Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary 

Mubasher Mir

Dr. Shahnawaz of Umarkot, who has been confirmed to have been killed in police custody and the police officers have been suspended, are facing an inquiry as well. In this regard, tolerance march was announced by civil society organizations belonging to Sindh. The participants of the march were supposed to come from Clifton Teen Talwar to Press Club Karachi, but Tehreek Labeik had announced to take out the Namos Risalat Rally and they also asked their workers to reach Clifton Teen Talwar. In this way, two groups with different ideas had given an indication of protest against the killing of Dr. Shahnawaz according to their position.

Dr. Shahnawaz was declared as an insolent apostle and was then handed over to the police but later the police framed him as a police encounter and took his life, but activists of religious groups also interfered in his burial, and his dead body was also desecrated, he was cremated, almost 80% of the burnt body was buried by the family with the help of the administration. According to reliable sources, the workers of the religious groups garlanded the police officers and congratulated them. The police officers should have been careful about this. Now that the civil society was gathering to protest it, activists of religious groups also reached there, surely their protest can be considered in support of the police.

The protestors reached outside the Karachi Press Club, staged a sit-in, and shouted slogans against the Sindh government and the leadership of the People's Party. The police and the district administration failed to handle the matter amicably. The lathi charge by the police worsened the situation and the area began to present a battlefield . Surprisingly, if a political party applies for a protest procession, rally or Jalsa, the Sindh administration rejects it, but for this type of protest, the opponents are also provided an opportunity to protest at the same place. Since police officers were involved in the incident, the attitude of the police was lenient towards activists of religious groups, but the tolerance movement was excessively harsh.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has indicated in his tweet that in 1931, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah kept demanding a constitutional Supreme Court, but the then British government did not accept his demand. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah distrusted the oppressive system of British rule and demanded separate decisions on constitutional matters. Now that we are living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, are our conditions similar to those of the British Empire that we should come up with this solution? We also have a federal Shariah court, if any Shariah problem arises, it can be approached. Do we really need a Constitutional Supreme Court? It should be debated in Parliament. If the public representatives deem it necessary, it should be implemented.

The federal ministers have met the delegation of MQM on the constitutional amendment and also discussed their other demands in which the local government system has been emphasized. After this meeting, it seems that MQM will not make any rhetoric regarding the constitutional amendment but will fully support the government.

There is much ambiguity regarding the final draft of the constitutional amendment. So far no party has been able to claim that it has the final draft. Even now three to four drafts are in circulation. Maulana Fazlur Rahman's party is still facing stiff opposition and a draft has been presented by him which is being discussed with the People's Party.

After the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, the federal government intends to work on this proposed constitutional amendment with full force. Allegations of harassment and pressure have been leveled by Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA's while some members have also alleged that they have been offered huge sums of money. Speaker National Assembly and Chairman Senate should definitely take notice in this regard.

For the improvement of democracy in Pakistan, it is important that political parties get an opportunity to work and that political workers do not face any kind of violence and oppression, otherwise it will be difficult to nurture democratic traditions. Enforced disappearances are already causing a lot of problems, now if the members of the assembly are also falling victim to it, then the image of the state will deteriorate further.