KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — allies of PM Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government and political opponents in Sindh — accused each other of “igniting the politics of hatred” on Monday, with the former blaming the PPP for hiring officials on ethnic grounds and the latter advising the MQM-P to refrain from fanning ‘urban-rural divide’ besides seeking removal of Governor Kamran Tessori who belongs to the MQM-P.

It all began when the MQM-P, while hailing the court verdict to scrap the entire recruitment process initiated by the PPP government last year in over 140 departments, called it their party’s success and dent to politics of “ethnicity and hatred” of the ruling party in Sindh.

Federal minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi, who is MQM-P convenor, told a presser that his party succeeded in “putting a brake” on the “politically and ethnically motivated” recruitment in the Sindh government departments through the high court.

While strongly criticising the PPP government over its recruitment policy in public sector organisations, the MQM-P leader held the ruling party’s founder and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto responsible for creating the rural-urban divide and “igniting the politics of ethnicity and hatred” in the province.

PPP leaders demand Sindh governor’s removal, apology from MQM-P leaders who blamed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for ‘creating rural-urban divide’

“The point is that why this quota system was only envisioned for Sindh when [Zulfikar Ali] Bhutto Sahib was prime minister of entire Pakistan,” he questioned. “That move was actually driven by ill intentions to grab the rights of urban Sindh and take over competence and skills through dubious and fraudulent legislation. This quota system has swallowed the talent, skills and justice system. It’s only MQM-P which has been resisting this unjustified rule and the recent judgement of Sindh High Court on our lawsuit further strengthened our stance.”

Demanding that “locals” be inducted in the Sindh government departments for Grade 1 to 15 posts, he said the SHC verdict gave hope to the youth by stopping recruitment in the government departments on “ethnic grounds”, a rule set by the PPP government for “dividing the people of Sindh.”

Senior MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar, while seconding the party convener’s claim, said the quota system was introduced to recruit 60 per cent people from rural parts and 40pc from urban areas, including Karachi and Hyderabad. “But we failed to stop the misuse of quota system that’s been going on for the last 50 years, as more than 80pc jobs aren’t given to youngsters in urban areas,” he said.

Within hours after the presser, the PPP came up with a tit-for-tat news conference during which senior provincial ministers Sharjeel Inam Memon and Nasir Hussain Shah demanded that the MQM-P leaders tender an apology for their remarks about Bhutto.

“The MQM-P has again come up with the same old mantra of pretending themselves as oppressed and in this garb igniting the hatred and politics of urban-rural divide,” said Mr Memon. “It’s an old tactic of MQM-P that has always done politics of violence and ethnicity. The MQM-P leaders should apologise for lying about Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. And we believe that since Governor Tessori is representative of the same party that is spreading hatred and divide, he should step down immediately.”

He defended the quota system and said it was introduced after “careful consideration” to protect the rights of people from rural and remote areas. This system, he said, had always been targeted by political rivals by misleading the people and suppressing the whole truth.

“This is the same Khalid Maqbool and the same leaders of MQM-P who abandoned party founder Altaf Hussain and ran away only to save their skin,” said Mr Memon.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2024