Losing PPP candidate threatens hunger strike till death
ISLAMABAD, May 21: PPP runner-up from upper Chitral’s provincial assembly seat of PK-90, Sardar Hussain, on Monday told a press conference in Islamabad that he was going to launch a hunger strike till death if his demand for recounting of votes was not accepted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
It may be noted that Sardar Hussain lost to Ghulam Mohammad of Pervez Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) by seven votes. His application for recounting of votes at the polling stations of Brep, Parkusap, Chuinj, Sonoghur and Nishku, Laspur, was referred to the election tribunal in Peshawar by the district returning officer of Chitral on Monday.
Speaking at the news conference at the PPP media office, Mr Hussain alleged that even dead people had cast votes in his constituency. Former MPA and president PPP women wing Islamabad Nargis Faiz Malik and MPA-elect from PK-89 Chitral Salim Khan were also present. Mr Sardar Hussain demanded a recount in all the 108 polling stations in his constituency.
He said at the time of counting, the election official had declared that he had bagged only three votes from one ballot box in Chuinj polling station. However, he said, when on his demand a recounting was carried out it transpired that he had got 101 votes.
He warned that he would sit on a hunger strike till death in front of ECP and people of Chitral would also join him in the protest recounting of the votes was not ordered. He said he had already submitted an application with the authorities concerned for recounting of votes.]]>
@Ahmad, Yes, it is right that you can’t realize because you too belong to the Lota group. The dignity of these Khalifas in front of Imam-e-Zaman is remarkable especially that of Pirs who used to go to bring the Farameen Mubarak from the Darbar of the Imam of the time in the past. Now due to your so-called modernity and the missionaries Ismailism is gaining a bad name. Today there are people like you who dancing with the penny and protesting for raising salaries even threaten to close down AKDN organizations and sit on hunger strikes for their own interests. On the other hand, these Khalifas moved on with the true spirit of volunteer service preaching happily with the little amount of the grain which they used to get from the people. Due to you people, who are claiming to be the modern lots, the whole Ismaili religion suffers badly. For people like you, Syedna Nasir Khusraw had said: “Jab naqis alim ban jaye to ilm ki khata hogi.” Watch it is Laghle Badakhshan, in English it is the ruby of Badhkhashan. It is because of people like you and the Khojas that many Ismailis have become alienated with Ismailism.
@Abid Hussain: I must say that your comments “Don’t run after Saddat who used to bury your dead, preach and teach your ancestors the holy Quran”…is the joke of the day. It is a completely wrong impression that Syeds were the only people who had good command over the holy Quran. Let us suppose they taught us the holy Quran, what about the Sunnis who are two steps ahead in learning the holy Quran compared to Ismailis. Who taught them the Quran, the Syed?. In your imagination, you may also give the credit to khalifa. Khalfa – an elderly man from the Syed tribe, used to be appointed by the villagers dominated by Ismali community to perform the rituals after death. Like the blacksmith, the people of the village used to pay the khalifa from their pockets for the job till recently. After every six months, the “mochi” and the “khalifa” used to knock every door to collect their one kilogram grain popularly known as “Khalfa Zho [grain]” and “Mochio zho”. The khalifa had another advantage compared to the mochi as he was entitled to the ‘Khamar [head]’ of the animal slaughtered for “Khudayi” as well as the old clothes which the deceased used to wear.
Mr. Ahmed, Sardar Hussain needs no recommendation from anyone as you have mentioned Pir Karam Ali Shah. You already know he is a versatile leader and hunger strike is not new to him as he already has done this for the public of upper Chitral regarding distribution of electricity especially for people like you who are totally thankless. It is really ridiculous that in Nishku his votes were concealed under the carpet and recovered later. In Chuinj due to the negligence of the presiding officer counting was did wrongly. So don’t run after Saddat who used to bury your dead, preach and teach your ancestors the holy Quran.
The ‘fatwa’ issued by Ms Saira Syed in favour of Syed Sardar Hussain is unjustified because coming from the same tribe her reservations may not be authentic or impartial.
If the victory of Ghulam Mohammad could be questioned, the Syeds of the area right from Phashk, Brep, Chuinj to Rech also left no stone unturned in using illegal means in a bid to crown the crown-less Sardar Hussain in the elections.
The Syeds tried to be united under the umbrella of Sadat union which proved to be a disaster and resulted in a humiliating defeat of Sardar Hussain – putting his very political future at stake as he had managed to get a ticket after hectic efforts with the help of governor Gilgit-Batistan Pir Syed Karam Ali Shah.
And now just like his Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) worst-ever defeat in the recently held general elections, Sardar Hussain is also permanently out from contesting any future elections at least from the platform of his party. So sad Mr Shah, don’t be upset as this is part of the game.
Ms Saira has also taken the plea that there should be recounting of votes on the pretext of narrow margin. But this also carries no weight as a winner is a winner whether he/she leads with seven votes or even one. Again, jumping into the fray with recounting of votes on the insistence of a particular candidate, who has no documentary evidence to substantiate his claim, is wastage of time.
Both Zondran and Syed tribes intensely lobbied for their respective candidates. It was pure luck or call it Musharraf factor that Ghulam Mohammad, a professional contractor, returned to the assembly.
The wealthiest contractor will certainly be flexing his muscles to recover the money he spent in his election campaign. His first priority will now be securing the ill wealth he had accumulated during his first tenure from 2008 to 2013.
Ghulam Mohammad and his fellow from lower Chitral Salim Khan moved from pillar to post to retain the provincial assembly seats in a bid to save their skin as they were reportedly under immense pressure of being put under the scanner for alleged corruption and misuse of funds during their tenure in the last assembly.
Salim Khan has become wealthiest man in Chitral overnight. Same is the case with Ghulam Mohammad as his wealth has increased manifold during his five-year stint as a member provincial assembly.
The need of the hour is that, Sardar Hussain must proceed against the duo instead of wasting time in these sit-ins and hunger strikes which is nothing but an exercise in futility. The time is rife for Sardar Hussain to file a reference with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seeking a thorough investigation into assets of both Salim Khan and Ghulam Mohammad, which will help him in strengthening his credibility among the people of the area.
The demand of PPP’s Syed Sardar Hussain for recounting of votes is a realistic approach because the margin of votes – just seven – by which his opponent has been declared the winner is nothing in the present scenario where people have reached assemblies by defeating their rivals with a thousands of votes.
In many parts of the country, recounting has been ordered where the difference of votes was in thousands. Another fact of this election is the record breaking rigging by some people in this constituency (PK-90). Reliable sources are saying that the MPA-elect distributed millions of rupees among the voters in the shape of cash, wheat, petrol/diesel and even hundreds of wheelbarrows. On the other hand, we cannot level such an allegation against the PPP candidate due to his known financial position.
Lastly, those people who gave votes to the APML candidates in the name of Pervez Musharraf will soon realize that Musharraf slogan was just a political propaganda. The MPA-elect, Ghulam Mohammad, has already announced his decision to join the PTI-led government in KPK in the hope that he would get a cabinet slot. As he is a good businessman, he has to at least recover his ‘investment’ in the election in double profit.
Both Ghulam Mohammad and Sardar Hussain along with their supporters were involved in large-scales fraud and irregularities in the elections. In many polling stations like Brep, Chuinj, Parkusap and Laspur, the two candidates’ supporters from their respective Biradaris in connivance with the poling staff cast bogus votes. By 12 noon, it was announced that the polling staff had run out of indelible ink. Under the law it is illegal to vote without your finger being marked by the ink after you vote. But in this case, objections from neutral people were ignored and then votes were cast even in the name of dead people. Now if the supporters of Ghulam Mohammad got ahead of their competitors and scored more votes for him, the PPP candidate is crying hoarse that despite resorting to rampant illegal practice how he failed to win the seat.