Karachi Political Diary

 Karachi Political Diary 

Mubasher Mir

Nationalist parties in Sindh province and then the opposition, including the GDA and the Tehreek-e-Insaf, have started opposing the six canals across the country. Given the sensitivity of the situation, the Pakistan Peoples Party, which previously avoided open opposition, has now presented a resolution in the Sindh Assembly on the six canal project and demanded that the federal government stop the project. The resolution against the six canal project in the Sindh Assembly was presented by the Chief Minister of Sindh. Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari addressed the joint session of parliament at the beginning of the new parliamentary year and advised the federal government to abandon the plan to draw canals from the Indus River. Thus, the Green Pakistan Project, which was formally inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Punjab and the Chief of Army Staff, may face difficulties.

Before the current situation, a meeting was held in the President’s Office in mid-July last year on the six-canal project. It was chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari. Senior military officers also attended the meeting. The President was briefed on the six-canal project in the meeting and the Green Pakistan project was endorsed by the President. He also issued orders in that meeting for the early completion of the project. These canals include Chashma Right Bank, Kachhi, Raini, Greater Thal, Cholistan and Thar. Surprisingly, the President had supported the project last year and expressed interest in its completion, but now, seeing the changing course of politics, he has also changed his stance. What kind of U-turn is this?

The Bhutto legacy has started to be discussed in the politics of Sindh province. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr. has become politically active. He meets the people in the interior areas of Sindh and speaks in Sindhi and has even addressed a few events in Sindhi. In this way, he is getting acceptance. It remains to be seen whether Asif Ali Zardari and his two children, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, are also in active politics. Who will maintain their claim on the political legacy of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto? This will be an interesting situation. After the assassination of Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto, their children continued to live a quiet life. Ghinwa Bhutto kept her group active to some extent, but Fatima Bhutto did not take interest in politics. Now Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr. is also influencing the Sindhi people. He has not turned his attention to other provinces.

For a few days, there was a rumor that the federal government intends to significantly reduce petrol prices, but this turned out to be a delusion of the public. The federal government has dashed the hopes of the people who are suffering from inflation by announcing that it will maintain the prices of petrol. The federal government is committed to the policy of generating revenue from energy. Due to which the industry, commercial activities and domestic consumers are in a bad situation. The federal government has not yet been able to take decisions that will restore public confidence and make investors willing to make new investments. The most important thing in this is unproductive expenditure. The government is spending money unnecessarily on administrative matters and the performance of officers and members of parliament is disappointing. Along with this, the severe wave of terrorism has created an atmosphere of fear. Balochistan and KPk provinces are being directly affected by terrorism, which is a cause for concern.

The Sindh Assembly has strongly condemned the incidents of terrorism, while the Pakistan Army and security agencies have been praised for their successful operation in the Jaffar Express tragedy. After the Jaffar Express tragedy, terrorism has also occurred in Nushki. This is a moment of reflection, if the government does not have public acceptance, it cannot control even small incidents. At present, the federal and both provincial governments (KPK and Balochistan) are under severe pressure.

The public expects their governments and security agencies to provide them with all possible protection, but the surge in terrorist incidents over the past few months has created a sense of insecurity. If the government intends to hold an All Parties Conference, it will first have to end the political strife in the country.

Economic activities have also slowed down to some extent during Ramadan. But food service organizations are very active. Along with this, Every one is also actively participating in charity.

Turkish Consul General Cemal Sangu has established a wonderful tradition, his government is helping the needy in most countries of the world during Ramadan and is also organizing special Iftar dinners for special people.

Consul General of Turkie Karachi organized an Iftar dinner with mothers at Aghosh Trust and presented them with gifts. On this occasion, Consul General Cemal Sango said that they have organized big Iftar parties in many areas of Karachi and Sindh, including the cities of Dadu and Mirpur Khas, while Iftar dinners have been organized in Lyari and Baldia in Karachi. Surely, this is the best gift of Ramadan from the brotherly country of Turkie to Pakistanis.