The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, it seems, is looking towards Sindh; neither through Governor rule nor dismissing the Sindh government, but through a political gambit. This obsession has come at the zenith of its power, as the PTI rules the entire country including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Prime Minister Imran Khan feels that until and unless Sindh is “reformed and empowered,” the country’s developmental mosaic will not come full circle.
To attain this Herculean task, the skipper has brought in spinners to bowl the final hours. Among them is the surprise pick of Sindh’s former chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who was appointed as the PM’s special emissary. He is, indeed, a dark horse, but not a spent force. He knows the inside out of provincial politics. The indispensable task is to dethrone the PPP politically, which has literally ruled for three decades.
PTI’s Sindh leap has led to new commotion. It comes at a time when local government polls are due to be announced. The MQM is unrelenting and won’t let the PPP and PTI steal the show. But MQM is hapless as it heavily depends on the federal government’s largesse since Karachi went the PTI way.
There is another storm brewing between the Sindh government and the Centre. It pertains to the controversial census of 2017, which Sindh refuses to acknowledge. As a marriage of convenience, the MQM too is on board. Sindh says the ‘faulty and fraudulent’ headcount has robbed the people of Sindh of their rights; as it impacts on distribution of resources under the National Finance Commission and likewise on the number of seats in the legislative assemblies.
While Sindh wants a joint session of the parliament to be convened to discuss this issue, the federal government will do all within its means to obstruct the move. Though the Prime Minister himself had in principle agreed to conduct a fresh count, and even promised the MQM, his ally, funds for the same; things now seem to have hit snags. This census row constitutes the first point of agreement between the PTI and MQM, too.
It goes without saying that Sindh has been wronged in the census. The count is undoubtedly faulty as the population of the province has been shown at 48 million, whereas UNICEF estimates of per home inhabitants lead it to being anywhere around 62 million. To add salt to wounds, the urban population has seen a cut of 25 percent. These are issues that the party ruling the federation should look into with magnanimity, rather than planning to conquer Sindh by hook or crook.
Sindh is in need of pacification and a compassionate approach, as politics in interior Sindh are breeding parochialism. Karachi, too, has been in denial mode from the powers-that-be. No development for the last three decades; and the world’s eighth largest city is a mess, devoid of civic infrastructure and basic amenities.
The PTI’s gate-crashing of Sindh has been planned at the wrong time. PTI and its allies have every right to field Sindh, and show the door to PPP. But doing this now will encompass an element of state machinery; and wouldn’t bode well.
The PTI would be better advised to focus on the ongoing Rs1.1 trillion Karachi Transformation Package. The Prime Minister has an eye on it and wants its instant execution. The party has walked the high moral ground by recognising Karachi for the first time in many decades. Completion of the Rapid Transit System (known as Green Line Bus) and the Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme-K-IV would grant PTI and MQM a new lease on life. Likewise, the Prime Minister‘s special package to interior Sindh to the tune of Rs440 billion for 14 under-developed districts has sent shivers down the spine of the ‘Sindh Sarkar.’ It stands exposed; and is clueless.
The sagacity of politics says that PTI should better implement these developmental initiatives and wait for general elections to take on the PPP. It will have a valid argument to counter the ad hoc system of governance in Sindh and make inroads. Merely going for public gatherings, compelling PPP men and other influentials to join the PTI cart is an unwarranted approach. It has been tried in the past too; and has led to a more adamant vote bank on lingual grounds. PTI’s ‘get Sindh mission’ will lead to chaos, and inevitably distract from the agenda of ‘change.’ Many of the PTI’s promised 100-points are still in limbo. It is better to focus on them.