September 30, 2000

The real message from Acton

There is an astonishing silence in the media on the meeting at the Acton Town Hall in London on September 17 when MQM’s Altaf Hussain, Baluchistan’s Sardar Attaullah Mengal, Pakhtoon leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Sindh’s Syed Imdad Mohammed Shah came on the same platform for the first time. They served notice on the Pakistani establishment: treat us as equal citizens or let us go our own way. A Pakistan minus Punjab would be a mellower and economically more feasible entity, they said.

There must be reasons why the media has been slow to react to this development. First sub-continental reporters stationed in London appear to have ignored the story, possibly because the event took place on a Sunday when journalists, like everybody else, prefer to stay home.

In a world driven with suspicion, a question can be asked: How did I materialise at a meeting held in an obscure borough in London? I was travelling between San Francisco, New York and Washington, trying to put together TV features on the Indian diaspora. One evening in Washington I received a call from one Mohammad Anwar, attached to MQM’s International Bureau in London. I had met him in London when I had interviewed Altaf Hussain immediately after the military coup last October.

Anwar said he was keen that I cover the story. ‘‘The time has now come to acquaint the people of India and Indian Muslims, with the oppressive yoke of the army and Punjab that Sind, Baluchistan and Paktoonistan have lived under - we can’t take it any longer.’’ He said leaders of the three provinces were coming together for the first time. It seemed like a sensational story. I was faced with a dilemma. The prime minister’s Washington visit was peaking. The Acton meeting had been scheduled for September 17, the day Clinton held his banquet. I made my choice and left for London.

Acton Town Hall does not have the airs of a structure where history might be made. It is a run-down, neglected red brick building. A waiting OB van outside signalled arrangements for elaborate TV coverage. Official security was reinforced by MQM’s own: every guest was doubly frisked after being made to pass through a metal detector.

In a private meeting in the green room, I expressed my scepticism at this ‘‘very dramatic coming together of so many leaders on the same platform’’. ‘‘We have been left with no alternative but to unite and put up a joint struggle against the hegemony of the army and Punjab,’’ Mengal said.

I asked him how is it that it took so long for the leaders of the three provinces to come together. This is his reply: ‘‘So long as we had the stamina to suffer the miseries inflicted upon us, we suffered the miseries. But now we can’t survive any longer. There is no way out. So now it is either we, with all our rights, or we reach a dead end. Whatever the result, we shall hit back.

I also wanted to know how he perceived the attitudes of the different leaders — Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Pervez Musharraf — towards him.
According to Mengal, the rulers were always the same: the Punjabi dominated army. ‘‘Today it is ruling in uniform. Earlier it was ruling us indirectly through Benazir or Nawaz Sharif?’’

Then I queried, ‘‘What is the point of launching this movement in London? In Pakistan you had no culture of mass politics, of political mobilization. You still remain a feudal people. It would have been tough even if you had launched the movement from within Pakistan. What is the chance of success from here?’’
To this Mengal only said, ‘‘Please wait and see.’’ About his next step, he was cryptic. ‘‘Soon the activities in Pakistan will explain themselves.’’ But he never divulged what these activities were going to be. Interestingly, it was at this point that Altaf Hussain intervened. Said he, ‘‘In the presence of a huge army with lethal weapons and huge resources, it is very difficult for people of smaller provinces to get their rights through peaceful means. The time has come for all oppressed nations to unite, to fight for their rights.’’

Altaf clarified that according to the Lahore declaration of 1940, there was to be equal rights to all autonomous states. ‘‘Now we shall place the ball in the court of the army — in fact in the court of the true ruler of Pakistan, that is the ISI.’’
I then asked him about what he thought were the reasons for the continuous hostility towards India, that the Pakistan army displayed. Said Altaf in response, ‘‘This is part of the conspiracy of the Punjabi establishment. For 53 years they have kept up their solidarity on the Kashmir issue. If we, the people of Pakistan, exercise our rights, we will resolve this issue through dialogue, through peaceful means. We have to live in peace with all our neighbours, including India.’’ And then he thumped the table and said, ‘‘Moreover, the two nation theory died in 1971. Partition was a blunder.’’

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