The general, the dog & the flasher

[jha]

Sindh, September, 1983. The agitation by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) is whirling out of control, not only for the reactionary dictatorship of General Ziaul Haq but for the MRD leadership as well.

Ever since MRD announced the beginning of a nationwide movement against the Zia regime (August 14, 1983), the Pakistani province of Sindh is in great turmoil.

Its capital Karachi is witnessing court arrests and protest rallies on a daily basis by labour and trade unionists, student leaders and anti-Zia politicians.

But it is the central and northern parts of the province that are in the grip of serious violence. The MRD movement here has taken the shape of a Sindhi uprising bordering on a Sindhi nationalist insurgency against the Pakistan Army.

MRD activist shot dead by military troops in Moro, Sindh, September 1983. –Photo Courtesy: BBC

Faced with a volley of questions (mainly by foreign journalists) regarding his military regime’s challenged legitimacy in Sindh, Zia decides to prove that ‘only a handful of troublemakers’ are involved in the violence taking place against his government in the troubled province.

Zia’s plane lands in Karachi. From here he plans to fly to Hyderabad with his posse. Joining him here is a crew from the state-controlled Pakistan Television (PTV) that will cover the general’s ‘successful tour of Sindh.’

The rallies being taken out against him by leftist students, journalists, trade unionists, women rights groups and politicians in Karachi don’t bother him.

Most of the country’s senior anti-Zia leadership has already been put behind bars, while the second tier leadership of agitating student outfits, trade and journalist unions and anti-Zia political parties ‘are being made an example of’ by being publically flogged.

Trade unionist, politician and MRD leader, Miraj Muhammad, being hauled up by the police in Karachi. –Photo Courtesy: Zahid Husain

In Hyderabad, Zia talked about the inherent patriotism of all Sindhis. By this he meant not only indigenous Sindhis, but the Urdu-speakers (Mohajirs) and the Punjabis settled in the province as well.

Radical left-wing Sindhi nationalist leader, Rasool Baksh Palejo, scoffed at Zia’s comment. Palejo was languishing in a jail at the time, but a Sindhi newspaper managed to publish his reaction.

In 1983 there was no Mohajir/Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM). The Mohajir majority in Karachi and Mohajirs in the rest of Sindh were voters and supporters of three main political parties.

The progressive Mohajirs were associated with the PPP and with various leftist student outfits such as the NSF; the conservative Mohajirs backed the Jamat-i-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema Pakistan (JUP).

After the rise and growth of MQM in 1986 however, almost every Mohajir would go on to become a MQM devotee.

But in 1983 there were just a few Mohajir nationalist organisations, all of them small and largely based out of Hyderabad. They too decided to sit out the MRD movement.

The Sindhi nationalists’ biggest grudge during the MRD movement, however, was with the Punjabi settlers. Sindhi nationalists had been accusing the Zia regime of sending and settling ambitious Punjabi traders and agriculturalists in Sindh to prop-up a constituency for himself in the province.

The nationalists claimed that these settlers were taking over Sindhi businesses and jobs and siding with pro-Zia feudal lords to repress Sindhi nationalism.

Zia knew that the pocket rallies he was to address beyond Hyderabad will be organised by outfits run by these settlers; outfits like the New Sindhi Organisation and the New Sindhi Students Organisation (NSSO).

So on he went to tour the troubled interior of the Sindh province. He particularly wanted the cameras to capture his tour of Dadu and Moro, the two cities most affected by the movement.

It was decided by his security team that he will use an army helicopter to fly there. His aids seemed a tad fidgety and nervous, because to curb the movement, the military had begun to use tanks and heavy weaponry, wiping out whole villages in the process.

The thick forests around Moro and Dadu had become sanctuaries for hundreds of activists escaping Zia’s tanks and gunships. Another rallying point for the activists, mostly angry young men, were the many big and small shrines of Sufi saints across Sindh.

As Zia sat in the helicopter, waiting to land in Dadu, some of his military advisers shared with him the army’s latest triumphs in the area: Hundreds of ‘troublemakers/traitors/agents’ had been arrested and eliminated, he was told. And that a plan was also afoot to flush out rebels from the shrines and the forests.

That had made Zia even more nervous. Most influential pirs of Sindh were already opposing him, especially the Pir of Hala. So Zia contacted another influential pir, Pir Pagara, asking him to use his influence to make the keepers of the shrines reject Sindhi rebels.

Pagara tried, and failed. But thankfully, no tanks were sent to the shrines.

Sufi shrines such as this one in Khairpur were prominent rallying points and sanctuaries for MRD activists.

One September evening of 1983, Pakistanis watched a video clip on PTV’s 9 pm Urdu news showing Zia descending from an army helicopter and being greeted by a dozen or so smiling men in Sindhi caps.

Viewers were told that Zia was ‘warmly greeted by patriotic Sindhis during his tour of Sindh.’ Zia seemed to be beaming.

The next day, however, when Pakistanis tuned into BBC Radio’s Urdu service at 8 pm, the BBC newscaster after detailing the nature of the day’s rallies, protest marches and violence in Sindh, added two more reports from the BBC correspondent covering Zia’s trip.

These reports also became the topic of amusement at the Karachi Press Club that too was heavily involved in accommodating the journalists taking a direct part in the movement.

This is what happened: As Zia’s helicopter landed at a helipad in Dadu, he was greeted by a few men wearing Sindhi caps. He was then escorted towards a bulletproof limousine, followed by army jeeps. He was expecting the roads of Dadu to be lined up by Sindhis cheering his arrival. In fact he was sure that his men had done well to organise a colourful show of his popularity for the TV cameras.

His motorcade moved into the city, on way to a building where he was expected to speak to the press. To his satisfaction, he did find a sprinkling of people on the roadsides, holding little Pakistani flags, until his speeding limo almost hit a stray dog.

But this was no ordinary dog. It had been pushed in front of the general’s motorcade by the small roadside crowd. On the dog’s tense body something (in Urdu) was scribbled with red paint. It said: ‘Ziaul Haq!’

The journalists and the BBC correspondent accompanying the motorcade were not sure what Zia’s reaction to this was. But this is not all.

As the motorcade moved on, a donkey was being made to run on the edges of the scruffy Dadu road that Zia’s limo was travelling on. The poor beast was being chased by small kids and on its body too the red paint screamed Zia’s name.

So much for the show of pomp and popularity the general was expecting from his aids.

The general’s limo now gathered speed, until it came to a bumpy portion of the road. Here it slowed down. In front of the limo was an army jeep. The jeep came to a sudden halt and soldiers rushed out. What happened?

A middle-aged man, hiding in a tree whose branches hung over this part of the road had suddenly jumped (from the tree) and landed right in front of Zia’s motorcade.

The man was wearing a traditional Sindhi dress that also included a dhoti (a long piece of cloth wrapped around the waist, reaching till the ankles).

As the man was about to be hauled up by the soldiers, he lifted his dhoti to expose his privates and shouted (in Sindhi) ‘Bhali karey aya! Bhali kary aya!’ (Welcome! Welcome!).

Nobody knows what happened to the gentleman/flasher after he was arrested. But Zia did decide to end his ‘famous’ tour of Sindh the very next day – terming it a ‘great success.’

Benazir Bhutto was in jail throughout the MRD movement. She went into exile later. The movement was crushed by Zia, but it did help set the scene for Benazir to make a triumphant return to Pakistan in 1986.

References:
DAWN (August/September 1983)
BBC Radio’s Urdu Service archives
Author’s personal interviews with Miraj Muhammad Khan (2009)
A. Ahmed’s ‘The Rebellion of 1983’
AA Chandio’s ‘Struggle for Democracy in Sindh’

The general, the dog & the flasher | DAWN.COM

Very Interesting read...