Contacted all stakeholders to prevent May 12 violence, recalls Ishratul Ibad
Former Sindh governor Dr Ishratul Ibad has said he contacted all the stakeholders to prevent the May 12, 2007 violence but no one heeded his call for calm.
In an interview to this correspondent, Ibad revealed that the British government wrote to the founder of the London-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement asking him to dismiss Ibad’s resignation.
He recalled that the Sindh Bar Council had invited deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry to address lawyers in Karachi on May 12, 2007.
Things started to get worse when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also announced a rally on the same day in favour of the then-President Gen Pervez Musharraf.
Anticipating trouble, Dr Ibad started back-door parleys with all the players in Karachi; however, no one relented.
London to Rawalpindi
On June 27, 2011, Ishrat received a phone from the London Headquarters of the MQM telling him to submit his resignation to the president immediately. The call came after he had successfully managed to ensure the safe return of Pakistani sailors—held hostage by Somali pirates.
The incident had grabbed the media attention as the hijacked ship was also carrying Indian nationals but no one from the Indian government came forward to help their men. It was solely the job done by Dr Ibad. The governor had collected the ransom amount with the help of businessmen, sought logistic help from the ISI, headed by Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, and of course from the Pakistan Navy.
As many as 22 people, including six Pakistanis, were recovered safely.
"A day before the welcome celebrations were held in which the image of the country and its forces—particularly the Pakistan Navy and the intelligence services—was highlighted, I received a phone call from London to resign," Ibad remembered.
“I was disappointed but had no option,” Ibad said.
He resigned the next day and left for Dubai. This was not the first time he had resigned; rather it was the fifth time. Meanwhile, he received a call from Lt Gen Pasha, who was travelling to the United States for the strategic dialogue and wanted to see Ibad in Dubai. Pasha reached the Dubai airport and Ibad was waiting to see him there.
“I wanted to inform you that your resignation has not been accepted. You have to return and resume your charge as the Sindh governor,” General Pasha told Ibad.
“It is shocking but I do not want to resume as governor until I am ordered by the party,” Ibad clearly told Pasha.
“Fine, but stay here for some time,” responded Pasha and left.
Meanwhile, the then-British High Commissioner to Pakistan Adam Thomson and British Consulate in Karachi Francis also approached Ibad for resuming office as they too were concerned about the stability of Karachi. Francis had developed a close relationship with Ibad apparently because of his performance as the governor.
Ibad confined himself to a hotel room in Dubai for 22 days. His contact with the outer world was only through his mobile phone. During those days, a British diplomat contacted him and told him that Her Majesty’s government had written a letter to the MQM founder for letting him resume as the governor and soon tje founder would call him. This was unbelievable for Ibad.
In the third week of July, he received a call from the party founder. “I have decided that you would resume the office of governor,” he told Ibad.
“Bhai, I have already resigned; I do not want to resume,” Ibad replied.
“You have to listen to me. I am ordering you to resume,” said the party leader.
Then he dictated around six demands to Ibad and directed him to call then-president Asif Ali Zardari and tell him about the MQM's demands.
“I was also ordered to tell President Zardari that I would join only if the demands were met,” shared Ibad.
As Ibad called Zardari, the then president said: “I know everything you should just come back.”
“Sir, I do not want to come back,” Ibad said. Then Zardari called the MQM founder and the party chief called Ibad again, forcing him to resume his duties. This time, Ibad accepted the directives.
Then-president Zardari sent a special plane to Dubai to bring Dr Ibad back. He resumed office as governor on July 19, 2011.
a few days later, the Sindh governor was invited to the Army House, Rawalpindi where Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, along with Lt Gen Pasha, met him. This was a pivotal meeting for the governor, when he shifted his loyalties from London to Rawalpindi.
“I was told different things, so I made decisions as my conscience dictated,” Dr Ibad said, while recalling the decisive day of his life. He further added, “I was very clear — in my mind — that the journey ahead will be far more strenuous, but I will keep the national interest supreme.”
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