Opinion Altafs questions
A register of reports and views from the Pakistan press
Altafs questions
In Karachi,300 people were killed in sectarian violence in July alone. MQM chief Altaf Hussain repeated his request that the Pakistan army be called in. Dawn reported on August 5: As lawmakers blew hot and cold in the National Assembly on Thursday over the Karachi violence,there was little fancy for MQM leader Altaf Hussains demand to call out the army to restore peace in Pakistans commercial hub. The Express Tribune reported Hussain had to issue a clarification: Altaf Hussain asserted on Thursday that his recent appeal to the residents of Karachi to stock up on food rations had been taken out of context,leading to confusion amongst the general populace. The statement was given earlier in an impassioned call by the MQM leader,which sought immediate government action to curb the menace of targeted killings within a span of 48 hours… Hussain clarified in the video that he was trying to forewarn people about a possible food shortage because of the worsening law and order situation in the city. The MQM had raised the possibility of Karachis killing spree growing even bigger to become a massacre or ethnic cleansing in Tuesdays National Assembly session,reported The Express Tribune on August 3. Hussain had a question for the Indian government as well: What should the Muhajirs do now? Should they go back [to India? If a 1992-like operation is started again,will the Indian leaders provide accommodation to the 50 million Muhajirs of Pakistan?
Punjab/4
Debate on the creation of more provinces in Pakistan was heard again this week,with senior PML-N leader Javed Hashmi reportedly saying that that four provinces should be carved out of Punjab: South Punjab,Bahawalpur,Central Punjab and Potohar. (His party is electorally powerful mainly in Punjab province.) Dawn reported on August 4: Mr Hashmi,who reluctantly accepted the office of senior vice-president of the PML-N last month,and is also part of the 15-member special committee constituted by Nawaz Sharif to formulate suggestions on the demand for new provinces,said he wanted his party to take the lead and announce the creation of three to four new provinces in Punjab. Mr Hashmi,who had almost been sidelined by the leadership because of his open criticism of policies of the party,said that new provinces had become need of the hour with the increase in population.
Hashmi had earlier disagreed with his party colleague,Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif,that the PPP-led government in Islamabad repeatedly raised the issue of new provinces to deflect attention from its corruption. He was quoted: I have great respect for Shahbaz Sharif,but I do not agree with his statement in which he linked the demand for new provinces to the governments corruption. The PM,meanwhile,was quoted by Dawn on August 5: PM Yousuf Raza Gilani said that the government would take on board all the stakeholders regarding the issue of new provinces.
Stout denial
US Ambassador Cameron Munter,while on a two-day visit to Balochistan,said that the province was significant to the United States. Newspapers reported that Balochistan CM Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani categorically denied that Taliban leader Mullah Omar and al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahiri were in Balochistan,as had been suggested by several media sources outside Pakistan.
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