What lies in store for MQM in Punjab

LAHORE - As the MQM is trying hard to build its All-Pakistan character by starting political activities in Punjab, political analysts believe that it is less likely to pose any immediate threat to the major political parties in the province, though in the long term, the chances of its gaining popular support cannot be ruled out provided that it continues to work with the same zeal and commitment as it has shown recently. It would not be an easy task for the MQM to make room in the presence of PML-N, PPP and the PML-Q, but it may win a few seats in the coming elections by winning over some disgruntled elements within these parties to its side, says noted political analyst, Hassan Askari Rizvi, who sees little scope for MQM in Punjab, especially in the absence of any major ethnic and linguistic divisions here. Talking to The Nation, Mr Rizvi said that political dynamics in Sindh, where MQM has emerged as a force to reckon with, are quite different from those in Punjab, because the people here dont vote for parties on the basis of their ethnic or linguistic character. To substantiate his point, he said that unlike Karachi and Hyderabad, most of the migration to Pakistan side of Punjab took place from eastern Punjab in India and the migrants did not feel alien here because of linguistic and cultural affinity between the two regions. He said MQM had so far been mainly relying on the vote bank of Urdu speaking population which maintained its separate ethnic character over the years. Such a favorable situation for MQM does not exist in Punjab, where it would have to work really hard to win the hearts and minds of Punjabis, he affirmed. Mr Rizvi also does not see any imminent support for the MQM in southern Punjab in the presence of popular movements for seraiki and Bahawalpur province in the region. One of the founding members of the PPP, Altaf Qureshi, however, disagrees with the views expressed by Mr Rizvi. According to him, the MQM stands greater chance of making roots in Punjab where majority of political workers belonging to three major parties is highly disappointed with their respective leadership which keeps everything confined to either close relatives or their cronies. Neither they are assigned any big responsibility nor do they reach assemblies, he observed, adding that MQM can attract these disgruntled workers of the PPP, PML-N and the PML-Q belonging to the middle class. Meanwhile, reports coming from Multan, the home town of Prime Minister Gilani, suggest that there exist some pockets of Urdu speaking population in various parts of the City that could serve as a strong base for the MQM. Altaf Qureshi informed this scribe that as per his knowledge, a bunch of seraiki speaking PPP workers from Multan was waiting in the wings to join the MQM because of high degree of resentment among them born out of total oblivion they have been left by the party leadership. They may see MQM as the party which has its MNAs and MPAs from lower and middle class, and which looks after its workers very well, he argued. Many observers think that MQM is the only political party which can pose a real threat to existing political monarchies in Punjab by exploiting their weaknesses. It has been learnt that MQM would also target the youth in Punjab by pitching them against the feudals in south Punjab and capitalists in the central Punjab.