KARACHI, Feb 4: The chief of the Pakistan Muslim League (Functional), Pir Pagara, has warned that if issues are not resolved on the principle of parity, separatist tendencies will raise their heads in the provinces.

He claimed that the day was not far when the federal capital would again be shifted to Karachi, and said the process had already begun with the creation of capital city police.

Speaking at a press conference her at his residence, on Monday, Pir Pagara said the separation of East Pakistan was a calculated move of the rulers and it appeared that now again they had been treading on the same path.

He stressed the need for the unification of all the PML factions, saying if all factions of the PML became a unified PML, it would not only return to power but would also reduce the Pakistan People’s Party to the position of a traditional ineffective party. However, he made it clear that the objective of unification of the PML could only be achieved by those who were responsible for creating factions in the party in the 1970s in order to facilitate a PPP victory in West Pakistan.

When his attention was drawn to the ongoing efforts for unification of the PML, Pi Pagara, without naming the Like-minded PML, said unity could be possible between Muslim Leaguers, and not through the efforts of those who kept their vested interests uppermost in their scheme of things.

He said: “There is a ceasefire from his side on the advice of the arbitrators who are making efforts for the merger of all real PML factions. Besides, I have made it clear to the arbitrators that I am not interested in the presidentship of a unified PML, and I have decided to submit my resignation to the PML (F) working committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 2 in Lahore.”

He said he would submit his report to the committee vis-a-vis performance of the party and the prevailing situation in the country together with his resignation. He said the report and resignation would be considered at the Council meeting of the party which was scheduled to meet on March 3 in Lahore. The party Council, which had been electing him as party president for the past 2-3 tenures, would elect a new president, he added.

Asked why he had decided to resign from the party presidentship, Pir Pagara said he was of the view that the path lying ahead would be very arduous as it would be difficult to go along with those who had been parting ways with the PML for their petty interests.

Answering another question, he said neither he nor his followers of the Hur Jamaat was under any obligation of the PML to continue to be on the receiving end. After resignation from the party, he would be free to decide his future course of action.

He said: “Before partition the British rulers had asked the PML leaders in Sindh not to take up the case of Pir Pagara and of his Hur Jamaat, and PML leaders obliged the rulers by keeping silent over the developments in Sindh, and for their loyalty they received benefits in movable and immovable forms. However, at the fag end GM Syed raised his voice in favour of my father, Pir Pagara, because of our relationship.”

He said there was no tussle in the PML Sindh, but in Punjab it was up to the partymen’s “mentors” to keep them feuding or make them sort out their differences. However, he pointed out, “certain matters called for attention, including ‘the law of periodicity’ as 30 years back in the 1970’s, instead of unifying the PML, Maulvis were patronized and the Qayyum League was formed only to help the PPP sweep the elections in West Pakistan with the aim of getting rid of East Pakistan. Later on, Maulvis were allowed to have their own force which resulted in creating a situation of “a state within a state,” and now again Maulvis were being sent back to their original position, with inferior status.

Referring to the accountability process, he said only those people had been taken to task who had been living on crumbs, but those who had swallowed the entire cake continued to enjoy high status despite warrants and they were aspiring to such positions again where they would decide the fate of the people.

Replying to another question, he said as Benazir Bhutto had refused to step down from the party leadership, the government machinery, which had been supporting the PPP before Ms Bhutto’s decision, had started to pay attention to the PML as anyone who wanted “to serve the nation and remain in politics,” he had to come into the fold of the PML as it would be forming the government once again.

He did not favour the idea of separation of the offices of party chief and the chief executive of the country as in that case the party chief would be in a position to blackmail the chief executive. So the chief executive of the country and the party boss should be one person to preclude the chances of the former’s blackmail by the party.