public meeting anywhere in Pakistan at will; it has demonstrated its power to pull crowds. 

In recent weeks, the PTI has successfully held parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and South Punjab. 

The Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) has competed against the PTI by pitching its young leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in public rallies. The scion of Bhutto-Zardari family has shown his power to attract people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh. 

The ruling Pakistan Muslim-N (PML-N) was missing from the scene because of its leaders’ engagements in London where Kalsoom Nawaz is under treatment and in Pakistani courts, where the whole Nawaz Sharif family faces a number of cases. The party has also made a plan to make its comeback to the public through a public rally in its stronghold Abbottabad on November 12. 

In Karachi, Farooq Sattar-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM), and its rival, Pak Sarzameen Party, and other Sindhi nationalist parties make their presence felt with their occasional rallies and marches. 

Old time Jamaat-i-Islami is always holding gatherings here and there.

The comeback of political rallies signifies the security situation of the country. The colour of rallies was missing from the last 2013 general elections. Only right-wing parties had the freedom to hold rallies, whereas the leadership of the PPP, Awami National Party, MQM had literally been forced to hole up in bunkers for safety. Several leaders of these parties fell prey to suicide bombing and targeted attacks by militants. Even the parties allowed to hold rallies had to make extra security arrangements. 

A rally without any eventuality used to be considered an achievement.

As leaders are back to public address system and rostrum, one thing noticeable, however, is the lack of substance from leaders’ speeches. 

A cursory examination of Imran Khan’s speeches shows that he has lost ideas to share with the public. He says to a rally whatever he has been saying for years: the corruption of previous governments. 

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari finds comfort in repeating his family’s and party’s sacrifices for democracy. 

It is not difficult to predict what Nawaz Sharif will say in his address to the Abbottabad rally: “We've built motorways; we will build more motorways”. Cheers!

In healthy, established democratic societies, public rallies are the venue for parties to announce their agenda, manifesto and to win public support for their electoral programmes. Occasionally, as it is fair in politics, parties brag about their past achievements and pulverize their opponents, but more focus is (or should be) on their future agenda.

It is high time that the opportunities like public rallies are not wasted in attacking opponents and repeating the political rhetoric. 

The rally audience at large deserves a batter content from their leaders. The rallies should be used to announce parties’ manifestoes and educate the participants about the importance of the policies. When the public elects a party on the basis of its manifesto, a true democracy will emerge.

And this is the only way to defeat political turmoil, we are always into. 

16 questions for credible journalism

In 2012, I attended an online course on covering politics and religion by the ICFJAnywhere. It was a riveting experience. 

Course instructor Stephen Franklin would lead the participants in engaging discussions. 

I learned so many valuable things regarding covering religion for peace. During the course, Stephen shared a list of questions, which reporters and subeditors might ask themselves as they work.  

Journalists should raise these questions while filing/subbing a story.

 What do I know? What do I need to know?

1.      What is the meaning of this story?

2.      What questions am I answering here?

3.      Can I explain why this is important?

4.      What is the context of this story?

5.      What is the broader picture, the larger meaning, the reason that this has deeper roots than the people and events I encounter?

6.      How can I explain this precisely and simply?

7.      Do I lack any information or sources? Do I have a plan to get this information? What questions can’t I answer?

8.      How can I include other people with other points of view?

9.      Who are the people affected by this story and how will this story – this situation – affect them?

10. What is likely to happen as a result of my story?

11. Can I rely upon the information that I have received from my sources? How can I check their reliability?

12. Can I confirm the source’s information through government or business records?

13. Can I contact other persons to confirm this story?

14. Do I need to talk to an expert on this topic so I understand it fully? Do I have a list of experts and sources on hand? How broad is this list? Who do I need to add to it?

15. What information do I need to follow up tomorrow, next week, next month?

16. What have I learned from this reporting (or subbing) experience?

How Pakistani media killed Dina Wadia's visit to Lahore?

Dina Wadia, the only child of the Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, is no more. 

When she visited Pakistan in March 2004, I was then working with The Nation.

She was visiting Pakistan with her son and grandsons on the invitation of the Cricket Control Board chairman Shahryar Khan to watch a cricket match between India and Pakistan. 

I vividly remember that the next day, March 25, I frantically skimmed all the newspapers trying to find any news story related to her. 

There were no hard stories. There were no soft stories about her visit. 

All papers just carried a formal news that "Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's daughter, Dina Wadia, says she is happy to have come to Pakistan, adding that the only purpose of the visit is to watch and enjoy cricket".

Like her father, with a withdrawn personality, she was reluctant to speak to the media. 

Had she spoken to the media, newshounds would have dragged her into typical Indo-Pak relations and "what-do-you-think-about-Pakistan" type questions.

I was dismayed as no paper had tried to find any soft story regarding Dina's stay in Lahore. 

Pictures are doing the rounds on the Internet where Dina is seen sitting by then chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and standing by social celebrity Yousuf Salahuddin.

These gentlemen can narrate their time spent with the only child of the founder of Pakistan. 

Shehryar Khan and the family of Ardesher Cowasjee, who hosted Dina in Karachi, could be other useful sources.

The great opportunity was wasted then. 

The great opportunity know something about the reclusive daughter of Jinnah, has been wasted at the time of her death. 

Her obituary, carried in all newspapers, has the same oft-repeated things. 

No newspaper has so far brought the stories of her visit to Lahore and Karachi in 2004. 

Hacks are too lazy to hound people for human interest stories. 

Wonderful stories will remain untold and fade soon; the memory of Yousuf Salahuddin, Pervaiz Elahi and Shehryar Khan and so many other people, who met Dina Wadia, who spoke to her, who spent some hours with her, is bound to fade.  

The whole nation is at the height of emotion at the demise of the daughter of the founder of Pakistan. At the age of 98 years, she passed away in New York peacefully leaving behind no controversy, which could harm the reputation of her father or interests of Pakistan. 

Apart from her estrangement with her father over her marriage to a non-Muslim, against the wish of her father, she spent a clean life. 

She is survived by her son Nuslie Wadia and grandchildren Ness and Jehangir.

Dina was the product of a broken family and two opposites. Her father was the undisputed leader of the Muslims of the Subcontinent, a man of strong character and withdrawn in his private life, whereas her mother, Ruttie, belonged to an influential Parsi family of Bombay. She revolted against her family tradition to marry a Muslim man. She converted to Islam and married 41-year-old Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the age of 16 or 17 in 1917. Dina was born on 15 August 1919 in London. No several historical accounts are available to illustrate Muhammad Ali Jinnah-Ruttie married life, but the couple lacked compatibility due to age and cultural differences. 

Dina was initially raised by her aunt Fatima Jinnah, after her mother Ruttie died at the age of 29. Later, Muhammad Ali Jinnah allowed Dina’s grandmother, Dinabai Petit, to raise his daughter. Dina Waddi was named after her grandmother. Too much exposure to a largely Parsi milieu and Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s preoccupation with Muslims’ cause had outfalls.

Strong-willed Muhammad Ali Jinnah got shocked when 17-year-old Dina broke the news of her plans to marry Neville Wadia, the scion of an equally illustrious Parsi family of Bombay. Jinnah’s one-time junior, the late Justice Mahommed Currim Chagla is witness to a conversation between the visibly perturbed father and the defiant daughter.Muhammad Ali Jinnah chided Dina and reminded her that “there are millions of Muslim boys in India and you can have anyone you chose”. Dina replied, “Father, there were millions of Muslim girls in India. Why did you not marry one of them?” Muhammad Ali Jinnah justified his marriage, saying she had converted to Islam before marriage. 

Dina remained firmed. She went ahead with her plans and married Neille Wadia. After her marriage, aloofness between the father and the daughter increased and Muhammad Ali Jinnah would address her Mrs Wadia. 

The estrangement was once broken when, according to Dina Wadia, her father phoned and invited her to Bombay in 1946. She took her daughter Diana (five) and Nussli (two). Despite his pressing engagements, Muhammad Ali Jinnah had not forgotten to buy presents for his daughter and her children. The meeting ended on a pleasant note when the grandfather gifted his cap, which bears his name, to Nuslie. 

His affection for Dina can be witnessed from the fact he had deposited Rs200,000 in the Habib Bank Limited and willed to give a monthly stipend to his daughter. 

Dina Wadia visited Pakistan twice: once in 1948 to attend the funeral of her father, and again in 2004 to visit his mausoleum and birthplace. The visit was kept private. 

She spent a quiet, far from media and publicity galore life. Given oft-erupting controversies between India and Pakistan, Dina Wadia kept herself away from politics. She protected the legacy of her father. She fought for the custody of her father’s mansion in Bombay. 

These are things, which we all know. 

We have known these things for years. 

Why not telling the untold stories?  

Watch out: smog is here!

Not long ago, the winter weather (or at least mild winter) would set in by the first week of November.

Now, it is the first week of November, and still, no one is seen wearing warm clothes.

For the last two years, the Punjab areas have been deprived of charming dusk hours of November.

It is smog.

Every day, layers of smog descend upon cities and plains preventing sunshine reaching the earth.

Smog.

Smog, a relatively new phenomenon in Lahore and other parts of Punjab, is the polluted crop, which we are reaping for uncontrolled and unplanned industrialisation and lack of environment-friendly measures.

Earlier, in every December, thick layers of fog would blanket the horizon making the visibility rate too poor to drive on Motorway and land at the Lahore Airport.

But smog, a major health hazard, is something else: the choking layer is smoke, a mixture of polluted air and water vapor in the atmosphere. Unlike fog, which descends upon plains and cities by the evening, the greyish smog falls in the daytime and refuses to vanish till midnight.

With smog have come health advisories: people need to remain indoors, avoiding unnecessary exposure to the air; people need to cover their eyes, nose, and ears or they can suffer irritation; people need to increase liquid intakes to avid respiratory ailments. Children, senior citizens and those suffering from lung and heart ailments need extra preventive measures. In short, smog can harm human health to a great degree.

Prevention is better than cure; besides following preventive measures, the public at large should press the government to awake to the situation arising from environmental issues and make the environment a major priority. Preventive measures could have averted the rise of smog.

Still, it is better late than never.

The government needs to look into factors contributing towards the smog phenomena. The choking smoke stems from traffic emission and industrial fumes that cause smog when they interact with sunlight and water vapors. The government blames the wisps of smoke rising from the burning stubbles in Punjab farms for smog. This is a great miscalculation. For decades, the farmers have been burning stubble at the end of every crop season; now the smokes billowing from farms have just aggravated the smog levels. Several cities, far from agriculture farms, such as Los Angeles, Beijing, Mexico City and Tehran, have also been invaded by smog.

Once the core issue is detected, the government should come up with preventive measures. One such effective measure can be banning cars on certain days in cities to lower the level of smoke emission. The government can introduce laws to discourage the use of old cars and other over ten years old vehicles. The industrial units emitting more carbon and smoke should be fined or sealed. The use of machinery and vehicles using diesel should heavily be taxed because they also release emissions which pollute the environment.

Toxic fuel emitting generators have become a must part of every factory and shop. That speaks volume of the power shortage issue. The government has commissioned coal-fired power units across Pakistan, and one such power plant is already functioning in Sahiwal. The plant should close if research finds it harming the health of air quality.

Lately, the media has been reporting that the Punjab government is going to introduce a smog policy. That is a welcome development but the public at large should also chip in their share to change their approach towards the environment.

As it is smog everywhere, it should be everyone’s issue.

Fall of MQM-P wickets - realities, implications

It has become an established method: reports of certain cases implicating a member of assembly belonging to the Farooq Sattar-led Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), also known as the MQM-Pakistan or MQM-P, appear in the media.

After a couple of appearance before Rangers or other law enforcement agencies, mandated with probing into criminal charges, the member in question, one day calls a press conference.

Leaders of the Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), flank the member in question.

At the press conference, the member in question announces defection to the PSP, vows to fight corruption and work for peace in Karachi, and tenders resignation from the assembly. The defector is soon declared innocent by the probing authorities and the life goes on.

The MQM leaders’ defections to the PSP has, so far, failed to crack the MQP-P as barring two, all the seats vacated by defectors, were reclaimed by the MQM.

The PSP, on the other hand, shows no interest in bye-elections and keeps on accumulating the prized defectors.

The latest defection, however, changed the pattern.

On last Sunday, Karachi Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra quit the MQM-P and joined the PSP without tendering resignation from the seat. It seems the previous pattern of defectors’ resignation from the assembly fired back as the MQM-P always emerged victorious in bye-elections.

Now, the defectors will stay in the party trying to create more defectors.

Arshad Vohra, once a diehard MQM-P leader, says the MQM-P has so many groups within because of leadership and vision crises. He refused to offer his resignation from the seat, challenging his former party to bring a no-confidence move to de-seat him.

He also said the MQM-P had failed to meet its promises made to the people during the elections. It is a matter of weeks, if not days, when charges of money laundering against Arshad Vohra will be dropped.

Not a bad bargain, at all.

It is time for the MQM-P to say ‘enough is enough’.

Sensing the pattern and hidden hands behind the defection, Farooq Sattar has threatened en masse resignations of its legislators from the national and Sindh assemblies if more of its lawmakers switched sides. He says despite their policy to part ways from party founder, Altaf Hussain, it seems the party has not been forgiven.

Hands are still working to oust the party from the mainstream politics.  

Without any dispute, Farooq Sattar is pointing fingers at the establishment, which has long been their partner in the Karachi politics. Army dictator Zialu Haq had first patronised the party, then known as the Muhajir Qaumi Movement in the 80s, only to weaken the Pakistan People’s Party.

The party, however, later followed the extra script, annoying the establishment. Since its inception, it has gone through many low times, but every time emerging stronger after crises. The establishment had created the MQM-Haqiqi to weaken the MQM, but it failed to inspire the urban population of Sindh.

The last operation, by Rangers and Sindh police, however, has broken the armed wings of the party. Altaf Husain faces speech ban, which is working well.

The ongoing fragmentation of the MQM, under the establishment, will only strengthen pro-Altaf Hussain factions, which are at the moment working for the right time to strike back.

The best course for the establishment is not to muddy the politics of Karachi with its constant interference and let the people decide about their representative.

People’s choice is the best choice.