News Analysis |
The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), amassing a large number of political workers, on Sunday demonstrated a power show in Sukkur, where its leaders claimed that they would form a government in Sindh after the next general elections. This mass rally was complemented by another JUI-F public moot in Larkana but both went unnoticed due to the Faizabad crackdown crisis.
The GDA leaders, besides criticizing the incumbent provincial government, vowed that they will give a tough time to PPP in the next general elections. The speakers alleged that the province has been ruined under the PPP rule during the past 10 years.
The interior Sindhi is often open to other options but the rhetoric that they, the heirs of the Indus Valley Civilization, are somehow a slave to local politicians while the others are somehow superior in voting patterns often puts them off.
The people of Sindh were looking towards the judiciary, and not to the government, to redress their miseries, the speakers claimed. The convention was chaired by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional chief Pir Sabghatullah Shah Rashidi. Jamait Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rahman has said that the government closed down the entire country just to open one city of Islamabad. He said we respect judiciary but the constitution must also be respected. He was addressing a ‘Shaheed-e-Islam Conference’ held at Benazir Bhutto Stadium here on Sunday night, organized to remember Dr. Khalid Mahmood Soomro.
Read more: Bilawal in KP while Imran targets PPP heartland in Sindh.
Thousands of people who arrived from all over the country participated in the moot. Maulana Fazl said the government should have adopted peaceful means to end the sit-in but it resorted to shelling due to which the protesters were irked. He said it is better to evolve a joint strategy by sitting together instead of holding sit-ins.
He said his party respects the judiciary but the constitution must also be respected. Maulana said that due to negligence of the government regional, politics and nationalism is thriving in all provinces. He asked what had compelled some people in Balochistan to live in mountains.
He regretted that conditions in Sindh are also not good. The rulers cannot even properly run Karachi, Maulana added. He said for last 70 years our rulers have failed to run the country properly. He said that time has come now to get the jagirdars ousted.
The GDA leaders, besides criticizing the incumbent provincial government, vowed that they will give a tough time to PPP in the next general elections.
He said western powers and enemies are trying to shake the foundations of our country. He said that the situation in Syria, Yemen and other Islamic states has worsened and these counties are being destabilized, systematically. Maulana Fazl added Pakistan is not the property of waderas and jagirdars but it belongs to the people. He said jagirdars have always looted the country. Maulana Fazl said that the CPEC project is being opposed by some countries including India but it will continue. He said that we must be united for our own sake and continued stating that Pakistan is an Islamic state but liberal and secular people have reached the corridors of power.
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He said soon the flag of JUI-F will be everywhere when the country will be made a stronger Islamic state. Maulana Abdul Qayoom Halejvi, Amjad Khan, Maulana Afzal, Ramzan Phulpoto, Maulana Atta Hussain, former KPK Chief Minister Akram Durrani, Maulana Rashid Mahmood Soomro and Nasir Mahmood Soomro also spoke at the public moot.
Sindh has largely figured among the national parties of Pakistan but most have been unable to break the hold of PPP over the bedrock of sub continental civilization. Most have largely blamed this on the stranglehold that local feudal lords largely known as Waderas have over daily life. Many a politician has marched into Sindh proclaiming to “end the slavery of the Sindhis”.
Maulana Fazl added Pakistan is not the property of waderas and jagirdars but it belongs to the people. He said jagirdars have always looted the country.
However, a closer look negates the political exercises of the PPP’s opponents. The PPP is not strong in Sindh but in essence its opponents are incapable of reaching the masses. Their campaign usually relies upon the premise that the interior Sindhi is an irrational voter and a subjugated slave of the Wadera. The truth is much nearer to that of Punjab, the local Sindhi gives votes on the same premise that a typical Punjab dweller votes on; Thana Kutcheri. In the Thana system, the local feudal is often the strongest force around.
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The interior Sindhi is often open to other options but the rhetoric that they, the heirs of the Indus Valley Civilization, are somehow a slave to local politicians while the others are somehow superior in voting patterns often puts them off.
Maulana said that due to negligence of the government regional, politics and nationalism is thriving in all provinces. He asked what had compelled some people in Balochistan to live in mountains.
That was evident in the 2013 elections when the PTI got many votes from Sindh and the Local government elections in which the PML-N won many seats from the Liyari strong hold of the PPP. However, soon these forces began to chant the same slogan of liberation and adding insult to injury, allied with local non-PPP waderas. This again pushed the disgruntled voter back into the arms of the PPP. There is a great chance for a newcomer to succeed in Sindh. In order to win in Sindh, the challenger must let go of the mantle of a ‘liberator’, but must go to the grassroots and offer some substance in order to succeed.