LAHORE: Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s assertion that former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali is no longer a member of the ruling party, and the reaction it has sparked, has established that the Shujaat-Jamali tussle is still going on and that the party is not working as smoothly as people at the helm believe. Dissatisfaction among party leaders has also surfaced, which is not a good omen at a time when the PML has to face its rivals in local elections, which are only a few months away.

Chaudhry Shujaat had gone to offer condolences over the death of a senior party leader here when some reporters invited his attention to a meeting some important leaders had held at the residence of a former Punjab chief minister. The PML leader told the questioner that Mr Jamali had left the ruling party when he had resigned as prime minister and since then he had nothing to do with the PML.

Interestingly, the leader from Balochistan was not present at the meeting the reporter had asked about, and there was no need for Chaudhry Shujaat to say what he said. Since a senior leader had been denied association with a party of which he had been a member ‘since birth’, the media gave it a lot of coverage. The ruling party chief then apologized to Mr Jamali, but he also said a separate meeting was required to settle all misgivings.

Mr Jamali has not forgotten how he was removed as prime minister. He holds the Chaudhrys responsible for his ouster, although President Musharraf had also played his due role in bringing about the change.

Mr Jamali’s reaction to what was said by Chaudhry Shujaat was also understandable as at the time of his appointment as the country’s chief executive he was made to step down as the party’s secretary-general. And despite the desire expressed by him in so many words, he was not allowed to hold the party’s second most important office on the ground that for party workers it would not be possible to see their secretary-general if he also happened to be the prime minister.

Having been deprived of his party as well as government offices one after the other, now he was being told that he was not even a member of the ruling party. This must have made him lose his cool. The episode also brought into the limelight the differences between Chaudhry Shujaat and the party’s former secretary-general, Salim Saifullah Khan, who put his weight behind the leader from Balochistan.

While discussions on the subject were going on, a recent meeting of some important PML leaders at the residence of a former chief minister also got added importance.

Many said that things might go out of Chaudhry’s control and that President Musharraf’s contacts with the PPP would spell disaster for the PML. Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan has said in an interview that there was lack of consultative process in the party and that the PML had failed to come up to the expectations of the people as well of President Musharraf. Many others also have the same point of view, although few dare to express it publicly because they can’t afford to face the likely consequences of such utterances.

It is being alleged by some party leaders that all decisions are taken by a few people, and even the senior leaders are not being consulted. One leader said that an ‘army’ of senior vice-presidents and vice-presidents had been nominated because of which the concept of alternative leadership had gone into the background. At present, he said, nobody knows who is senior to whom.

There are many in the PML who think that President Musharraf’s contacts with the PPP of Benazir Bhutto will be interpreted as indicating a lack of confidence in the ruling party. They think that President Musharraf wants to go for a second term, and he is not sure that the PML will be able to re-elect him. The party’s weak position in Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan could be a matter of concern for the president and it is argued that this has led him to start establishing contacts with a party which may serve his political interests better.

All leaders, however, say that they want to improve the situation and not change Chaudhry Shujaat as party chief. “He is the only leader who commands respect,” says a senior partyman.

Another leader rejected the suggestion that Mr Farooq Leghari could be a more active and effective replacement. “He is too new, and will not be acceptable to the PML leaders.” In his opinion the situation will normalize soon and whatever is happening at the moment is nothing more than a storm in a teacup.

Important party leaders are meeting in Islamabad on Friday to discuss the situation, and a clearer picture may then emerge.

THE establishment of a university here was considered a commendable addition to the education sector, which enabled the students to get quality education at par with any big city. But at the same time, the people are not feeling comfortable with the expansion programme of the University of Sargodha. At the time of its establishment, it was observed that initially a university could be started on the campus of the Government College, Sargodha, and that after a few years the campus could be shifted to the outskirts of the city, preferably on Lahore Road. It was on this condition that the people here had given up their move for saving the status of the government.

Sargodha city lacks parks and playgrounds, and even the university management has prohibited the youth to use its grounds and converted its campus into a commercial area instead. Chaudhry Ejaz, a sportsman, alleged that the university management gave the grounds to the elite for arranging marriage ceremonies on the varsity’s lawns and playgrounds. The area has been made a prohibited zone for the youth who want to play certain games in it. There is one stadium in the city where only cricket is allowed, although it can also be used for football and hockey. However, it is deteriorating most probably owing to the shortage of funds and negligence of the district government. Despite this, the stadium’s grounds are being used by the youth for carrying on healthy sports activities. There prevailed unrest amongst the youth and sports lovers when they came to know of a proposal of the university management to encroach upon the stadium and its grounds. They urged the governor and the chief minister to reject this proposal of expansion at the cost of sports, otherwise they would stage demonstrations and launch a move to shift the university campus from the city, besides revival of the status of the Government College.

The civic circles also expressed concern over the alleged uncalled-for expansion programme of the university management. It is learnt that the university is demanding the building of the commissioner’s house which was earmarked for setting up a children’s library by the Punjab government on the recommendation of District Nazim Amjad Ali Noon. It is also learnt that the university management is exploiting the differences between the district government and members of parliament in support of their unjustified wish to capture the most precious area in the heart of the city. The people also demanded special audit and probe into various appointments against the vacancies making it a stronghold of imported people, besides scrutiny of various works done or under way. It was also demanded that the inquiry report must be made public so that some people should not be allowed to misuse their authority and waste public funds.

It is learnt that the directorate of education office now being used by the EDO (colleges), situated beside the university campus, is also likely to be acquired for the university, and the education office will be shifted to a faraway place out of the reach of the public. Already, the office of the district education officer (female) has been shifted to New Satellite Town. The people are of the view that it will be more appropriate to plan the shifting of the campus to some suitable place where a large area can be covered for meeting the future requirements of the university. Now the campus is surrounded by thickly-congested residential areas which may create problems for the university management as well as for the people.

The university authorities avoided to comment on this issue, and said every step was being taken with the blessings of the governor in the larger interest of the students. The university is no doubt a blessing for the people of Sargodha and its surrounding areas, but it is going to become a curse for the citizens as its authorities consider it an insult to review their proposals and ideas which may ultimately harm public interest. It was suggested by Chaudhry Khaliq Dad, a socio-political worker, to shift the university campus on some spacious area on Lahore Road. He said if state land was not sufficient, some adjoining land could also be acquired from the private sector. He said the status of the Government College in the present building might be restored while the commissioner’s house, if it was not being converted into a children’s library, could be sold through auction and the amount thus raised could be utilized for building a new campus. It was also suggested that the university authorities should avoid wasting huge funds on constructing various blocks which would spoil the beauty of the building.

The sports lovers have urged the governor to direct university management to allow the youth of the city to use the playgrounds free of charge.

They promised to maintain the grounds with their own resources and not to create any hindrance or problem for the university. They said the university management was not sincere in promotion of sports as they abolished sports quota and encouraged self-financing of education which, according to them, was a violation of the government policy of education-for-all and free education. They alleged that the university was not having full-fledged teams of cricket, hockey, football and other games and mostly relied on hiring private people. They demanded restoration of the sports quota instead of allowing the influential to exercise their discretionary powers.