HYDERABAD: The Jan 5 ground-breaking meeting between Qaumi Awami Tehrik chief Ayaz Latif Palijo and leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement came as a shock to many but left some vital questions unanswered, which has apparently forced the junior Palijo against the ropes.

The meeting caused a storm of sorts on social media and according to some writers put Palijo on the defensive. But in a Jan 18 article in a Sindhi-language newspaper Rasool Bux Palijo appeared to be on the offensive as he claimed a groundswell of support for QAT-MQM meeting.

He even went on to discuss in the article the Sept 30, 1988 case (Hyderabad carnage when close to around 250 people were killed) and the Oct 1, 1988 bloodshed in Karachi.

In the rare visit to the residence of Rasool Bux Palijo, MQM leaders Wasim Akhtar and Kanwar Naveed Jamil successfully persuaded the Palijos to take back the call for strike against Altaf Hussain’s statement at a public meeting in Latifabad on Jan 3 in which he had reportedly talked of the division of Sindh.

Mr Hussain later modified his stand and proposed the Sindh-I and Sindh-II formula at a Jan 5 gathering in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, much to the chagrin of nationalists.

The meeting shocked many because it was mediated by another old foe of the Palijos, former Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim. It triggered a flood of comments on social media because Ayaz has been particularly vocal like his father against the MQM and he had even gone a step farther by expressing solidarity with Lyari’s Uzair Jan Baloch who was accused by the MQM of carrying out violence against their sympathisers and workers in Karachi.

However, by withdrawing the strike call, Palijo did manage to ward off the spectre of renewed bloodshed between the two communities. Hyderabad and Karachi have witnessed a bitter past of ethnic disturbances during riots sparked off by tragic incidents in Karachi and Hyderabad in 1988. Talking to Dawn on Saturday, Ayaz said: “We can find many instances in which our party has sat with those [our supposed rivals] for a bigger cause despite the fact that we had reservations over those forces for different reasons”.

In fact, the MQM has taken a different line this time round. “They have reached out to a progressive nationalist party in the larger interest of Sindh and now it is up to them how it fares,” he said.

Ayaz said that te MQM required to take a clear position on Sindh’s core issues also about the Urdu speakers as well. The Jan 5 meeting had opened a channel for interaction between the two sides but it would be too early to say if the contacts would continue in the future.

The QAT’s newfound love for Arbab Rahim also remains to see the test of time because it was he who created new districts, the May 12, 2007 carnage took place under his rule and reports of sale of two islands also came to the fore.

According to some reports, Arbab’s move was part of his attempts to cobble together an anti-PPP front ahead of local government elections while some said he had acted on the directives of the PML-N.

Writer and women’s rights activist Amar Sindhu saw Arbab’s initiative as a solo flight in her lead article in a Sindhi daily. Ayaz in his rejoinder appeared to be on the defensive as he took pains to explain minute details of how the meeting took place.

But when he talked to Dawn he appeared somewhat confident. “A leader needs to build popular opinion instead of following popular sentiment alone,” he said.

“There are some common grounds on which we can talk to anyone be it the MQM like issues of water, feudalism, extremism, minorities’ rights and jirgas. We need to avoid conflicts. If we had arranged Mohabbat-i-Sindh rally then we also sat with those who we considered responsible for QAT activists’ killing,” he said.

He believes that it is time to make Pakistan stronger and proposed a conference of intellectuals of Urdu and Sindhi speaking communities to hold lengthy discussions on irritants and come up with their solutions.

“We can keep major irritants aside and start with those that affect the two sides equally….we need to bring Sindh together and should not always be undermining Sindh’s integrity for politics’ sake,” he said.

MQM has worked with Sindhi nationalists in recent past. It had developed a ‘working relationship’ with late Bashir Khan Qureshi, who led a united Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz.

Qureshi even attended a public meeting in GTC ground ahead of 2002 polls in Hyderabad and exchanged similar gestures for quite some time before the air of good will evaporated.

Now ailing Abdul Wahid Arisar, who heads his own faction of JSQM, is still considered flexible and acceptable in MQM circles but he too has made his position known to everyone by criticising Jan 3 statement of Altaf Hussain.

“Intervention of Arbab Rahim speaks volumes for how this contact might have developed. QAT has been vocal for last 30 years over some divisive issues that deepened urban-rural divide,” says Jeay Sindh Mahaz’s Abdul Khaliq Junejo.

“Awami Tehrik has been taking extreme positions against MQM. They used to make scathing criticism of the party when it didn’t talk about Sindh’s division and when it did the QAT sat with it. I don’t know why they gave strike call in the first place and then withdrew it,” he says.

Few but there are also some takers of Palijo-MQM meeting. “I am in favour of talks with MQM if there is a solid agenda. Palijo’s politics is anti-MQM whereas ‘Jeay Sindh’ narrative considers Punjab as real enemy and they want to reach out to Urdu-speaking community for collective cause.

“Secondly, Ayaz was not prepared to withstand so much pressure post Jan 5 meeting. In his article he appeared too defensive,” says a writer and civil society activist, Zulfiqar Halepoto.

Likewise, Sindhi analyst Jami Chandio believes that some things should not be used as a ‘card’ for political gains. “To me there was no ground for such demand by MQM and the statement was apparently a part of MQM’s attempts to safeguard its interests in upcoming local government system,” he says.

He said that MQM had to reach out to Awami Tehrik because it held a stiff position against it and in order to gain some legitimacy in nationalist circles. “It is their right to talk to anyone but transparency factor shouldn’t be lost sight of. It’s good that they have started a communication.

“Deadlock never serves any purpose and dialogue is the main ingredient of democracy. MQM needs to show character in this regard and other groups can also be taken on board,” he says.

Some feel that Ayaz finds himself in an awkward position in the wake of his meeting with MQM. His party is yet to decide should he visit 90 – Altaf Hussain’s residence in Karachi – for what he had said a fledgling start of ‘confidence building measures’ in response to the invitation extended by Wasim Akhtar.

QAT central committee is meeting on Sunday (today) to discuss its recently launched campaign and the MQM’s invitation too.

On the other hand, Sindhi nationalist parties have reiterated their resolve to defend Sindh’s integrity while celebrating the 110 birth anniversary of Jeay Sindh Tehrik’s founder G.M. Syed.