No doubt, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to
keep the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) chapter of his Pakistan Muslim League
(PML-N) away from the no confidence move against AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry
Abdul Majeed has given new lease of life to the latter, but many believe it has
wreaked havoc on his own party in the region.
Mr Sharif’s decision came like a bolt from the blue for
the PML-N AJK leaders, who had thrown their weight behind the no trust
resolution to “rid the people of AJK of a corrupt, inefficient and unscrupulous
regime” after a lengthy meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday (July 24).
At the same meeting, a charge sheet against Mr Majeed,
citing alleged corruption of his government in mega deals, was also handed over
to Mr Haider, on the basis of which it was finally decided that the party must
lend support to the no trust resolution.
If one is to believe an Islamabad based anchor of
Kashmiri origin, Mr Sharif invited him for a briefing on the “merits and
demerits” of (supporting) the no trust move, following which he took decision that
his party would remain “impartial.”
The
anchor, who declined to be quoted, claimed before this scribe that Mr Sharif
had no prior formal intimation of the political manoeuvres of his party’s AJK
chapter and that he (PM) had come to know about its support to the no trust
move from the TV tickers and newspaper clippings.
Mr Sharif is deadly against the culture of lota cracy
– a term for turncoats in Pakistan – and that’s why he decided to keep his
party away from the move, stressed the anchor.
What added insult to the injury was the fact the Mr
Sharif did not give audience to PML-N AJK president Raja Farooq Haider to hear
from the horse’s mouth reasons and justification for the supporting the move.
Instead, during his meeting with the anchor, he spoke
to Mr Majeed for about 10 minutes on phone, but did not bother to contact
Haider, his handpicked representative in AJK.
Background interviews with PML-N leaders and other
sources revealed that it was not that Mr Sharif was completely blank about the
no trust move as at least two of his confidants - minister for information
Pervaiz Rasheed and minister for Kashmir affairs Barjees Tahir - were not only
aware of what the party’s AJK chapter was up to but had also expressed their
support.
According to one PML-N sources, the information
minister had uttered a famous Persian verse, Hama’n Yara’n Dozakh, Hama’n Yara’n Bahisht (Together with friends
in Hell or Heaven) before Mr Haider and PML-N AJK secretary general Shah Ghulam
Qadir when the duo met him and told that they (PML-N AJK) had decided, “at the
end of its tether, to support efforts to dislodge Mr Majeed’s corrupt
government.”
On July 25, two days after the submission of no trust
resolution, Barjees Tahir told the official APP news agency that PML-N AJK
would support the no confidence move against Mr Majeed.
Sources claimed that Mr Haider had been seeking an
appointment from Mr Sharif for the past six weeks to seek guidance about the
party’s strategy in AJK “where winds of change had started blowing.” At a
chance meeting in Lahore, Mr Haider was compelled to send a chit to Mr Sharif
scribbled with a request for a meeting but to no avail.
Recently, Mr Sharif made two tours to AJK to inspect
and inaugurate hydropower projects, but could not spare time for a sitting with
his party leaders here. Rather they felt he was offering them cold shoulders,
sources added.
Soon after the TV channels started airing breaking news
that Mr Sharif had decided to remain impartial in AJK, Mr Haider once again
sought a meeting with Mr Sharif. He waited in Islamabad over the next 24 hours,
but there was no call.
Finally, he invited his entire parliamentary party to
meet in Islamabad, and the meeting lasted till 2 am on Friday during which the
participants discussed, and of course vented anger at, what had been done by
their leadership at the last moment.
The message that the PML-N will remain impartial in AJK
was repeated at the federal cabinet meeting earlier in the day. And to ensure
that the PML-N AJK leaders should not take any otherwise decision at the
meeting, they were again reminded of it in a “strong worded” message shortly
before the commencement of their meeting.
“Prime Minister (Sharif) has taken a decision and if
anybody does not fall in line, he will have to face the music,” Mr Rasheed told
Mr Haider by phone, without mincing words.
The meeting heard charged speeches, and Mr Haider, who
otherwise carries the reputation of a straightforward, rather blunt, leader,
kept on listening in a virtual state of helplessness. Finally, the majority’s
opinion prevailed that the party must live with this situation or else they
could “earn ire of Mian sahib.”
It would not be out of place to recall that when PML-N
was being launched in AJK, its leaders here had claimed that they would not act
as “puppets” like that of the PPAJK leaders and instead would enjoy
independence in their internal decisions.
However, the fate of their first ‘independent’ decision
had made a mockery of their claims.
“People will rightfully ask us that will we submit
ourselves in the same manner if tomorrow a decision on Kashmir issue is imposed
on us in the same fashion,” one chagrined leader said.
Party leaders also wonder as to what stance will they
take before the public about their oft-trumpeted allegations, which had also surfaced
in the charge sheet.
Feeling wretched, many PML-N leaders and workers feel
they would hardly be able to play the role of a vigorous and effective
opposition in AJK against a government protected by none other than their own leader
(Mr Sharif).
And many party workers have already started posing
hard-hitting comments and questions on social media.
The PML-N cadres are of the view that while their
central leadership kept on maintaining that they would remain impartial in AJK,
practically it had interfered in AJK to rescue Mr Majeed’s government.
They believe that they have been sacrificed at the
altar of their party’s interests in Pakistan, and for the second time.
Previously, at the time of election of special seats of
AJK Assembly, the PML-N leadership took its AJK chapter by surprise by fielding
Dr Fauzia Ashraf for one reserved seat it was able to grab. The lady had not even visited AJK
before that election, but she was gifted the membership because her spouse, Dr
Tahir Javed of PML-Q, had formed a so-called “Unification Bloc” in the Punjab
Assembly and his support was required to sustain the government of Shahbaz Sharif.
Of course it was not lota cracy by
any means.
This time round it was perhaps the presidential election,
as the PML-N leadership wanted not to annoy the PPP lest it might not leave the
fray. However, that goal remained unachieved after the PPP announced its
boycott of the presidential polls.
And when
earlier in the day a PML-N delegation visited nine zero in Karachi to seek
support of the MQM for its presidential candidate Mamnoon Hussain, many people
were reminded of Mr Sharif’s earlier statements against the urban Sindh based
party, which he had held responsible for all acts of terrorism in Karachi.
Of course that too had nothing to do with the lota cracy or morality as was questioned
by many on the social media, instantly.
All said and done, the PML N leaders in AJK, who were
eyeing next government in AJK, are worried as to how they will do the damage
control and make ordinary voters believe that they do enjoy assertiveness,
independence, credibility and status before their central leadership that will
eventually help them safeguard the interests of this region.
“I don’t think any political force in AJK will trust us
in future. Instead, they may prefer to talk to the anchorpersons whose views
are more valuable for our leader (Mr Sharif) than our observations and
sentiments,” summed up one of the PML-N leaders here.
Ends
