Shaken by an overwhelming criticism - locally and internationally - over assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the credibility-starved government is giving a linguistic twist to the violence triggered after Ms Bhutto's assassination, particularly in her home province of Sindh to divert public attention by dividing them on ethnic lines.  
Ms Bhutto's assassination just a few miles away from the GHQ in the garrison city of Rawalpindi triggered widespread violence all over the country, especially in Sindh costing a loss of Rs100 billion during the next four days. 
Sindh was the worst affected province, where rioters caused a loss of Rs80 billion by setting government and private properties on fire, torching thousands of  vehicles, besides killing 22 people.  
No doubt, the government for the first time in history announced a three-day mourning on the death of an opposition leader, however, just after 72 hours, a half-page advertisement in major newspapers issued by  the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) claiming that under a calculated campaign, the rioters (Sindhis) damaged, and torched the properties of Punjabis and Mohajirs settled in Sindh after assassination of Ms Bhutto, stunned the nation. 
The advertisement asked the four major communities Punjabi, Mohajir, Baloch and Pushtun to submit the details of their losses with a so-called complaint cell set up by the PML-Q so that they would be compensated. 
The PML-Q claims to set up a "refugee camp" in Lahore for those Punjabis who were allegedly forced  by Sindhis to leave their province. 
The same line was adopted by the embattling President  Pervez Musharraf who in his televised address to the nation without naming Punjabis and Mohajirs claimed that the rioters targeted people belonging to particular
ethnic backgrounds. 
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of the  hardcore allies of President Pervez Musharraf does not lag behind. The MQM's self-exiled chief, Altaf Hussein, issued an "open letter" to Sindhi brothers, sisters, and mothers asking them "what was the sin of Mohajirs  who have been targeted after assassination of Benazir Bhutto? Did Mohajirs kill her? If not, then why were the properties of Mohajirs torched in the interior of Sindh". 
He too set up a complaint cell asking the victims to  submit the details of their respective losses.  But, the independent sources and analysts contest the government claims dubbing it a calculated attempt to divert the public attention.
Shahid Shah, a Karachi-based journalist who traveled  around the Sindh province to report the violence has a totally different view about what the pro-Musharraf parties are trying to establish. 
"The people of Sindh are currently suffering from a double trauma. After burying their beloved leader  Benazir Bhutto, they are today being blamed by the government of being the villains rather than victims of the violence that broke out in Sindh in the aftermath of the tragedy. To rub salt on their wounds, the ruling party has even tried to target the Sindhis through an unsavory advertisement campaign,” Mr Shah said. 
Contrary to the propaganda, Mr Shah says Sindhis are as much the victims of the violence that broke out  after Ms Bhutto's assassination. 
"The law enforcing agencies mysteriously disappeared and left the field open to criminal elements across the province who took advantage of the tragedy and looted citizens indiscriminately. Some of them even  used the disturbances to settle old scores", Shah contended. 
In Ghotki, for example, notorious dacoit Qadroo Chachar looted banks in broad daylight and that too near a police station. Professional dacoits also  entered Jacobabad and other cities in the aftermath of the tragedy. 
Benazir Bhutto's home district Larkana was where the largest number of people, mostly Sindhi-speaking, fell victim to the violence. Property in the area was  either burnt or looted. More than 50 shops were looted in the city and only one of them was a shop owned by a non-Sindhi. 
Nazir Shaikh, the owner of the city's famous "City Bakery" died of a heart attack as a result. His two  storeyed building worth around Rs100 million was burnt down by a mob. The PML-Q did not mention his death anywhere in its expensive advertisement campaign, perhaps because he was a local.
More than 28 shops in Shahi bazaar and 18 shops in  Resham bazaar were also looted along with other shops on the main roads in Larkana. One eyewitness told newsmen that flag-waving PPP workers came and forced the shops to close, and then some others moved in to  wreak havoc. Locals did not recognise them as PPP workers. The men chanted slogans of 'Jeay Bhutto' and  burnt and looted the shops. Police arrested three persons after shopkeepers identified them but they  were freed after some 'understanding'. 
In Jacobabad, 70 shops were looted. Almost all of them belonged to Sindhi-speaking people and they had no connection with any political party. More than 50 shops were looted in Kandhkot alone. They also  belonged to ethnic Sindhis. According to one resident, Babal Khan Jakhrani, ex-MNA and Taluka Nazim Sajjad Khan Jakhrani protected the property of the citizens when the police went into hiding after the trouble  began. The Jakhranis are local leaders of the PPP. Their private guards, in fact, saved the citizens from further violence and losses. 
With the exception of former federal minister Liaqat Ali Jatoi's house, a majority of damage in Dadu was  also not targeted. Here, criminal elements looted whatever came in their way. Around 10 shops, including one shop selling arms and ammunition, were looted near the police station. The owner of the shop also happened to be a Sindhi and had no connection with any party. 
Shaheen Sehbai, a senior political analyst opines that Sindhis are totally baffled and confused over the attitude of Punjabi establishment. 
"Deeply aggrieved, full of anger and passionately in mourning, Sindhis are baffled and confused at the strange reaction in Punjab, specially the ruling elite which has adopted an aggressively parochial attitude,  not just against the PPP but against entire Sindh, after the death of Benazir Bhutto,” Mr Sehbai said. 
He thinks that the accusations that large numbers of Punjabis have been forced to flee Sindh and become refugees in their province may help the PML-Q leaders rebuild their shattered election campaign but it is certainly not helping national unity and the cause of the federation of Pakistan. 
"I got an interesting explanation by talking to residents and locals that most of the damage all along  the National Highway (that connects Karachi with rest parts of province) was in areas and constituencies which were not PPP strongholds and were either represented by Muslim Leagues or other breakaway PPP factions. Many gas and petrol stations were still totally undamaged while just in front of them, on the
road, cars and buses had been burnt. The protestors were either not interested in burning some property or were cleverly selective in picking their targets", Mr Sehbai maintained.   
"So when the majority PPP dominated areas were relatively quiet, how would the violence in non-PPP  areas be explained?", he asked .  He thinks that the setting up of a so-called refugee camp in Lahore is a hitting blow to the federation. 
"The creation of a refugee center in the heart of Lahore was almost hitting the federation below the belt. Some of the Punjabi small businessmen, roadside gas station owners and hotel stops whom we met on our journey were highly critical of this Punjab move. One of them told us that he was always a PML voter but would now vote for the PPP as Punjabi leadership, especially close to the establishment, was unfair".   
"He told us that he is safe and doing his business without any fear though he admitted that for four days after the Bhutto murder, he did not come out of the house or open his business. His hotel and shops had not been touched by anyone during the riots", Mr Sehbai said. 
Begum Mehnaz Rafi, one of three in charges of the PML-Q complaint cell told weekly Pulse that the controversial advertisement was issued on the pressure of party's Sindh leaders.  
"There was no bad intention behind this ad. When our attention was drawn, we immediately corrected that and included the name of Sindhi community also", she said.   According to Ms Rafi, the PML-Q Sindh leaders, including former Chief Minister, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim told the central party leadership that their houses and properties have been targeted by the PPP workers, therefore they must be provided security and shelter.   She, however, could not elaborate as to why a refugee camp has been set up in Lahore?  
Manzoor Brohi, a PPP student wing leader appears to be moved by the huge ads in newspapers from the PML, which isolate Sindhis and speak of large-scale migration from Sindh.  "What do they want now that they have killed so many of our leaders? Do they want to push us into the sea. This is all rubbish and meant to fan hatred against Sindh for political gains," he reacted.  
The PPP leadership is having a bad time in the sense that they have been pushed to the wall and now fears  they have to take on the establishment, which they fear would be a disaster for the country. 
Senior leaders candidly admit that the death of Benazir Bhutto has landed the party into a crisis but unity in the ranks and swift transition of power from  Benazir to Asif Zardari has helped the party leaders and cadres focus on the real issue of winning the elections, helped by the sympathy wave. 
Despite the concerted efforts of the pro-Musharraf parties to spread ethnic hatred, non-Sindhis term  these tactics as being against the solidarity of the  country.
Dilber Khan, an ethnic Pushtun and vice president of the damaged Light House market in Karachi, said Sindhis are generally peace-loving people and he is  not afraid of them. 
Talking to newsmen at the Light House bazaar, where  more than 10 shops were burnt during the violence, he rejects the stories of ethnic hatred being a motive for the strife. 
"I have been living here for years and years. Sindhi people
are as patriotic as anyone else in this country. In fact, Sindhis, help us control the fire", he said.  PPP OPINION:  The government is trying to divide the nation on linguistic basis in order to put the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in backburner, Opposition Leader in Senate, Mian Raza Rabbani said,  " The government is toeing the same policy of divide and rule, which had been toed by former military ruler, General Zia-ul-Haq after the death of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a former premier and father of Ms Bhutto, who was hanged in a murder case on July 5, 1979," Mr Rabbani said.  
"But the fact, the establishment is not recognising that the federation is much weaker than it was in 1979, and is not in a position to bear the brunt of such nasty and highly irresponsible tactics", he maintained. 
Mr Rabbani, who is also the deputy secretary general of the PPP, says that his party is operating for the first time in its history without a Bhutto. 
"The establishment must not forget the fact that there is no Benazir Bhutto. We are operating without a towering personality like her. Therefore, it must desist from dividing the people on linguistic basis just because of its nefarious designs, otherwise the federation may face dire consequences", he opined.  
Rabbani says that the PPP was in much better position to play " Sindh card" after assassination of Ms Bhutto, but it has once again opted to play the "federation card". 
"We are in much better position to incite the sentiments of Sindhis, and other smaller communities, but we will never do that in the interest of  Pakistan", he said. 
Condemning the advertisement campaign launched by the ruling PML-Q, and its allied parties, the PPP leader observes that the ruling parties should not play with the integrity of the country.