From ‘yari to ghadari’, what is next?

Their friendship lasted for 40 to 45 years. They were among the closest in a group of six. They were all apolitical and had a lot to share since the days at the Cadet College, Petaro, a common friend of Asif Ali Zardari and Dr Zulfiqar Mirza recalled their teen age, which has now turned into an enmity and the biggest sufferer is the Pakistan Peoples Party. Where will this fight lead to is causing concern in the party circles Is there any hope of mediation?
“Tooti, as we use to call Mirza because of his long nose and Asif Ali Baloch (now Asif Ali Zardari), who had a reputation of badshah among us. We were very close and have shared lots of things in the last four decades. It’s sad to see old buddies fighting like this,” he said, on condition of anonymity.
Asif, Javed Pasha and I were at the Jinnah House, Mirza at Liaquat House and Asim at Ayub House in Cadet College, but for all of us Asif was a badshah, because of his generous behavior and Mirza always had this temperamental problem, though he is a fighter.
“I am not sure what led to their fight but certainly it has nothing to do with politics, as we all appreciate the way Asif despite facing one of the worst media trials of any politician emergedas a man of crisis and I know for the fact had helped Mirza a lot,” he said.
Today, none of the common friends is siding with Mirza because he has refused to listen to anyone. He always went through such phases, which one hope would pass away soon.Mirza once told this scribe his liking for John Rambo, First Blood, fame, and his love for keeping most sophisticated weapons, which are in hundreds at his Karachi and Badin residences.
But the situation has now taken a very ugly turn and the situation has reached a point of no return. So, what will Mirza do next as even his close friends in the PPP, some of whom were common friends of both, are not ready to side with him after his personal attack on Zardari.
People like Aga Siraj Durrani, Dr Asim and Sharjeel Memon are no more with Mirza while younger Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman is also disappointed with the present crisis within the party due to Mirza’s outburst. But, where is elder Makhdoom i.e. Makhdoom Amin Fahim. His role can be crucial in the party, but has he prolonged his stay abroad because of the situation?
Some sources said Makhdoom sb was not in favor of issuing a show cause notice to Fehmida Mirza and her son Mohsin Mirza by the Secretary General of Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) Raja Pervez Ashraf. The notice was sent to Makhdoom sb, for his consent, being the President of PPPP, but apparently he has not approved it.
There was no voice for Mirza in the PPP Sindh Council, which once was fully behind him during his days as the Sindh home minister, but some members privately suggest to the Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah that efforts should be made not to involve the family, sources said.
Asif Ali Zardari last met Mirza after Dr Fehmida recovered from cancer. In a meeting held at their Karachi residence they did discuss problems within the two without reaching any consensus.
Mirza was happy when Bilawal Bhutto was launched and backed him till he was finally sidelined for different reasons. There is now a very little chance of his return to politics unless something dramatic happens. Chances of Assefa taking over the party as chairperson are getting brighter.
So, where will Mirza and his family will go without getting much support from the PPP, at least till Sindh government is intact and PPP-PML (N) friendly relationship continued. There was not
a single voice for him within the party. Pro-Mirza demonstrations are also confined to Badin, not even in Lyari after the PPP withdrew its support to Uzair Baloch, whom Mirza used against the MQM during the days of his ministry.
The silent support apparently came from the elder Makhdoom because he has neither condemned him nor sided with him, yet. If someone had seen and I am sure many PPP leaders must have seen the TV talk show in which both were there, Amin Fahim, on phone and Mirza on video link.
Mirza had all praise for Makhdoom sb and even suggested that such people should lead the party. Makhdoom sb was soft in his reaction to what Mirza is doing, though he did not endorsed his views but had not condemned it either.
People are still in search of the main cause of the fight. Was it political or business?
“I think it started from the day when Mirza was removed as interior minister and that too on the advice of Governor of Sindh Dr Ishratul Ibad,” said a source.“I was used against Altaf Hussain and MQM. When I went too far, I was asked to stop it,” Mirza was quoted as saying to the source.
Mirza was blamed for not only launching a massive operation against the MQM, but also issuing over 100,000 arms license to its opponents led by one faction of Lyari gang war. All this led to a bloody fight in Karachi.
Today, Mirza blames Asif for using him and said in a TV interview, “I was told by Asif that he was making me home minister because only I could handle the MQM. Later, he made a compromise with Altaf,” he said.
“Mirza was advised to control his temper,” source said. However, reaction from the Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali after Sindh Council meeting may further aggravate the situation.
His case of going to the police station and misbehaving with the police officer is certainly not fit for a military court as announced by the chief minister.Now, if the case of issuing arms licenses to the alleged terrorists and criminals is sent to a military court, many heads might roll, as Mr. Shah himself was the chief minister when Mirza was home minister.
This scribe knows Mirza and his highly respected wife Dr Fehmida Mirza from Hyderabad. If Mirza’s case is sent to a military court, or if he gets “hurt”, she would come out more aggressively and this could lead to revolt in the party.
Now, Zulfiqar Mirza and Fehmida Mirza may not be very strong political figures within the PPP Sindh and have the capacity of creating any major dent, but at the same time Asif Ali Zardari also knows that this rift can widen with the support of some other stalwarts in the party. The real test will come at the time of next general elections.
Sources said Makhdoom’s differences within the PPP are also known and at one stage he had almost made up his mind to come on public but Asif Zardari in a smart move accepted all his demands in a meeting also attended by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
Soon after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Zardari had even named Makhdoom Amin Fahim as the party’s candidate for prime minister before he immediately withdrew it after his close colleague said something to him.
This is perhaps for the first time that Asif Ali Zardari is confronting any of his old friends. The man, who enjoyed the reputation of “yaron ka yar,” is finding himself in a tight corner to handle someone who shared many “secrets” as friends and partners.
So, though Zardari himself has recently advised the party to change the slogan from “aik zardari sub per bari” to “aik Zardari sub sey yari”, he is now finding it difficult to enforce this very slogan on his school days “yar” whom he now considers as “Ghadar.” What Mirza considered is not different, if not Ghadar at least “bewafa.”
Even a business like “sugarcane” took away sweetness from their friendship.
The writher is a senior columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang.