MQM vows to work for welfare of Sindh

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the party of Mohajirs which had become a taboo for the establishment, organised its first major public rally after 10 years in Karachi yesterday and vowed to work for the welfare of Sindh, which it said was yet to get its due share from the central government of Islamabad.

It was attended not only by the Urdu-speaking people who form the backbone of the organisation and founded for their salvation in 1986, but from a large number of the natives as well.

Elaborate arrangements were made for almost a week by a party, which has only lately realised that it will have to change its priorities. Its leaders admit in private discussions that the organisation will have to accept ground realities and found in the coming referendum an opportunity to arrive at an understanding with the military.

Yesterday's rally, obviously was aimed at achieving two main objectives. The party wanted to re-assess its strength in the public. It had been denied the opportunity for mass contact since the military crackdown of June 1992, an operation that lasted for almost five years, and although it did participate in elections in 1993 and 1997, it was never allowed to come out of its stronghold in the central district area of Azizabad.

But now that President Pervez Musharraf had sought its support for his election campaign, MQM chief Altaf Hussain and his colleagues were allowed to have their way once again.

MQM volunteers guided traffic on the busy M.A. Jinnah Road, diverting traffic to alternate routes from shortly before afternoon till well after dusk.

The party's tricolour in red, green and white could be seen after a long time on the main Karachi thoroughfares, and at the meeting place itself of Nishtar Park, located right in the heart of the metropolis.

The start of the rally was a bit disappointing as the park took time to fill, but the hot April summer may have held back the people to their homes.

Secondly, a delegation of the Sindhis took time to arrive from the interior of the province, but the gathering swelled to a record level as the cool breeze from the sea turned the evening pleasant.

The Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, the Pakistan Minority Front and the Christian League too participated enthusiastically.

Former MPA Imdad Mohammed Shah, son of late Sindhi nationalist leader G.M. Syed, could also be seen on the 12-foot high dais, on which were seated the front rankers of the MQM like Aftab Sheikh, Nasreen Jalil, Dr Farooq Sattar and Sheikh Liaquat Hussain.

A milling crowd could be seen on the roads outside the meeting place as organisers in their overzealousness had shut the gates quite early.

Altaf's address, through long distance telephone, was heard with rapt attention. The crowd burst in wild applause occasionally to furnish evidence to analysts that the party still had a mass following.

The founder-leader of the MQM called for unity between Sindhis and Mohajirs, and demanded that the province be given its due share of water from the river Indus and in the divisible pool of taxes from the centre.

It required autonomy to run its affairs, Altaf said, and made it clear to the establishment that Islamabad will have to heed to the genuine aspirations of the people. That was the surest way to run the country, because the government should rule over the hearts of the people and not by force.