Lessons from the MQM
By Farhan Bokhari, Special to Gulf News
Published: August 29, 2009, 22:55
Pakistan's politics are capable of throwing up a major surprise at any given time. But the surprise sprung in the past week was truly extraordinary.
It relates to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a political party based largely out of Karachi, the southern port city. For years, the MQM has been suspected of wanting to carve out a new country for its followers to be known as 'Jinnahpur' or the land of Jinnah, named after Pakistan's founding father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
This allegation came to light in 1992, when the government at the time ordered a large-scale paramilitary crackdown, principally to break the MQM's back after months of violence in Karachi. Ahead of that operation, senior security officials showed journalists maps that were claimed to depict the proposed boundaries of 'Jinnahpur'.
However, it now seems that the 'Jinnahpur' conspiracy was no more than a figment of the imaginations of key security officials. Lieutenant General (retired) Naseer Akhtar, a former army commander, and Brigadier (retired) Imtiaz Ahmad, former head of Pakistan's intelligence bureau, have both come forward to claim that the evidence against the MQM was fabricated.
The two officials, both in positions of influence in 1992 to know exactly what went on behind the scenes, claim the 'Jinnahpur' conspiracy linked to the MQM was dreamed up to malign the movement and give the government the excuse it needed to act against it.
In the short term, the MQM's leaders - including Altaf Hussain, who is in exile in London - have reason to be ecstatic. It appears that the MQM has been vindicated.
And yet, clearing the name of this party will not resolve a spate of issues linked to the present and future of Pakistan's politics.
For instance, can Pakistanis be absolutely certain that other political groups will not be targeted in the same way the MQM was? Also, can they be sure that the people responsible for the conspiracy are no longer in positions of power?
Due to the broad nature of politics, there are no immediate answers to these questions. And yet, the future will depend on the extent to which Pakistan's politicians can steer the country towards a new political order based on values of democracy and the rule of law. Leaders must work to ensure that there is no repeat of the scandal in which the MQM was so unfairly targeted.
Towards this end, the powers that be must put in place a three-pronged reform process.
Firstly, the country badly needs to establish a national truth and reconciliation commission that has the full backing of Pakistan's parliament. Pakistanis who feel they have been wronged by their own state can use the commission as a platform to not only vent their anger but also seek redress. The key to the success of such a commission will be that those who choose to challenge the way relations have evolved between the Pakistani state and its subjects must not be treated as enemies of the state. Instead, people should be free to speak freely without fear of repercussions.
Secondly, it is imperative that key elements outside the parliament work towards guaranteeing the rights of political parties to dissent without fear of being framed with fictitious evidence of wrongdoing. Towards this end, Pakistan's fast emerging civil society - which stood on the frontlines of a robust and powerful movement to seek the return of Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary as chief justice of the supreme court - must also play a wider role to protect the country's democratic values.
Finally, in light of the findings from the MQM case, it is imperative that Pakistani civil society agitate for the creation of watchdogs to independently verify future allegations against any political parties.
The lessons learned from the conspiracy against the MQM should be powerful enough to be remembered for a long time to come as Pakistan seeks to consolidate its young and still fragile democracy.
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/world/10344485.html
Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.
