Linguistic Politics of Generals in Karachi

Pakistan was created in the name of Islam. That is why Maulana Maududi had termed it a Masjid (mosque). In this context, only politics in the name of Islam should have space in Pakistan but unfortunately, the generals in Pakistan and their created politicians have politicized the country on linguistic, ethnic, and provincial grounds. Politics on these foundations in Pakistan is like someone standing in a mosque and urinating there.

It was Bengalis who first formed the Muslim League who struggled for the creation of Pakistan but the generals sowed the seeds of racial and linguistic politics in East Pakistan. The generals barred Bengalis from joining the military. For this, they concocted the theory of martial races – which included: Punjabis, Pashtuns, and Muhajirs. Hence, these ethnicities dominated the military. Bengalis were 56% of Pakistan’s population but until 1960 there wasn’t a single Bengali in the army. When Pakistan broke up in 1971, Bengalis made up just 8 to 10% of the army, even though they comprised 56% of the total population of the country. The situation was similar in the bureaucracy. Bengalis were 56% of the population but they were told to accept themselves as only 50% adhering to the principle of parity. Bengalis loved Pakistan so much that they accepted themselves as 50%.

If we look at it in this context, our generals and their created politicians turned Bengalis into Bengalis through oppression. Otherwise, they were only Muslims and Pakistanis. When elections happened in 1970 Sheikh Mujib’s Awami League won 167 seats and Bhutto’s PPP won 86 seats. Sheikh Mujib had the democratic right to form his government but instead of accepting the Bengalis’ right, our generals imposed a military operation there. As a result, Bengalis became furious and went out of control.

Still, they didn’t want to break away from Pakistan. When Dhaka fell, Sheikh Mujib was in jail. On hearing about the fall of Dhaka, tears rolled down his cheeks. He said release me and give me a chance to address on the radio, I will make everything back to normal. But how could those generals who had worked so hard to divide the country agree to this? Therefore, the generals’ racial and linguistic bigotry divided Pakistan into two.

Unfortunately, after the independence of East Pakistan, the game of racial and linguistic prejudices started to be played in Karachi. Karachi was a city of cognizant people. That is why during the presidential tussle between Gen Ayub and Madar-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah, the people of Karachi openly sided with Fatima Jinnah. So Karachi became an eyesore for Gen Ayub, and during his era, Karachi witnessed the first Muhajir-Pashtun riot in which many people were killed.

But things only got worse during Gen Zia’s tenure. Altaf Hussain and his All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organization were already there but they had no importance in Karachi’s politics. Though Gen Zia was ostensibly a religious person, he should have refrained from playing the ethnic card in Karachi. But he wanted to sideline Jamaat-e-Islami in Karachi and PPP in rural Sindh. So he started patronizing Altaf Hussain and MQM. And before one knew it, MQM became a storm.

This storm engineered the Muhajir-Pashtun riots in Karachi. Created tensions between Muhajirs and Sindhis. Even paved the way for MQM to carry out mass killings of other parties’ Muhajir supporters.

In 1985, I enrolled at the University of Karachi. During that time MQM’s student wing APMSO killed Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba workers so frequently that we felt we had come into this world only to lead funeral prayers and bury Jamiat workers. MQM didn’t just kill the youths of Jamiat, they frequently murdered Jamaat-e-Islami’s leaders as well. The linguistic politics of Generals in Karachi took the lives of 92,000 individuals in 30 years. This politics created a culture of extortion in Karachi. Invented the game of body bags. Paved the path for violent strikes. Gen Pervez openly patronized Altaf Hussain. During his India visit, Altaf clearly stated that had he been around in 1947, he would have never voted for Pakistan. Despite this, Gen Pervez ordered the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to invite Altaf for a dinner reception, which is exactly what happened.

For 30 years, MQM reigned over Karachi’s politics. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that Altaf used to say that we organize corner meetings and they turn into rallies and our opponents hold rallies and they become corner meetings. Altaf wasn’t exaggerating. MQM was indeed genuinely popular and Jamaat fully acknowledged its mass appeal.

After 30 years of long reign, MQM’s decline started in Karachi. Imran Khan and PTI’s public fame played a decisive role and now MQM’s standing is such that it has neither any voters nor financiers left in the city. While Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman’s dynamic leadership has reestablished Jamaat as a major political force.

Against the same backdrop, when the announcement for the 2024 elections was made, every cognizant resident of Karachi knew that only Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami candidates would win in the city. The public surveys conducted in the past month also indicated that Karachi would only vote for Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami, however, a couple of seats could also be won by the Pakistan Peoples Party. In these surveys, MQM was somewhere ranked fourth and in some places fifth. But unfortunately, the Establishment snatched the entire Karachi from PTI and Jamaat and handed it to MQM. MQM has been “awarded” 15 seats in the National Assembly and 22 seats in the provincial assembly in Karachi. Importantly this situation has emerged under Gen Asim Munir’s tenure. Gen Asim Munir is fortunate to be a “Hafiz” as well as “Syed”. But still, during his tenure, not just Islam and Pakistan but MQM which hates Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, and even Muhajirs themselves has been imposed upon Karachi.

When General Asim Munir speaks, he cites the Quran. So, we want to ask him which verse of the Quran orders an ethnic party to be imposed over the populace. Which saying of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) sanctions the military’s right to rig elections and steal public mandate? If MQM were genuinely a popular party among the people and had conquered the entire city based on its popularity, no one would object, but at this point, MQM is the most unpopular party in Karachi. According to the election public opinion surveys, PTI is in the first position in Karachi, Jamaat-e-Islami is in the second position, TLP is in the third position, PPP is in the fourth position, and MQM is in the fifth position. But the establishment has elevated the fifth-ranked party to the first position.

Islam is a big deal so let’s forget it for a second. General Asim Munir should tell the nation whether Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam have indicated anywhere in their thoughts that a city or the nation should be forcefully handed over to a linguistic party through rigging and robbery. Iqbal clearly stated:

بتانِ رنگ و خوں کو توڑ کر ملت میں گم ہوجا
نہ تو رانی رہے باقی نہ ایرانی نہ افغانی

(Destroy the idols of race and blood and disappear into one Muslim nation
Remaining neither Turanian nor Afghani nor Iranian)

As long as Jinnah lived he talked about the supremacy of One God, One Prophet, and One Book but during General Asim Munir’s tenure, MQM has been imposed upon Karachi through force. This proves that the 2024 elections were neither free nor fair or transparent.