Rights of Karachiites have been usurped by PPP

An interview with MQM-P senior leader Mohammad Rehan Hashmi

KARACHI:

Q. Why has MQM-P boycotted the local government elections (LGEs)?

Mohammad Rehan Hashmi: MQM-P expressed serious reservations about wrong and unjust delimitations. Union Committees (UCs) should be increased as per the population growth rate, but they have been decreased through a damaging plan. For example, the District Central of Karachi which had 51 UCs has been reduced to 45 UCs on purely ethnic ground, so that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) can get more seats in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) as per its wishes. MQM-P has a very good vote-bank in this district.

UCs have been formed in the PPP-dominated areas consisting of 10,000 to 20,000 people, while UCs of MQM-P areas encompass 100,000 people. All funds will be allocated as per the UCs. Hence, basic rights of the locals have been usurped on the pretext of democracy.

Q. Analysts say that the MQM was afraid of defeat and therefore boycotted the polls?

MRH: All false rumours, nothing else. Before the LGEs, the MQM-P indicated so many flaws, that are now being verified by other political parties these days through electronic and print media. If the elections have been held in a fair, free and transparent way, why are the other political parties demanding re-election here?

Today all political and religious parties of Sindh are levelling allegations that these were bogus polls. Only 7.5 percent turnout was witnessed. Now people realise that MQM-P was right to boycott elections and it was the utter incompetence and ineptitude of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to go ahead with the LG elections. All of these malpractices will result in serious consequences.

Q. Is the MQM-P thinking of parting ways part ways with Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) or PPP?

MRH: No! MQM-P will keep raising voice for rights of people and will demand justice from of all the governments in the future as well.

To remind you here, the MQM-P had inked an agreement with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the basis of its long-lasting demands and later signed another accord with PPP to build a working relationship. But they did not honour their commitments. Should we then punish PML-N for its misdeeds or the PPP for its exploitations? All I want to say here is that we will continue our legal and political struggle for the sustainable democracy, peaceful atmosphere, development and prosperity of the country. We have no third option. We are forced to work with this two-faced and incompetent Sindh government in hope of getting our due some day and in hope of doing good work for the citizens.

Q. How did Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) bag so many seats?

MRH: MQM-P candidates used to obtain 20,000 votes to win a seat from the areas where today the JI candidates have got just 2,000 votes and have been declared winners. Let me ask you a question: could the candidates who get such less votes from a locality be true and right representatives of the areas? The answer is obviously no.

Q. But JI did run organised and fruitful campaigns multiple times despite the repeated postponement of the LG polls?

MRH: Maybe, but the institutions concerned should look into it that from where did the JI got the funding to run their campaigns. It waged a full-fledged campaign for several months and streets and roads were decorated with banners and panaflex ets. When a campaign is run for just two months, it costs around Rs1 billion to Rs 1.5 billion. So it should be investigated.