MQM sets foot in Punjab’s political battlefield

LAHORE: The MQM appears to have softened its stance on the construction of the Kalabagh Dam, the most controversial project since its inception more than four decades ago and largely considered as only beneficial to Punjab. The party will be formally reaching out to the people of Punjab through a convention today (Sunday), simultaneously in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan.



MQM's parliamentary party leader in the National Assembly Dr Farooq Sattar, agreed – after a volley of questions on KBD from members of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) – that his party could be part of a dialogue on the project. Farooq may have agreed to it, but there is a remote possibility that the issue may be mentioned in MQM chief Altaf Hussain's telephonic address to the convention, confided an MQM leader accompanying Farooq to the LCCI. He said KBD is a closed chapter and, except for certain political and industrial lobbies in the province, nobody had raised the issue with them. He claimed the MQM wouldn't mind, rather would be pleased to be part of any debate on controversial issues, such as KBD, but at a proper time, which might be the next general elections when the masses are ready to listen to the party seriously.



Different governments, in their bid to divert the public's attention from pressing issues, had used KBD as a political ploy. The most recent example was Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, who, in December 2005, had announced the building of the KBD, but was forced to shelve it against massive opposition, with his most trusted ally – the MQM – on the forefront. The incumbent government closed the debate by announcing the project's cancellation once and for all in May 2008, saying it was not feasible anymore.



The KBD issue appears to have been raised deliberately to test the MQM's political nerves, as the project has not been mentioned in the PML-N's election manifesto for long, which is considered a Punjab- or central Punjab-based party.



The party, in fact, chose to enter Punjab's politics after securing relative support in the Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections, and representation through a single member in both the assemblies.



However, politics in Punjab would be different for the MQM. Punjab will never fall into the MQM's lap like the urban areas of Karachi and Hyderabad did. It will also not be like collecting berries from a tree by aimlessly throwing a stone at it, as was the case with it in Gilgit-Baltistan or AJK. The biggest challenge for the MQM in Punjab would first be the elimination of the caste system, which directly clashes with the MQM's ethnic image. Secondly, the party is bound to face strong resistance from political parties like the PPP, PML-N and PML-Q, which have been accused of promoting the caste system by awarding party tickets to candidates whose castes are more influential in a constituency than their political credentials.



The party has embarked on politics in Punjab with the rhetoric of dislodging feudalism from here. It doesn't appear to understand that feudals are already an endangered species here and exist only in small pockets with little influence if compared with Sindh. That is why the "oye jagirdara" rhetoric of Altaf Hussain in the party's promotional campaigns sounds hilarious. Punjab's polity today is divided into urban and rural politics, with the PML-N having support from trading and industrial classes in the urban areas, and the PPP and PML-Q getting their share of support mostly from the rural areas.



If the PPP is struggling in Punjab's urban areas, the PML-N is looking at a diminishing support base in the rural areas, especially the southern part of the province. Punjab's urban areas are not as urban as those of Sindh, as the urban people are the same as those living in the rural areas. They speak the same language, eat the same way and barely differ in cultures. The divide between urban and rural areas of Punjab is not based on ethnicity or linguistics, but economy. How the MQM exploits this sense of deprivation would be a real challenge if it really is coming into the political battlefield here. What is so far positive in the MQM's plan to conquer Punjab can be found on the party's official website, which states, "The day will come in Pakistan when Bilawal votes for the son of a poor farmer, may a day come when Hamza Shahbaz will work for the campaign of an able daughter of a mason in the general elections."



The MQM can attract the people of Punjab only if it's able to convert this slogan into reality. How the party does it is yet to be seen, as many forces who dreamt of becoming a third option for the people of Punjab couldn't even qualify to be an option, let alone first, second or third.


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