Dangers of confrontation

WITHIN eight months of the general election last year, the nation finds itself in the grip of a severe political crisis. Handled with brashness, the crisis could spell doom for the present political dispensation, or, worse still, spin out of control to assume dimensions that could do immense harm to the country. The Legal Framework Order is no longer the only issue to worry about; adding enormously to the prevailing concern is now the possibility of a confrontation developing between Islamabad and the government of the North-Western Frontier Province led by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA). The current talk of the federal government taking “administrative action” against the MMA government — with, initially, the province’s chief secretary and police head changed — comes in the wake of two major developments. One is the passage of the Shariat Bill by the Frontier Assembly; the other is the en bloc resignation of all the Nazims of the province. While the Nazims’ ‘revolt’ against the MMA government is basically a provincial matter, the MMA government’s attitude toward the Nazims has not gone down well with Islamabad for obvious reasons: the newly “reformed” local government system is the brainchild of the Musharraf government. It, therefore, has a stake in the successful running of the system.

The other “provocation” is the Shariat Bill passed unanimously by the NWFP Assembly. There are two points about the bill that deserve to be noted. First, the MMA government had the law passed by the provincial assembly without realizing the larger implications involved. The Shariat is the law in which all Muslims believe, but it is open to the widest possible interpretation by different schools of thought and fiqh. It would be odd to have a version of Shariat in one province while the other three provinces have a different “system”. Nor is it clear precisely how the law will apply to the citizens of the other provinces interacting with the people of the NWFP. More important, it is amazing that the MMA government should have chosen to involve itself with dogma and a dress code while the problems of the Frontier’s poverty-stricken masses go abegging.

The NWFP is one of the two least developed provinces. Poverty is widespread, the literacy rate is painfully low, agriculture is restricted to a very small area, and industry such as it has never recovered from the fallout of the Afghan war. Women’s literacy rate is even lower and there are widespread anti-Islamic practices like honour killings about which the MMA has chosen to keep quiet. No wonder, because of the limited economic opportunities, the people of the NWFP have to go to other parts of Pakistan in search of a living. The MMA government, however, has shown utter indifference to the people’s socio-economic problems and does not seem to have even the awareness that it is the duty of an elected government to work hard to give a better life to the people. That is why one does not hear much of the MMA government drawing up long term plans to improve the conditions of life for the people in the province. Instead, it has busied itself with things that are far removed from the people’s basic problems.

Second, the timing of the passage of the Shariat bill seems meant as a provocation. It comes shortly before President Musharraf’s forthcoming US visit. From the point of view of Islamabad, the passage of the bill is an attempt to embarrass Pakistan during crucial talks the president will have with President George Bush at Camp David. These two developments have a direct bearing on the prolonged negotiations between the government and the combined opposition on the LFO. Evidently, no solution has yet been found to some of the most contentious issues, especially the question of the president continuing to be the army chief. Mercifully, the talks have not been called off, and the two sides remain engaged. But the developments in the NWFP and the threat of “action” by the federal government have made the situation look grim. It must be realised on all sides that any hasty or rash action may worsen the present crisis.

The federal government has to understand that the MMA government has a mandate from the NWFP people to govern the province. The MMA has also a major presence in the National Assembly and the Senate. It is, thus, very much part of the political system that has come into being as a result of an election held under the LFO and manipulated with results that are now proving extremely troubling. Both the government and the MMA have to recognize this reality and compromise to make a success of the system now in place. The LFO cannot be wished away any more than the MMA can be wished away. A failure to grasp this reality could do untold harm not only to the political dispensation but to the country itself. Pakistan needs political stability, without which the people’s socio-economic problems cannot be tackled properly. The country needs foreign investment, and that would not flow in if there is strife and turmoil. Also precarious is the geopolitical situation in the region where Pakistan is located. The situation, therefore, calls for a cool-headed approach to the handling of the divisions and differences now straining the nation’s fabric rather than feuding and confrontation.

This violence syndrome

TWO separate incidents of violence involving mob hysteria occurred in Karachi on Tuesday. Both incidents, though unrelated, had to do with funeral processions lapsing into violence. The one in New Karachi involved a sectarian dispute that has now left two people dead since May 23 when two rival groups clashed over the ‘custody’ of a mosque. The other incident occurred in Orangi Town as a result of a killing over a land dispute. The two incidents together involved the blockading of roads, burning of tyres, pelting of stones on the passing vehicles, torching of a bus and at least two houses by angry mobs. While sectarian passions involving supporters of the Sunni Tehrik and the Jamiat Ahl-i-Hadith were behind the violence in New Karachi, it was party politics that caused the commotion in Orangi where workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement clashed with the city government officials and the police. Just goes to show how in an environment riven with religious and political intolerance even a minor friction can touch off mob hysteria and violence.

The tendency to go about destroying public property and targeting rival groups and individuals as a means of registering protest or seeking justice has been a disturbing phenomenon in recent years. Religious and political parties have unfortunately added to the problem of multiple polarization of society by shirking their social responsibility to keep their workers’ passions in check. Thus, when faced with a situation involving grief, coupled with a heightened sense of being wronged, people fall an easy prey to mob hysteria and resort to violence. This ambience points to a steady erosion of society’s values and norms, including tolerance and peaceful co-existence between different groups and communities. The trend can only be reversed if all the stakeholders — individuals, religious and political leaders and public officials — realize the fissionable potential of the prevailing situation and do all they can to discourage propensities towards violence, intolerance and over-reaction all around and at all levels.