KARACHI: Political parties demand genuine provincial autonomy
By Bhagwandas
KARACHI, July 4: Majority of the speakers at a meeting on Monday demanded more autonomy to provinces in order to ensure protection to people’s rights and resolve their vital issues at local level. They were expressing their views at a discussion on Provincial Autonomy organized jointly by the Pakistan NGO Forum and the Sindh NGOs Federation. Some of the speakers observed that exploitation of smaller provinces had touched the peak and if the autonomy was given for political mileage, then people should be mobilized to wage a struggle for genuine autonomy.
The speakers demanded that people should have control of the natural resources and taxation pertaining to their own province and they should have the right to decide the shares of the province and the federation. They were of the view that the federation should keep with it only three/four subjects.
Some speakers suggested that the Senate should have more and decisive powers, while some others demanded the provincial autonomy as mentioned in the Pakistan Resolution.
Known scholar Ibrahim Joyo, who summed up the proceedings, said that role of political parties was very important in brining about any change in the system whether it was through amendment to the constitutional or through struggle. He pointed out that only political parties had the capacity to mobilize the masses.
He said that the 1973 constitution, which was a consensus document, had been disfigured and amended so frequently and badly that it had lost its original character. Even the names of some dictators had been inserted in the constitution which appeared to be a unique act never seen to have been resorted in the world.
He suggested that only good and honest people with a commitment should enter political parties and go through the political process. Only then, a change from within the party could be brought about. “This, no doubt is a very lengthy and cumbersome process, but there are no shortcuts,” he added.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement MNA Nisar Panhwar suggested that 25 per cent of resources and taxes should be spent on the districts which generated the same, while 50 per cent should to the province for development work in other districts. The remaining 25 per cent should go to the federation for utilization in the uplift work in other parts of the country.
He said that the funds being generated through privatization of industries should be given to the provinces where the units existed. He also opposed quota system and suggested that recruitment in federal organizations should be made from local people. He said local people should also be recruited in paramilitary forces – the Rangers, Frontier Constabulary, etc., — and they should necessarily be headed by a local man.
Former PPP senator Taj Haider said that the issue of the provincial autonomy had been resolved in the 1973 constitution as it gave all requisite powers to a province. However, he regretted, the constitution had unfortunately not been implemented fully. He said that the Concurrent List identifying the subjects to be kept by the federation and those by the provinces had to be revised in 10 years as provided under the constitution. “But this has not been done as yet,” he added.
Mr Haider said that as long as the army remained in power, the Centre would continue to remain powerful and when political parties came into power, people would start getting their rights gradually till being granted all due rights. He said that the process of dialogue should continue and everybody should take a principled stand that whenever a province or an individual was victimized, voice was raised to support the rightful and exploiters were resisted tooth and nail.
He said that no one could oppose development work, but the same must be carried out with the consent of the local population. In this context, he particularly mentioned the controversy over the Gwadar mega project.
Ali Hassan of the Jeay Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party was of the view that the provincial autonomy should be based on the provisions of the 1940 Pakistan Resolution. He called for more power for Senate in taking decisions on important issues. He observed that the biggest province Punjab would bully the smaller ones as was clear from the fact the stand adopted by the three smaller provinces was being ignored in the case of Thal Canal construction only because the canal served the interests of the Punjab province. Similar was the case of Kalabagh Dam project, he said.
The JSTPP leader said that while the reserves of natural gas and petroleum in Balochistan and Sindh were regarded as federal assets, the subsoil sweet water of Punjab was not being provided to other provinces. He claimed that there were four to five million aliens in Sindh which had drastically changed the demography of the province. He was of the view that people of Balochistan were resisting federal government’s plans pertaining to Gwadar keeping in view the fate of Sindh in general and Karachi in particular. He also called for an end to interference by armed forces in civilian matters.
Anis Haroon of the Aurat Foundation accused political parties of having adopted double standards, arguing that while in opposition they would raise all issues –human rights, women rights, autonomy, etc —, but after coming to power they would change their priorities and start speaking the language and pursuing the policy of the Establishment, which never favoured granting of powers and rights to genuinely elected institutions.
She observed that most of the political parties in the country did not have democracy within themselves as all important policy decisions were taken by their top leadership which would never consult with the lower leadership. Therefore, she said, it was wishful thinking to expect that these parties would bring about any democratic change in the country. She was of the view that most of the political parties, unfortunately, always appeared ready to join the dictatorial regimes if their own interests were served. And after joining such a non-democratic government, she added, they would abandon all democratic norms and principled positions.
Yusuf Mastikhan said that political parties would forget about provincial autonomy as soon as they would come to power. Rather, he added, the ruling party would even try to make Centre more and more powerful. This has been going on since the independence, he said, and in this context cited the example of the NWFP government which had been dissolved soon after the independence because the party in power there did not suit the centre.
Sardar Rahim of the PML-N stressed that the civil society should be strengthened as it would keep a watchful eye on political parties on the one hand, and would educate the masses on their rights on the other.
Some of the speakers pointed out that although all the three smaller provinces had been subjected to victimization, Sindh appeared the worst-hit as after Jam Sadiq Ali, many a groups having just one seat, of their own, had been given the top provincial slot, and this was done on the desire of the Establishment.
ARD leader Zain Ansari, PPP MPAs Farheen Mughal and Sassui Palijo, Nazeer Qureshi, Jami Chandio, Zulfiqar Halepoto, Hafeez Qureshi, Javed Qazi, Aarib Mallah and Usman Baloch were among others who expressed their views on the occasion.
