Daily Times
PESHAWAR: While the situation might get better in the coming days and business might return to normal, the ethnic harmony appears to have fallen victim to “politics” in Hazara over the renaming of NWFP: the long-term consequences may prove disastrous for the country in general and the province in particular. And all this has surfaced at a critical time with the fight against militancy entering the most decisive summer since 2002.Commentators billing the developments of recent days “politics” have forgotten to add the word “dirty” to complete the phrase – “dirty politics”, played over the renaming of the province among Leaguers on one side and between the Awami National Party and the Leaguers on the other.The political and ideological rivalry between the ANP and the Pakistan Muslim League dates back to the early days of Pakistan. But it had never before been selfish enough to endanger the very foundations of ethnic harmony among various communities of NWFP.Sound reasoning against the plan to rename the province as “Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa” is yet to surface from quarters condemning the ANP. And it hardly appears to be the case that the renamed province would undermine the rights, status, culture, heritage and history of the people who feel threatened.With the issue amicably resolved on the floor of parliament, it is hard to imagine why anybody had to resort to street politics. Does parliamentary approval mean nothing to these politicians? Should we settle political issues on the streets rather than on the floor of parliament?Hazara has produced seven chief ministers, but no Pakhtoon-dominated district or region has ever agitated so violently, although the ANP could have easily played a role in sparking ethnic disharmony in the province. So why such an outburst from a people accepted very much as sons of the frontier soil?The residents of Hazara have never before had any policy difference with the rest of the province. The developments of the last 10 days appear to have been scripted much earlier.Commentators see all this as just “politics” played by some defeated politicians. One of them, a former foreign minister, has even said that police from Mardan and Charsadda were brought in to kill protesters intentionally. Such a statement from a politician who takes pride in playing national-level politics is shameful. It is difficult to find an instance where democracy allowed a minority to dictate a majority.Let’s assume the situation gets out of control and both the Pakistan Muslim League and the ANP refuse to budge an inch from their stated positions and the province sinks deeper into political crisis. Would such a situation be of any good to the country at this critical time when it is fighting militancy with the possibility of a final battle in the inaccessible Tirah valley? If the military wants, and I am sure it does, to focus on militancy, it would not want the situation to reach a point of no return.Where does the ANP’s fault lie? It did not reach out to the people of Hazara immediately after the National Assembly passed the 18th Amendment Bill on April 8. The party should have reassured the ‘Hazarawals’ that their rights, identity, culture, heritage and history would remain as safe as it had ever been.
Hazara has erupted. People are dying and the property is getting damaged. Life has come to a standstill. The angry workers of PML-N who feel cheated are protesting too, but within their party ranks. PML-Q, the lota league of Musharraf has once again reached to the fray to exploit the issue and they are playing politics on fire and blood. The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) was misleading the people of Hazara and indulging in scoring political points. This is the time when Nawaz Sharif should come out of his forest and prove that he is a real lion and not a jackal in the skin of lion. He has to come to the Hazara from where he has been milking votes for too long and has never returned anything except having a son-in-law. Nawaz Sharif must understand that he is loosing Hazara also very fast and he has to come out of Raiwind. He should be worrying about his dying voters and not about becoming third time premier. But criminal silence is giving another meaning to entire situation, do both the parties playing double game. Mian Nawaz Sharif himself resisted the change of name and it was a hard decision for him, now it could be a tactics to pursue, ANP to take its decision back, while PML-Q on the other hand consciously or unconsciously supporting PML-N on same task.
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