There have apparently been mass arrests in Sindh targeting PPP workers. Some are citing the figure of 300,000, Babar Awan of PPP cited 200,000, while another source gave the figure of 98,000. There's no independent confirmation of this yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if the government was using the Benazir violence as an excuse to generally crack down on activists. All this has been done using heavy Army deployment in Sindh (there's also very visible police and Rangers deployment in Karachi - all the units that were missing on Dec. 27).
Meanwhile the PML-Q put out huge newspaper ads yesterday asking for non-Sindhis to step forward and register the financial damage they have suffered. The text was: “The Rs 100 billion losses within three days is neither politics nor mourning but is lawlessness...All party candidates for national and provincial assembly seats and Punjabi, Pathan, Mohajir and Baloch settlers of Sindh who have been affected by the recent violence can contact [us] at these telephone numbers...” In Karachi, the MQM has established 30 cells to register financial damage.
Understandably this has upset Sindhis considerably. It's difficult to perceive these actions as anything else but a ploy to stoke sentiments against Sindhis. A Sindhi PML-Q candidate angrily noted that the Punjab wing of the PML-Q has decided to maximize its vote in Punjab at the expense of its vote in Sindh (since it considers Sindh a lost cause anyway). Meanwhile, anti-Punjabi sentiment in Sindh is extremely high. The imagery of another dead Bhutto's body being flown back from Punjab is bound to touch raw nerves. The Sindhis have been marginalized long enough, and at a moment like this, these actions will resonate. In social science terminology, people like Altaf Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi are ethnic entrepreneurs who take advantage of existing tensions and stoke them to gain personal political power. The PPP has been accused of playing the "Sindh" card but it's people like Altaf and the Chaudhrys who are really playing the "Sindh" card. Actually surprisingly Zardari has been fairly restrained in this regard (and I can't believe I found something positive to say about him).
The unfortunate outcome of all this is that ethnic tensions are very high in Pakistan right now. The only party that was capable of playing any kind of national unifying role, the PPP, is in crisis and is headed towards even greater moral bankruptcy. One wonders what might have been if Aitzaz Ahsan - a Punjabi - had been named party head instead of Bilawal? As it is, the post-Benazir succession might well have set up the demise of the PPP as a national party; I suspect we will see its slow slide towards factionalism and irrelevance. And the country will continue to suffer, as it is well on its way to dismembership. After all, which groups want to remain in the federation? Only Punjabis and Muhajirs, and if you think about it, that says a lot about who's in charge.
The biggest challenge of Pakistan has always been, in my opinion, finding a way to make the federation work despite ethnic diversity. Punjab has been the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, dominating all political and civic life, while Muhajirs have dominated culturally (using Urdu). Elites from these two groups have maintained a stranglehold on Pakistan, while all other ethnic groups have continued to be marginalized. Of course the Bengalis never really fit, and were treated so oppressively that they soon figured out where their future lay. But it's been more difficult for the Sindhis, Baluchis, and Pathans to find a way out (geography, among other things, plays a factor). The reaction of the state to any restiveness among these groups has been to clamp down harder. In fact, the establishment learned the exact wrong lesson after the independence of Bangladesh. It clamped down even harder under a brutal military regime, this time using Islamization as a way to unite the provinces. But of course that was never going to work. The only solution to the problem is a genuine federalism in which there is equality and true power-sharing among all ethnic groups. Only then will all groups feel a genuine stake in Pakistan. But until the powers that be realize that simple truth, the country is headed for disintegration - fast.
Understandably this has upset Sindhis considerably. It's difficult to perceive these actions as anything else but a ploy to stoke sentiments against Sindhis. A Sindhi PML-Q candidate angrily noted that the Punjab wing of the PML-Q has decided to maximize its vote in Punjab at the expense of its vote in Sindh (since it considers Sindh a lost cause anyway). Meanwhile, anti-Punjabi sentiment in Sindh is extremely high. The imagery of another dead Bhutto's body being flown back from Punjab is bound to touch raw nerves. The Sindhis have been marginalized long enough, and at a moment like this, these actions will resonate. In social science terminology, people like Altaf Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi are ethnic entrepreneurs who take advantage of existing tensions and stoke them to gain personal political power. The PPP has been accused of playing the "Sindh" card but it's people like Altaf and the Chaudhrys who are really playing the "Sindh" card. Actually surprisingly Zardari has been fairly restrained in this regard (and I can't believe I found something positive to say about him).
The unfortunate outcome of all this is that ethnic tensions are very high in Pakistan right now. The only party that was capable of playing any kind of national unifying role, the PPP, is in crisis and is headed towards even greater moral bankruptcy. One wonders what might have been if Aitzaz Ahsan - a Punjabi - had been named party head instead of Bilawal? As it is, the post-Benazir succession might well have set up the demise of the PPP as a national party; I suspect we will see its slow slide towards factionalism and irrelevance. And the country will continue to suffer, as it is well on its way to dismembership. After all, which groups want to remain in the federation? Only Punjabis and Muhajirs, and if you think about it, that says a lot about who's in charge.
The biggest challenge of Pakistan has always been, in my opinion, finding a way to make the federation work despite ethnic diversity. Punjab has been the proverbial 800-pound gorilla, dominating all political and civic life, while Muhajirs have dominated culturally (using Urdu). Elites from these two groups have maintained a stranglehold on Pakistan, while all other ethnic groups have continued to be marginalized. Of course the Bengalis never really fit, and were treated so oppressively that they soon figured out where their future lay. But it's been more difficult for the Sindhis, Baluchis, and Pathans to find a way out (geography, among other things, plays a factor). The reaction of the state to any restiveness among these groups has been to clamp down harder. In fact, the establishment learned the exact wrong lesson after the independence of Bangladesh. It clamped down even harder under a brutal military regime, this time using Islamization as a way to unite the provinces. But of course that was never going to work. The only solution to the problem is a genuine federalism in which there is equality and true power-sharing among all ethnic groups. Only then will all groups feel a genuine stake in Pakistan. But until the powers that be realize that simple truth, the country is headed for disintegration - fast.
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