MQM has long tried to make inroads in Lahore. The controversial party is quite ‘known’ for their popularity in Karachi, much like Zardari is known for his popularity all over Pakistan.
I remember linking MQM’s first try to get into Lahore by opening a center here, with a sudden increase in reports of mobile snatching. Nevertheless, the following is a great reminder our political parties will go to, to show their strength (much like MQM ‘show of strength’ on that fateful day in Karachi when people were shown being shot at on national television).

MQM Rally photoshopped

Thanks to this keen-eyed blogger, we have now a ‘large presence of MQM in Baltistan, Skardu’. The image is photoshopped to show a larger crowd. More details here

In the present time of a National crisis, a strange issue has arose to haunt the IDPs of Swat and other areas affected by the ongoing military operation against the militants. The brotherly governments of the provinces of Punjab and Sindh have banned the entry of IDPs into their respective territories amidst fears of social unrest and related security woes. Punjab government alternatively is assisting the displaced only by providing medical and food supplies to the camps at places including Mardan and has been verbally barring IDPs from their province.

Sindh government, on the other hand, has sternly taken action by stranding thousands of men, women and children from Swat at Sindh-Punjab border, Kashmore. The decision has been taken by the PPP government in Sindh and is supported by its ally, the MQM. The main argument given is the fear of the Taliban disguised as IDPs entering into Karachi and other parts of the province; eventually creating a situation there.

There are parties who are in favor of this decision and do not want terror-struck people from the Northern parts of the country to de-stabilize their social fabric. And then there are others who feel such discriminatory behavior towards the victims is not appropriate and that all Pakistanis should be free to move to any part of the country.

The question is; will it be possible for our national government to adequately manage, feed, and treat more than 2 million people at make-shift camps with conditions no worthy of human occupation? And for how long will it be able to keep these millions away from desperately joining the ranks of forces against the government and the state of Pakistan, especially when they are even being shunned by everyone including other provincial governments??

What does he really want, no one knows.
What he possibly could want, a lot of us can guess (a higher percentage this time around perhaps?).
What he has gained by losing so much, all of us can see.

His dilly-dallying over the judges issues is not a surprise at all. He could not afford to restore a judge that is going to take away Zardari’s ticket to freedom, namely the NRO. This much should be quite obvious. And this much is the real test of the litmus variety, for our judiciary; will they or won’t they nullify the NRO.

The NRO, in all legal aspects, is considered to be the epitome of legalizing illegality; an insult to the process of lawmaking itself. The beauty of it is that the majority (more than two-third) of the lawmakers (the graduate assembly of President Musharaf) did not approve of it to begin with. Transparency International’s Pakistani chapter, apart from telling us how corrupt we really are, has called the NRO an offense against convention itself! NRO was also designed to ensure that PML-N leadership gets nothing out of it.

Now, Zardari, in all his potential wisdom accumulated over all these years, is playing for the whole package. I have never voted for PPP, before or after Mrs. Benazir Zardari. I find the appearance of MQM in Lahore and subsequent rise in mobile theft, kidnapings and arson to be more than just a coincidence. I really want to meet an MQM supporter in real life, because till now I find it hard to imagine someone actually believing Altaf ‘expat’ Hussain. I want to meet him (or her) and then stay quite, lest ‘they’ shoot me in the leg, or my right eyeball.

I like the way the insanely corrupt bureaucracy is already cringing and returning their ‘accessories’ in fear of a strict administrator in the form of Shahbaz Sharif. Strict is good when even the good is the worst.

Have I completely lost more than just the plot when I link MQM with a higher number of ‘related’ theft here in Lahore? Anyone?