Wednesday, July 14, 1999 -- Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1420 A.H.

PM should resign for humiliating nation: Altaf

Panel interview by: Irshad Ahmed Haqqani, Imtiaz Alam & Aamir Ghauri

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain has warned that the people of Sindh will not accept the appointment of a "martial law administrator" in Sindh under the guise of a special assistant to the prime minister. He appealed to all the major parties, Sindh in particular, to launch a common struggle against the usurpation of their rights.

In a panel interview with The News and Jang, in his London headquarters, Altaf Hussain demanded that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must resign after his humiliating retreat on what he described as the Kargil misadventure.

Hussain, on a question about the possibility of an alliance with the Pakistan People's Party, said that although the two parties have evolved a working relationship both in Sindh Assembly and the Parliament, a formal alliance can take shape after the PPP apologises for the atrocities allegedly committed against his partymen.

He, however, showed his willingness to forgive the PPP for the murders of his brother and nephew, but stressed that he cannot decide on behalf of "thousands of those who had suffered atrocities during the last regime". On the issue of devolution of power, Hussain advocated a radical decentralisation of power, leaving four subjects for the centre and, of course, with a consensus of the smaller provinces.

Elaborating his view, he said that the strong centre had resulted in the break-up of Pakistan and under the present Punjab-dominated set up the federation has once again come under a serious threat. The four-hour interview was conducted in his office-in-exile by Irshad Ahmed Haqqani, senior columnist Jang, Imtiaz Alam, Editor Current Affairs The News, and Aamir Ghauri, Special Correspondent, The News London.

Details follow:

News-Jang: How do you view the Lahore process and the Lahore Declaration?

Altaf Hussain: We had supported it. MQM wants friendly relations with all our neighbours, but not at the cost of the integrity of our country. Without taking the Parliament and the parliamentary parties into confidence, the prime minister cannot decide the crucial national security issues on his own. We don't know what understanding he had reached with Prime Minister Vajpayee and what kind of undertaking he has given to President Clinton.

News-Jang: MQM had welcomed the Lahore Declaration.

Altaf: Its name should have been Pakistan declaration. However, I have not read the Lahore Declaration.

News-Jang: How will you explain the dichotomy that first you supported the process of negotiations between India and Pakistan and now you have attacked the prime minister on the Kargil issue which had actually reversed the reconciliation process initiated by Nawaz Sharif?

Altaf: We repeatedly advised Sharif to take the Parliament and all parties into confidence while taking major decisions on strategic issues. Sharif has dishonoured Pakistan; if he were to withdraw from Kargil, what was the point in starting it at all. If Mr Sharif had no prior knowledge of the Kargil operation, such a prime minister has no right to remain in office.

News-Jang: Do you justify the Kargil operation?

Altaf: If you don't want to resolve the Kashmir dispute through negotiations, as in my view you should have, and if you had taken the Kargil road, you should have stood steadfast. And if you cannot afford and can't fight then why continue parroting Kashmir. Now after this humiliating retreat and Mr Sharif's capitulation, the prime minister must resign. He should have taken the Parliament into confidence (before leaving for Washington).

News-Jang: Will you be satisfied if Parliament approves the Washington joint statement?

Altaf: What's the point now. That should have been done earlier. If a brute majority is used to rubberstamp this shameful surrender, we will not accept it since the Sharif government has miserably failed and it must go.

News-Jang: What is your reaction to the appointment of special assistant on Sindh, Ghous Ali Shah?

Altaf: This is a blatant violation of provincial autonomy. It will intensify a sense of deprivation among Mohajirs and the Sindhis. The people of Sindh should unite to collectively fight for the restoration of their national and democratic rights. All the major parties of Pakistan, especially Sindh, should unite on a minimum agenda of provincial autonomy and give a unified fight to "CMLA" Ghous Ali Shah. The mandate enjoyed by the MQM in urban areas and the PPP in rural Sindh will have to be respected if you want to save the federation.

News-Jang: What is the minimum programme on which you are giving this call for a collective struggle and do you include the PPP in it?

Altaf: Our Central Coordination Committee will soon formulate these points. I don't have any personal animosity against anyone and my concern is the rights of the people. During the PPP regime, thousands of our workers were tortured and extra-judicially executed. My elder brother Nasir Hussain and nephew Arif Hussain were tortured and killed in custody. No matter. In the interest of the people I can persuade my sister-in-law to forgive the PPP. But I cannot decide on behalf of thousands of MQM workers and their families. The PPP has to apologise to them.

News-Jang: Will you also accept the responsibility of the PPP workers killed allegedly by your party?

Altaf: They should provide the list; if we have done it we will apologise, but we did not. We were not in government. If some aggrieved family had retaliated, this was not the MQM's responsibility.

News-Jang: Won't your alliance be construed as another example of political expediency and what will be its concrete shape?

Altaf: Our Central Coordination Committee has not so far discussed the specific agenda. You are right, our party should have proposed an agenda. However, there will be no delay from our side. Two meetings have already taken place with the PPP negotiator, Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

News-Jang: What is your view on provincial autonomy?

Altaf: All administrative powers must go to the provinces and the centre should be left with defence, foreign affairs, communication, currency and some other subjects with the consensus of provinces. Unfortunately, we are repeating the same mistakes that resulted in the break-up of Pakistan. My views should not be misconceived or distorted because I am proposing this in the larger interest of Pakistan.

News-Jang: It means you are not satisfied with the autonomy given in the 1973 Constitution?

Altaf: We will have to go beyond that. Only four departments should remain with the centre. However, this is not the last word. It can be discussed. We must learn from the good examples in the West, such as Scotland in United Kingdom and the state-federation relationship in the USA.

News-Jang: What about revenues?

Altaf: If the smaller provinces so desire there is no harm in provinces collecting the taxes. Now, all development is taking place in Punjab. Even the bus service between India and Pakistan is confined to Lahore. Why not through Khokhrapar as well? Are the Punjabis more patriotic than Mohajirs?

News-Jang: Will you be happy if more powers are vested in the provinces?

Altaf: No. The devolution is the process that should go to the grass-roots level and the local government should have control over the police.

News-Jang: What are your ideas on the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation?

Altaf: We can follow the local government models in the West.

News-Jang: Why did the MQM fail to keep its alliance with both the major parties and you are now accused of killing Hakim Said that caused your break-up with the PML?

Altaf: Maulana Abdullah was assassinated on the same day in Islamabad and his son accused the Sharif government. Governor's rule should have been imposed there and the Shahbaz government dismissed.

News-Jang: Islamabad is a federal territory and not a part of Punjab.

Altaf: The murder of Hakim Said, with whom MQM had no enmity, was a conspiracy hatched by the Sharif government. It was not the prime minister's job to read out the list of the accused and pass a judgement. Where does one go for justice? The Sharifs conspired to manipulate municipal elections to impose Muslim League on Sindh through the back door. If law and order was a problem, then governor's rule should have been imposed in Punjab since it leads in cases of murders, rapes and kidnappings.

News-Jang: So you won't have any objection if a similar measure was taken in Punjab?

Altaf: This is not our problem. Only elected representatives can run a province. Remote-controlled rule from Islamabad is not acceptable.

News-Jang: Your party is accused of running a terrorist wing.

Altaf: These are all accusations. MQM's fault is that it has brought the middle class to the centre stage of politics that is not compatible with a corrupt feudal system. The MQM is wrongly blamed for initiating the politics of weapons. It was actually Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba, which started it in Lahore and Karachi. Later the PSF followed the same course. Mohajirs don't produce weapons. If the Punjabis with weapons don't cause a threat to national integrity then why are only the Mohajirs are targeted. I propose that all weapons, licensed or otherwise, be recovered under a law from all over the country and the MQM will cooperate in this regard.

News-Jang: What is your concept of nationhood?

Altaf: If you want to have one Pakistani nation you will have to grant equal rights to all the ethno-lingual groups. We can have national cohesion as witnessed in India. But here a so-called majority province has a total monopoly that is not actually a majority province. If you give the Seraikis a separate status, which you must, then the Punjab's dominance will come to an end. You will have to dispense with the hegemony of one nationality (Punjabis) and stop all kinds of discrimination against ethnic minorities. The Punjabi feudal elite has monopolised all powers and has also misled the people of Punjab against the oppressed sub-national groups.

News-Jang: Do you agree with PONM's declaration?

Altaf: I am not interested in PONM.

News-Jang: What about your relations with the ANP?

Altaf: We have had good understanding with the ANP. When the Punjabis can have Punjab, why not the Pakhtuns have Pakhtunkhwa or Pakhtunistan. What's the harm?