Sending flowers is a measure of how much you care. And, firing a broadside at somebody is a measure of how much you dislike or despise that person. It was, arguably, not a propitious time for MQM chief Altaf Husain to start a new brawl with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif through a congratulatory message to the `third-time prime minister' on his victory in the May 11 vote. Altaf's unsavoury remark based on the ideas and beliefs of one particular culture and using these to judge other cultures smacks of parochialism of a particular community. There were more ethnic and less political overtones to the point he was making.
That sectarian polarisation has already exacted a huge toll on the body of this fragmented nation is a strong reality. Ethnic cleavages often manifesting themselves with their sheer ugliness in Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and KP in a variety of manners are also a fait accompli that you cannot change. A bomb blast attack on the President of PML-N chapter of Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri in the middle of electioneering resulting in the deaths of his son and brother for "representing a Punjab-based party" is a case in point.
But the question is who has fired the first shot? It was perhaps Nawaz Sharif's younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, who is being widely tipped to become power and water minister in the next federal cabinet. Playing to the gallery by behaving in an exaggerated way to attract people's attention in party's election campaign, he is said to have accused Karachi of stealing Punjab's share in power. His remarks were somehow not appropriate for two broad reasons. Firstly, the amount of electricity that Karachi allegedly stole was not big enough in terms of its quantity that could have significantly contributed to offsetting a profoundly huge power deficit in Punjab where the specter of chronic power outages provided the PML-N a golden opportunity to capitalise on widespread social and economic frustrations to seal victory in the 2013 general election.
Secondly and more importantly, it was highly unwarranted and ill-advised on the part of a party that aspired to be a national party in true sense of the word to indulge itself in matters of narrow nationalism and parochialism. "Jaag Punjabi Jaag, teri pugg noo lag gayaa daag" slogan that PML-N articulated over 20 years ago ostensibly carried the ringing endorsement of its leadership; it is unfortunately still part of people's shared consciousness and collective memory.
There is a long history of animosity between MQM and PML-N. It has repeated itself numerous times. Frequent display of the infamous `Sindh card' by PPP has also posed many challenges to inter-provincial harmony. Over the years, Nawaz, who is perhaps the most popular leader in the post-Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab, appears to have abandoned his parochial approach to national politics. One of the key reasons behind his decision to field an Urdu-speaking Justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui for the post of President of Pakistan in 2008 was part of his efforts to remove the stigma of a practitioner of ethnocentric politics and bridge the widening gulf between Lahore and Karachi.
Last but not least, terming PML-N "a representative party of the Punjabis" will not augur well for the future of the country's fragile democracy in a polarised society which has a host of extreme disagreements over a variety of issues, including distribution of waters, natural gas and electricity that is generated through river flows, despite consensual passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment and the 7th NFC Award. MQM chief's remark characterised by parochial undertones will always be remembered for its polemics rather than its substance.
-- The next part of this multipart series will be carried by the newspaper shortly. (news.editor@br-mail.com)