A delegation of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) recently met with the Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) Sindh leaders at the JI headquarter in Karachi. Although leaders of both the politico-religious parties discussed many issues, including registration of religious seminaries in Sindh, the key agenda was to gather the support of the JI in the upcoming by-polls in PS-11 Shikarpur district, scheduled on October 20.

The seat was vacated after the resignation of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) MPA Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh, who joined the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on August 23. Shaikh is now contesting again from the constituency on a PPP ticket.

In the 2013 general elections, bureaucrat-turned-politician Shaikh was backed by the JUI-F because of the 10-party alliance formed against the PPP, won PS-11 by securing 35,010 votes, defeating the PPP candidate, Agha Taimur Khan, who bagged 24,249 votes.

This time, however, the JUI-F candidate, Nasir Mehmood Soomro, son of the party’s slain leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, is giving a stiff competition to the PPP after gaining support from the anti-PPP groups.

In reaction, the PPP sent its Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to Shikarpur on September 19, not only to address an electoral rally but also settle the differences between Shaikh and former candidate Khan. He urged the local leaders and workers to extend support to Shaikh in the by-elections.

In an interesting development Jatois, an influential Shia political family in Shikarpur, announced support for the JUI-F candidate. The family headed the National People’s Party (NPP) before merging with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in 2013.

A few days before the 2013 general polls, Dr Ibrahim Jatoi of NPP from NA-202 narrowly survived a suicide attack. Media reports citing police suggest that a relative of a JUI-F local leader was arrested for involvement in the attack on Jatoi.

In a press conference on September 25, Dr Ibrahim Jatoi, along with other JUI-F leaders, said that the NPP- JUI-F alliance was for the betterment and development of the province, especially Shikarpur District. "The condition of Shikarpur has worsened in the last eight years, so the alliance decided to participate in the by-elections to serve the people of Shikarpur better," he had said.

The Jatoi group also maintained that the family made alliance with the JUI-F to maintain sectarian harmony in Shikarpur District, an area badly affected by suicide attacks.

Zahid Noon, a Shikarpur-based journalist, says that his district has witnessed five suicide attacks in the recent years, and the Shia community has been the key target. "In an imambargah attack over 60 people were killed in January 2015".

At least eight people, including two cops, were injured in two separate suicide blasts in Shikarpur’s Khanpur Tehsil during eid prayers last month. One policeman, Shafiq, succumbed to his wounds later in hospital.

The Shia community, which has significant votes in the constituency, is unlikely to support the JUI-F in the by-polls and the Majlis-e-Wahdat Muslimeen, a Shia group, has declared support for the PPP candidate. "Although Jatois have announced to support the JUI-F candidate, the Shia community will not support the alliance as most of the attackers were from local seminaries run by the JUI-F," says a Shia community leader.

Considering it a huge threat to the security of northern Sindh, law enforcement agencies believe militant groups use seminaries set up in Shikarpur for militancy and sectarianism.

In a recent letter, the Counter Terrorism Department, Sindh, warned the provincial government and relevant authorities that a mushroom growth of seminaries has made districts of northern Sindh, including Shikarpur, insecure.

The JUI-F, all across the country, derives its main support from madrassas. In northern Sindh, the JUI-F has established a network of madrassas on main highways and at entrance and exit points of all districts.

Noon says that it would be very difficult for the JUI-F to defeat the ruling PPP in the by-polls. "The PPP can easily win the by-polls as two rivals -- Shaikh and Khan -- have entered into an alliance," says Noon.

However, having gathered support from the powerful Shia family, PML-F and Sindhi liberal political parties, the JUI-F has now emerged as a significant electoral outfit in the northern Sindh, especially in Shikarpur.

The JUI-F in northern Sindh is different than that in the rest of the country. Ayesha Siddiqa, a security analyst, says that the JUI-F is emerging as an alternative political force in the region. "Need for a political alternative force and growing radicalism in Sindh is making the JUI-F increasingly relevant in the province. The numbers of votes they get from Larkana, the constituency of late Benazir Bhutto, and other neighbouring districts have increased consistently," she had said in an interview conducted earlier. "It is because its leadership does a mix of religion and Sindhi nationalism and is far more responsive to local political needs".

Perhaps, there is truth in Siddiqa’s statement, as leading Sindhi nationalist groups, such as the Sindh United Party, led by Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, grandson of prominent Sindhi nationalist G.M. Syed; Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party, led by Dr Qadir Magsi; and Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz have announced to support the JUI-F in the by-polls.