“The never ending one sided bigotry and hate campaign initiated soon after the independence against Punjab and Punjabis does have a bloody agenda duly equipped with deadly consequence ”
Here is what we may call an exclusive account and selection of Anti-Punjab articles, news and views collected from Pakistani Press with the sole purpose of educating young Punjabi generation about what exactly is happening around them, what has future for them ,for Punjab and for Pakistan in store. “The never ending one sided bigotry and hate campaign against Punjab and Punjabis does have a deadly agenda which is equipped with bloody consequences.Mother tongue hater,Punjab hater and Self hating fake Punjabi ruling elite, educated and intelligentsia have already murdered Punjabi language and are totally unaware of the deadly consequences of the ongoing anti-Punjab hate campaign in all the four provinces being organised by Punjab haters mafia through media and political activity.In my honest opinion,Pakistan is fast heading towards another bloody civil war and disintegration, worse than Dacca fall.
``First watch an exemplary self hating Punjabi video``
Video:Watch educated, with an extreme low self esteem, self hating Punjabis abusing Punjab and Punjabis
through Karachi based Urdu print and electronic media,not even knowing what they are talking about.
The hegemony of Punjab over the rest of PakistanMohammed Hanif, author of "A case of exploding mangoes" makes an interesting case about the dominance of Punjab over the rest of Pakistan. Very few intellectuals are able to speak so candidly about this issue, which is no doubt controversial but does forces one to analyze the role of Punjab and the Punjabi ruling elite in particular in our country's power structure since its inception. In fact, he calls Punjab as being the province with the most separatist ideology. By the way, he is a Punjabi himself.
Video: Indefinite powers of Punjab, the cause of separatist views in other parts of Pakistan
The Punjabi hegemony
by Raza Habib Raja
The current structure is skewed, whether deliberately or inadvertently, in favour of Punjab. Hence, not surprisingly, the identity of Punjab’s middle-class is strongly reminiscent of official version of what constitutes a Pakistani
The selective way of presenting history in Pakistan conveniently ignores the fact that at its creation, there were two large sometimes contrasting and sometimes overlapping movements. The first was primarily centred around Muslim identity and tried to actually bargain a better position for its bearers. This movement though ended up in carving a separate homeland for the Muslims, nevertheless did not have that strong separatist thrust at least in the beginning.
However, the Islamic identity itself was not the only identity assumed by Muslims as strong ethnic nationalist tendencies existed particularly in the region which later became Pakistan. Thus the ethnic nationalist movements in Khyber Pakhtoonkwha and Baluchistan existed even before the partition. Let’s not forget that Khyber Pakhtoonkwha and Baluchistan were not fully comfortable when they “opted” for Pakistan. At best their support for Pakistan was tepid. West Pakistan at its creation was a multi-ethnic region with strong individual demands for greater autonomy based on linguistic and ethnic lines. The residents were largely Muslims but at the same time they also gave importance to their ethnic linguistic identities.
East Pakistan had a more or less uniform language and culture and at that point supported Pakistan as they perceived the creation of that state as synonymous to sufficient degree of autonomy.
One thing grossly overlooked by the establishment is that ethnic-based nationalism flourishes and may even embrace separatists tendency if the state is seen as biased. Nationalism is not merely preservation of identity; it is very much intertwined with the concept of state. If state is perceived as unjust, secessionist movements will most likely find a hearing. Ernest Gellener actually defines nationalism in the context of injustice. The deprived and excluded, if belonging to some common ethnicity, will revolt and will form nationalist expression built around that ethnicity and may end up striving for a state of their own.
Another important fact is that, identities based on linguistic cum ethnic lines cannot be made to disappear through superimposition or playing up the religious factor particularly when discrimination and exclusion is based on such lines. Yes being a Muslim is an important part of the identity, but at the same time so is the ethnicity and language. The latter would assume supremacy in an environment of discrimination, whether real or perceived.
Keeping this situation in mind, where five major ethnic nationalities existed with a strong tendency to demand a sufficient degree of economic, social and cultural autonomy, the best bet to keep the state of Pakistan intact was to allow sufficient autonomy at the provincial level to ensure that ethnic expression was not stifled. However, here came the crucial error. The Pakistani establishment at that time and ever since has assumed that allowing provincial autonomy and greater ethnic expression coupled with decentralization would weaken the federation. Moreover, it erroneously assumed that the two nation theory negated fostering of regional identities.
These two assumptions have accounted for the various ideological, political and administrative missteps which the state has taken over the years to “tackle” the issue of ethnic diversity and nationalism. Instead of accommodating ethnic diversity the central idea has been to negate it through various means.
As pointed out quite eloquently by Mr. Stephen Cohen in his book The Idea of Pakistan that Pakistani leaders have not fully grasped that in an ethnically diverse state most politics is of identity and closely linked to issues of pride, status, jobs and social equality. They seem convinced that ethno-linguistic demands are an economic problem, not a political problem, and if other means fail, a military problem.
There are a wide range of administrative, political as well as ideological blunders which the largely Punjab dominated centre and establishment have committed over the past 60 years and with devastating results. These blunders have proven to be counterproductive to the original aim of keeping the state intact in a smooth manner and have created alienation in the other ethnicities. But the ill effects go beyond harming the harmonious relations between the ethnicities. These have actually had catastrophic effect on the other aspects also.
The ideological drive which places a strong emphasis on Islamisation actually also tries to counter the issue of ethnic identities. The aim has been to ensure a strong centre as it has been viewed critical for the integration of the state. The policy of Islamisation has not been carried out to radicalize the population but chiefly as a political tool to subdue nationalistic forces. Even state sponsored Talibanization was partly done to diffuse Pushtoon ethnic identity and amalgamate it into state preferred Sunni Muslim identity. Needless to say that it has produced catastrophic results and continues to produce such results.
In fact we have not learnt anything from the history and instead of trying to address ethnic nationalist demands, have continued to counter it by efforts to play up the Islamic factor to diffuse ethnic identity and demands. The Islamic drive became more vehement after the secession of East Pakistan. Instead of getting to the root of the problem which was OVER CENTRALIZATION AND PUNJAB’S DOMINANCE, our response has been to play up Islamic identity in order to overcome the ethnic forces. The fundamental assumption is that ethnic demands would weaken the state and therefore if ethnic identity can be “replaced” or at least superseded by Islamic identity, the state would survive.
Of course ideological thrust on fostering Islamic identity has been carried out to chiefly supplement the administrative, political and economic set up in which the centre dominates.
Pakistan has in fact continued with the colonial structure with minor amendments to “adjust” it to its ground realities. This structure with a centralized bureaucracy, powerful feudal structure, huge powers vested in the centre and a large army is chiefly designed to ensure a powerful centre. One has to go into pre-partition times to understand about the structure and rationale of this brand of state structure.
The British created a new breed of feudal lords with proper legal title while retaining monopoly on the sole use of violence as coercive measure. This clever tactic insulated the populace from the state as it created a layer while ensuring that monopoly of violence (state’s coercive power). The landlord while legal owner of the land had to exclusively rely on a centrist state to tackle with any trouble at the local level. Thus state eventually evolved as a mere enforcer rather than a body responsive to the local concerns. Its prime concern by design was ensuring authority of the centre.
On a broader level the state was structured with powers vested in the centre and provinces were to be ruled with limited autonomy. The act of 1935 which also became the source of inspiration for all the subsequent acts was again centrist in orientation. These two important characteristics which were designed by British, a foreign ruler, to ensure “insensitive” hegemony of the centre and Pakistan’s establishment as well as political class with centrists tendencies continued to persist with it. The post-colonial state is actually an extension of the colonial state but with the changed central government. This structure was deliberately allowed to continue to ensure preservation of a centre-oriented state. This structure is bound to create resentment at the local/provincial level and is designed for the IMPERSONAL kind of ruling.
In this structure the centre more or less controls the revenue and expenditure. And the centre is dominated by Punjab. The population wise allocation of revenue and Punjab’s dominance in the “establishment” institutions such as civil services, judiciary and above all armed forces has created resentment and given rise to grievances. The revenue and resource allocation is highly controversial and automatically gives rise to feelings of exclusion which invariably will be manifested in strong tides of nationalism and occasional political violence around the question of scecession. The revenue generated from other provinces is spent on Punjab disproportionately. Likewise, the royalties from resource usage of smaller provinces do not proportionally match up the benefits derived from such usage. The resource rich Baluchistan despite enabling Pakistan to save billions of dollars because of natural gas gets paltry amount of royalty in return. It remains a poor province despite benefitting Pakistan a lot. If today there is a strong resentment in Baluchistan’s middle-class, it arises from these grave injustices not due to so called grand conspiracies of foreign powers.
The current structure is skewed, whether deliberately or inadvertently, in favour of Punjab. Hence, not surprisingly, the identity of Punjab’s middle-class is strongly reminiscent of official version of what constitutes a Pakistani. The other provinces increasingly identify themselves on ethnic lines even though all may not be harbouring secessionist aspirations.
Moreover, several blunders have been committed in the past to ensure preservation of the dominance of the privileged centre. One was the tactless imposition of One Unit, which in the name of administrative “efficiency” tried to subdue the ethnic-linguistic expressions within the mould of governance. The One Unit scheme was a disaster and effectively sealed the fate of Pakistan unity. It ripped open the already smouldering wounds and needlessly aggravated the situation eventually leading to dismemberment of the country in 1971.
The administrative blunders have always been supplemented with violent and unconstitutional methods of dealing with the nationalist forces. The centrist tendencies manifested in violence as Bengalis were crushed using military, a pattern which has repeatedly been used. The culture has developed where autonomy if voiced is construed as a danger to the state and is handled with force. We did not learn the lessons with Bangladesh and repeated the same with Baluchistan repeatedly. Baluchistan has literally experienced several uprisings and brutal retaliations from the state. The ongoing insurgency is not the first such insurgency as it has been preceded by insurgencies in 1958, 1960s and 1973-77. And the provincial governments have also been dismissed and at times on the explicit charge of “conspiracy to dismember Pakistan”.
Right now as Pakistan is fighting for its existence and bearing the brunt of its ideological blunder of promoting political Islam to tackle ethnic diversity, the time has come for us to learn our lessons. The foremost lesson is that dissent can only be addressed by addressing the root causes which are often emanating from exclusion and discrimination. Use of ideological engineering and tactics of coercion and intimidation will not strengthen the federation but weaken it.
Another lesson which needs to be learnt and particularly by democracy-skeptic Punjabi middle-class, is that an ethnically diverse country needs democracy even if it means scarifying governance. Ethnic diversity needs consensus at every step and the way it has evolved in Pakistan the need to negotiate and renegotiate the relationship terms between the provinces will increase with time. Only democracy provides the framework as well as the forum to do so. Only democracy provides the mechanism which can tap the voices of the provinces and project them for discourse at the national level.
Therefore, this nonsensical yearning for army rule has to stop. Armed forces have always dealt with coercion and since they largely hail from Punjab, they have only succeeded in instilling hatred in the smaller provinces against it. While media and urban middle-class of Pakistan have been lynching the PPP government at the top of their voices, the party actually deserves praise at least on provincial autonomy front.
Raza Habib Raja is an economist and currently in USA for studies. He has been writing regularly for various publications including Huffington Post, Dawn, Express Tribune, PakTea House and Chowk.com. His interests include Pakistan affairs, reformation of religon and development disciplines. His believes in a tolerant and democratic Pakistan. He is also a co-editor at Pak Tea House.
Posted:09-28-2010
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Join date april 2010
Location:Occupied Pakhtunkhwa
I don’t want to go into the details of the issue of whether Punjab is a nation or not but there is no doubt that it is a hegemonic political entity or group which has had severe problems with Pashtun, Sindhi, Seraiki, Bengali and Baloch nations soon after Pakistan’s creation and its military occupation of Baloch land in 1948.
It is also of no use to discuss whom to consider Punjabis and who are non Punjabis.
Anyhow, as we know that there is an Arab nation and we also know this fact that not all Arabs belong to the same ethnic group as that of Arabian Peninsula. Historically after Arab’s conquests the people of many conquered lands lost their original identity and are now considered as Arabs. For instance, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya etc., are such countries which don’t ethnically belong to the peninsular Arabs but the inhabitants of these countries are now called Arabs.
The example of Arabs which I’ve cited above is enough to explain that it is not at all essential that all the people of a nation must belong to the same ethnic group.
Original Arab people from Arabian Peninsula who conquered Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Algeria etc. apparently had a religious agenda but this ultimately resulted in the Arabization and the transformation of the people of these newly conquered lands. Historically the people of Iraq used to speak Aramaic language but now they speak Arabic. Iranian people are an exception in the Middle East region who retained their language and to a greater extent their culture as well.
Let’s now come to the relevant case. In very rare cases there may be Pashtun families who don’t consider themselves as Pashtuns but this is absolutely false to claim that the Pashtuns of Mianwali and Attock consider themselves as Punjabi, though their domicile is from Punjab. For the information of readers I intend to make it clear that Attock and Mianwali regions were dissociated from NWFP and were merged with Punjab after the imposition of One Unit in 1955. Mianwali was once the District of Tehsil Banu before the promulgation of One Unit. Besides, the people of Mianwali don’t speak Punjabi rather they speak Seraiki language just as many Pashtun speak Dari language in Afghanistan.
There are Afghan families who settled in India during Afghans’ long rule over India. After living for so many centuries in India if they are not concerned about their Afghan identity they have the right to do so. Same has even happened within Afghanistan where people from other ethnic groups, like Ozbeks, Turkman, Hazara have been integrated into afghan nation.
Now we turn to the case of Punjab’s hegemony which started with the very inception of Pakistan. Pakistani federation originally comprised of Bengali, Sindhi, Punjabi, Seraiki and Pashtun nations (with their historical lands) with a very tiny (9 percent) Baloch population in British Balochistan (a misnomer for the 91 percent Pashtun majority province). The actual Baloch land was the Qalat States Union with Kharan, Makran and Lasbela as its Khanates. Baloch got their independence on August 15, 1947 but in 1948 Pakistan occupied their land through a military operation.
When the British decided to divide India, the elected members of NWFP assembly and Pashtun Jirga demanded for an independent state of Pashtunistan through the famous Banu Resolution on 21st June, 1947 but, sadly, the British colonialists refused to comply to their genuine demand for an independent Pashtunistan. Above all the British even deprived the elected legislative assembly of NWFP of its right to vote in favor of India or Pakistan. A fake referendum was staged and historical Pashtun land was thus forcibly merged with the federation of Pakistan.
As an illustration let me start with a brief information about Bengali nation, which had an outright majority with 56 percent of the total population of Pakistan in comparison to the west wing of the federation which had 44 percent of the population.
If one looks at the constitutional history of Pakistan it becomes obviously clear that the initial history of this so-called Pakistani federation is full of conspiracies to stop federating units from the getting autonomy as was promised in the Lahore Resolution of 23 March 1940. The Basic Principle Committee of the First Constituent Assembly presented three formulas where the third formula was accepted by the Constituent Assembly to approve the very first constitution for the newly created country based on the principle of a Federal Parliamentary Democracy but the then Governor General Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the Constituent Assembly in 1954 to stop the enaction of the very first constitution. The speaker of the Constituent Assembly appealed against the dismissal of the assembly but the Supreme Court justified the decision of the Governor General through the Doctrine of Necessity.
In 1955 through a conspiracy by the Punjab dominated civil-military bureaucracy the infamous rule of One Unit was imposed to keep Pakistan deprived of any kind of constitution whatsoever for nine long years. The intention behind the imposition of One Unit was the so-called Principle of Parity, i.e., to counter Bengal’s majority. Under the rule of One Unit the rulers of Pakistan forcibly merged NWFP, British Balochistan (a misnomer for Pashtun majority land), Qalat States Union, Sindh, the State of Bahawalpur and Punjab.
During this period a new (fake) constitution was enacted in 1956 to pave the way for the imposition of Presidential Rule in the country. Elections were declared in 1958 for the next constituent assembly but before holding elections General Ayub took over and imposed Martial Law in October 1958 to stop elections from being held. After the abolition of One Unit in 1968 the Pashtun majority province of British Balochistan was merged with Qalat States Union and was named as Balochistan. Attock and Mianwali were merged with Punjab and same happened with Seraiki State of Bahawalpur.
In 1970, 24 years after the creation of Pakistan, first general elections were held. But as usual the results of the elections were not acceptable to the Punjabi civil-military establishment and Awami league; Bengal’s representative party was refused to be recognized as victor despite winning an outright majority. As a consequence war ensued in Bengal which resulted in the cessation of Bengal from Pakistan. This was the very unique case in the political history of the world when the majority of a country had opted for dissociation from minority after Bengali nation’s historic and unsuccessful political struggle. This war cost them three million lives.
Before the creation of Pakistan the British had established a strong industrial infrastructure in our province and province’s control over the natural resources was far greater as per Government of India Act 1935 if compared to what Pakistan granted to the federating units later. Under the British regime the very first government (1937) of Khudai Khidmatgar declared Pashto as the official language of the province and a compulsory subject in schools.
If we analyze the forces behind the creation of Pakistan the only genuine political force appears to be the one which belonged to Bengal. Punjab had a government of Unionists; the British loyalists, NWFP had Khudai Khidmatgars’ government as a result of 1946 elections.
Bengalis and Pashtuns were politically more aware and more conscious of winning their freedom back. Even the literacy rate of Bengal was far higher than Punjab and all other provinces, so it should not be accepted as an argument that Punjabis were smarter than Bengalis.
Likewise, during the British Rule, Pashtuns province of NWFP had a well developed industrial infrastructure with nine big industrial units like Mardan Sugar mill by then the biggest in the Asia, Charsada Paper mill, Takhtbai Sugar mill, Nishat Textile mill, Janana Textile mill, Banu Woolen mill etc. So it is a false assumption that Pashtuns are incompetent that’s why they are not developed. This is another common myth or misperception propagated by some vested interest people that Punjabis are hardworking that is why Punjab is developed. But facts reveal the case to be the contrary. In fact Pashtun is one such nation on earth which has the largest (as compared to other nations) portion of its population out of its homeland, majority of whom are doing menial jobs in very miserable conditions. Just in Karachi Pashtun is the 2nd largest immigrant community with over 4 million pashtuns. A large section of our population is away from its homeland in the Middle East living in very pathetic circumstances.
Ironically our land is rich of natural resources like minerals, forests, oil and natural gas resources, resources which are vital for economic development. Our water resources are being used to irrigate the vast lands of Punjab and Sindh but our own farmers pray for rain water to irrigate their millions of acres of barren land. All our natural resources are in Punjab’s control and we are like beggars in our own land.
Pashtun nation and its political leadership have offered immense sacrifices by spending almost whole of their lives in prisons. Bacha Khan and Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan were such great personalities with thousands of other political workers who suffered greatly under the British and Punjabi rule. Our leadership has been severely punished for raising its voice against the blatant robbery of Pashtuns’ resources. The distorted, one sided and biased history in Pakistani text books and state owned media and a complete ban on every reference to Pashtuns’ historic struggle for their independence against the British colonialists is just another obvious character of Punjab’s hegemony. Sindhis are fortunate to have Sindhi as their official language but we don’t have even a single official Pashto newspaper, TV or radio channel not to speak of having Pashto as our official or national language.
The main purpose of this writing is to make people aware of the blatant Punjabi hegemony.
This seems ridiculous when false and fallacious justifications are concocted for Punjab’s hegemony which is actually a continuation of the British Rule. Our rich and strategically important land was gifted to Punjab as a reward of its loyalty and services it offered to its British masters to help them continue and perpetuate their rule over India.
The event of Bengal’s cessation from Pakistan and the open rebellion of Baloch nation, the declared anti Pakistan stance of the once very pro Pakistani leaders like G.M Syed, Mujib ur Rahman, Akbar Bugti is a clear endorsement and eye opener for those who plead advocacy for Punjab’s innocence.
Punjab’s military supremacy which it got during the British Rule gave it unprecedented advantage to control every institution of this country. Even majority holder Bengali nation was helpless before Punjab to bring about any substantial change with regard to Provincial or National Autonomy. Now that Punjab has got an outright parliamentary majority by merging Attock and Mianwali regions from Pashtuns and Seraiki belt from the Seraiki nation it is obviously a lame excuse to accuse Pashtun nation or its leadership. Punjab, through its parliamentary majority, has even vetoed our unanimously adopted resolutions regarding Kalabagh dam and renaming our province (thanks to 18th amendment by the PPP’s Sindhi leadership).
The current reign of terror in both Azad Afghanistan and Pakhtunkhwa is the result of the Punjab’s imperialistic dreams of occupying the Afghanistan, which was initially subjected to a proxy war and was later on turned into a safe haven for global terrorists.
Although the historic events which caused our enslavement was the technologically far superior British invaders but what is shocking for Pashtun and Baloch nations is the fact that their heroic struggle against the British rule ended up in the commencement of just another episode of their servitude to the former British slaves who know very well that Pashtun and Baloch nations never wanted to join Pakistan. Another thing which needs explanation is that Pakistan is actually a cover up name for Punjabi rule.
KARACHI, Sept 21: Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz chairman Basheer Khan Qureshi has said the people of Sindh will never accept dominance of one province over others.
“Sindh belongs to the Sindhis and there can be no compromise on this count,” he said while speaking to journalists at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday.
Mr Qureshi was of the opinion that peace could be restored to Karachi provided that the Punjabis and the Pakhtuns were ‘allowed to return’ to their native provinces.
He also made it clear that all the people settled in Sindh since 1954 should be treated as the Sindhis.
Yet he said he would have no objection if Urdu-speaking people wanted to go back to India and the Sindhis who had migrated to India were allowed to return.
He said that Pakistan was created on the basis of the 1940 resolution and it was a federal state in nature comprising Sindh, Bengal, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which were sovereign states. But successive governments trampled on the resolution and imposed a rule of one province on the others, he added.
He also criticised the PPP leadership for what he said a betrayal to the Sindhi people after coming to power. He said he did not consider the PPP as a representative of the Sindhi people, because it had always compromised with the Punjab-dominated establishment and ignored the interests of Sindh.
The JSQM leader said he had never succumbed to the pressures of the rulers and continued his struggle for the national rights of Sindhi people according to the philosophy of Jeay Sindh movement founder G.M Syed.
Sharing his views on the security situation of Karachi in particular and Sindh in general, he said that he said the desired objectives of ongoing targeted operations could not have been achieved so far.
He said law-enforcers had neither arrested any known criminal involved in targeted killings nor unearthed any major cache of arms.
He said it seemed that the aim of the ongoing targeted operations was to hide real criminals allegedly belonging to three major parties, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP.
Mr Qureshi categorically stated that his party had never been involved in politics of violence, as it firmly believed in peace and brotherhood.
He challenged the authorities to prove any such case against workers or leaders of his party.
The JSQM leader said the recent bloodbath in Karachi was unprecedented in the history of Sindh. “No native Sindhi can even think of such brutal acts and violence is not in their blood chemistry.”
Curtsey:DAWN.COM PUBLISHED SEP 21, 2011
‘Sindh will not accept hegemony of one province’
HYDERABAD, Dec 5: Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) chief Basheer Khan Qureshi has said that tampering with the geographical boundaries of Sindh would not be tolerated.He was referring to proposed transfer of 17 Dehs of district Ghotki to Punjab.
According to a press release issued from the party media centre, Mr Qureshi was taking to Dr Zulfiqar Panhwar and other party workers in the STA court here on Wednesday. He was brought to the court for the hearing of the cases against him.
He called upon the Sindhi people to come out on the roads for their rights and to get rid of the hegemony of Punjab.
He said that his party would never compromise over the rights of Sindh and he was prepared to kiss the gallows for the independence and prosperity of Sindh.
He said that Sindhis should not keep quiet and challenge Punjab from the platform of the JSQM to demolish all dams and save the agriculture sector of Sindh from complete destruction.
Mr Qureshi demanded of human rights organizations and Amnesty International to take notice of the theft of Indus water and natural resources of Sindh, hegemony of Punjab and violence against the prisoners.
A large number of JSQM workers were present in the court premises.
The hearing of the cases against Bashir Qureshi was put off to December 21.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, — PUBLISHED DEC 06, 2001
JSM-Z sees govt-parties deal to share powers
HYDERABAD, July 24: The Chairman of Jeay Sindh Mahaz (JSM-Z) Syed Zain Shah, has said that the military government’s bid to bring about amendments to the constitution was aimed at imposing Punjab’s hegemony over the smaller provinces.
He claimed that the government and the federalist parties had entered into a deal to share powers.
He was addressing the central committee of the Mahaz on the conclusion of a three-day meeting held at Sannh the other day.
The meeting deliberated upon the prevailing situation in Sindh and the organizational affairs of the party.
Accusing Punjab of having ‘expansionist designs’, Zain Shah observed that the federal government had been encouraging fundamentalist forces over the last 55 years to protect Punjabi interests.
He said that Sindh had been converted into a colony of Punjab which was controlling all the resources of the smaller province.
He appealed to the US and the international community to help the Sindhis in establishing ‘an independent state’ in the interest of the world peace.
He assailed the federalist parties of Sindh for using the ‘Sindh card’ to reach the corridors of power and called upon the Sindhi nation to vote for only those who believed in the independence of Sindh.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM — PUBLISHED JUL 25, 2002
KARACHI:Provinces’control over resources demanded
LATIF BALOCH
KARACHI, Jan 31: Speakers at a function held to mark the 103rd birth anniversary of the founder of Jeay Sindh Movement, late GM Syed, have called for a new social contract among the federating units of the country. The late Syed had devoted his life to the cause of oppressed nationalities and rights of Sindh, they said.
They accused successive rulers of the country of trampling the rule of constitution, democracy and subjugating the smaller units, which they argued once enjoyed sovereign status.
They maintained that since rulers had violated all constitutional accords including the 1940 Resolution and the 1973 constitution, the federating units had now a right to demand a fresh mandate to decide their future.
The event was organized by the Jeay Sindh Mahaz in Lyari Town, which was presided over by its chairman, Abdul Khalique Junejo. Those who spoke included the Secretary General of National Workers Party, Yusuf Mustikhan, JSM’s Secretary General Hashim Khoso, Amanuallah Sheikh, Jamiat-i-Ulema Sindh’s Maulana Obaidullah Bhutto, Mumtaz Meher, comrade Roachiram and others.
The speakers paid great tributes to the veteran Sindhi nationalist leader and described him as a great political thinker who had fought all his life for the emancipation of the Sindhi people.
They said he was a symbol of all the finest qualities attributed to the land of Sindh and its culture, peace, freedom and humanism.
Highlighting Syed’s role in Sindh’s politics, they said he had never comprised on principles and valiantly fought against despotic regimes in the country to achieve Sindh’s rights.
They pointed out that the late Syed had a clear vision that Sindh could not achieve its national rights under the present state system based on the hegemony of Punjab through military establishment.
Most of the speakers also slammed the ongoing military operation in Balochistan and termed it an attempt on the part of the military establishment to capture resources including oil and gas in the province.
They vehemently condemned the rulers for pursuing the global agenda of US imperialism of controlling smaller nations so that their natural resources could be exploited in the name of development.
Yusuf Mustikhan said the best way to pay tributes to Mr Syed was to continue struggle against tyranny by uniting all democratic and nationalist forces on a single forum.
The NWP leader vehemently condemned the Musharraf government for behaving as an imperial ruler and using force against its people.
He said the ongoing military operation in Balochistan was being carried out at the behest of the US government.
Amanullah Sheikh, a founder of the Jeay Sindh Movement and a close associate of the GM Syed advocated a new social contract among the federating units, saying that Pakistan’s rulers had crushed all constitutional accords and were ruling the country with brute.
Mr Sheikh was of the view that this system could no longer work as the geo-political changes in South Asia were taking place very quickly and it was now evident that no nation could be enslaved by force.
He said rulers must now recognize the sovereign rights of nationalities by entering a new social contract.
The JUI leader, Obaidullah Bhutto, condemned the feudal leadership of Sindh for betraying the Sindhi people. He called upon the democratic and progressive forces of the country to raise their voices against the injustice being done with women folk in Sindh in the name of karo-kari.
In his concluding speech, JSM Chief Abdul Khalique Junejo paid tributes to the late GM Syed for his revolutionary thinking and vision.
He stressed the need for changing the repressive character of the state, which he said was based on the hegemony of Punjab and exploitation of smaller nation units.
He said: “This system will not be acceptable to Sindhi, Baloch, Pakhtoons and Seraikis as it is based on the exploitation of their resources.”
The JSM leader further said it had been proved that the army was the sole custodian of power and Punjab is the main beneficiary.
A number of resolutions were also adopted in the meeting demanding for recognizing Pakistan as a multi-nations state, scrapping Kalabagh and Greater Thal canal projects, opposing military operation in Balochistan and recognizing the rights of Sindhis over their water sources.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM — PUBLISHED FEB 01, 2006
JSMM’S nostalgia and militancy
SAHER BALOCH
File Photo
Sakrand appears to be little more than a small roadside cafe, a decrepit road leading towards Nawabshah and two colleges. Outside the Government Degree College for Boys, the road is eerily silent one minute and full of honking rickshaws and cars the next.
Patiently waiting for a Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz activist to show up, we failed to notice that a group of four young men across the road were watching us with equal patience.
Several calls and a meek response later, the activist showed up knocking on the car window. It turned out to be one of the same group waiting at the roadside cafe. But he wanted to meet at another restaurant now.
Fifteen minutes after taking our seats inside the red-curtained restaurant Manzil and sharing an awkward silence with the owner, we were face to face with ‘Imran Laghari’, who casually remarked that that was not his real name.
Dressed in a white shalwar kameez with a brown jacket and a muffler, Laghari was accompanied by two men, one of them nervously locking and unlocking his mobile phone. The other, a young man of 21, kept glancing out of the tinted windows.
“This is what the state of Pakistan does to you. It bans you for being liberal. We can’t even use our real names anymore. Main apna ghar wala naam aap ko nahi bata sakta [I can’t tell you what I am called at home],” he remarked as one of the two men accompanying him nodded earnestly.
From that moment onwards, Laghari spoke nostalgically, with a few moments of anger and frustration creeping in his tone. His conversation ranged from the Indus Valley civilisation and Sindh’s uniqueness to his ‘saccha saeein’ G.M. Syed, founder of the nationalist movement in Sindh. Except for the JSMM, most nationalist outfits drawing inspiration from G.M. Syed’s ideology have adjusted their views to work within the country’s political system.
His tone resembled a rant against the state as he talked of ‘Greater Punjab hegemony’ which he said was the reason behind the creation of the JSMM on Nov 26, 2000.
Laghari’s voice rose a notch higher: “We are geographically being colonised by the Punjab. There can’t be one culture in the entire country, we have sacrificed 150 of our workers, and we’ll continue to do so.”
At that moment, two women sitting some distance away tilted their heads to see what the ruckus was all about. Noticing the curiosity being aroused, Laghari started speaking in a slightly softer tone. “We have to rely on face-to-face communication, but it’s alright, if that’s what it takes to gather our people, we will.”
That is exactly what they managed to do last year in Hyderabad on July 6. According to reports, the JSMM congregation — their first public gathering after being banned in April 2013 for carrying out militant acts inside the province, including several railway track explosions — was attended by 95,000 attendants from across Sindh.
With their main headquarters in Qambar-Shahdadkot and Tando Mohammad Khan, Sakrand is gradually becoming one of the smaller tehsils where the proscribed group enjoys a lot of support and sympathy. Refusing to meet in Karachi where he said he’d be “recognised easily”, Laghari claimed that the organisation’s outreach was more than it appeared.
But would armed resistance help them in the long run? Or would the movement fizzle out like so many other movements? A firm “no” was Laghari’s reply. “We have the support of labourers and students. And we are political activists by the way. We just believe in voicing our opinions which doesn’t go down well with others, that’s all.”
Though not so sure about their present, the activists seemed pretty certain about their future. The other man sitting next to Laghari finally introduced himself as ‘Yunus Mehmood’, adding, after a pause, that that was not his real name either. Speaking about their future strategy, he said that they were expanding their network across Sindh. “So the next time around, the state will have to search every home and village in the province,” he added.
At that point, the men stood up and made a hasty exit after mumbling about going for another meeting. As they stepped out, a waiter who had been listening to the conversation laughed, “Our ajrak and topi have been hijacked addi.” The owner, meanwhile, asked him to mind his own business.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM JAN 21, 2014
Ponam demands election of constituent assembly
KARACHI, April 24: Pakistan Oppressed Nations' Movement (Ponam) has demanded election of a constituent assembly on the basis of equality of nations to frame a constitution in accordance with the spirit of the 1940 resolution which should guarantee to the national entities of the federation to be equal and sovereign of the multinational country.
The demand was made in one of the resolutions adopted at the Nishtar Park public meeting on Friday with Ponam president Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal in the chair.
The meeting rejected the attempt of imposing supremacy of Punjabi imperialism and condemned all unconstitutional and illegal measures to deprive Sindhis, Seraikis, Pukhtuns and Balochs of their sovereignty and natural resources.
By another resolution the meeting observed that Greater Thal Canal, Kalabagh Dam and Gwadar mega projects were against the national identity of and interests of Sindhis, Seraikis, Pukhtuns and Balochs. Terming them the projects to takeover the resources of the nations the meeting demanded that the projects should immediately be dropped.
The establishment of cantonments in Balochistan, Sindh and in tribal areas of Pukhtunkhwa were aimed at strengthening the hegemony of Punjab as such all lands taken over for the purpose should be returned immediately.
The meeting demanded payment of royalty, excise duty and Gas Development Surcharge (GDS) outstanding against the federal government on account of power and tobacco of Pukhtunkhwa and oil, gas and minerals of Sindh and Balochistan.
The meeting rejected the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, terming it a source of plunder of the oppressed nations.
It termed price hike and increasing unemployment as the outcome of corruption and nepotism, and lawlessness and sectarianism the logical outcome of state terrorism and supremacy of Punjab's colonialism and condemned it.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, — PUBLISHED APR 25, 2004
Hyderabad:Equal representation of provinces demanded
HYDERABAD, Jan 27: The chairman, Sindh Taraqqi Passand Party (STPP), Dr Qadir Magsi, has demanded equal representation of the provinces in the national assembly and the senate through the framing of a new constitution to guarantee the rights of their people.
While speaking at a meeting of the central committee of the party held at the Taraqqi Passand house here on Sunday, he said that only Punjab had been ruling the country and the establishment was the other name of its supremacy and dictatorship.
He added that due to the hegemony of Punjab, Pakistan was disintegrated and regretted that the same policy was being pursued even after 1971.
Dr Magsi said that the present government had been forced to change foreign policy under the pressure of the international community but the dictatorial policy within the country had not changed.
He said, “as long as the oppression of the smaller nations continues, flagrant violations of human rights and crisis after crisis would also continue and the establishment of a democratic polity would remain just a dream”.
While presenting her case study, The Role of Rural Women in Agricultural Development of Sindh, at the final Ph.D seminar held on Friday at the Department of Economics, University of Sindh, she said that agriculture, with its allied sub-sectors, dominated the occupational scenario of the rural sector, particularly in the under developed countries.
She said that the rural women throughout the world played diverse roles, directly or indirectly, as agriculturists in addition to their household responsibilities and socio-cultural requirements.
Professor Jamali pointed out that Sindh was basically an agricultural province and out of 14.09 million hectares, 5.69 million hectares were under cultivation.
She said that according to the census reports of 1998 the population of Sindh was 29.991 million and the rural population was 15.327 million, which comes to 51.105 per cent of the total population. The average family in Sindh comprised nine person of varying age groups and the female constituted 47.24 per cent of the total population in Sindh.
She said that the female was by and large ignorant, illiterate, unskilled, untrained and bound by customs and traditions.
Ms Jamali said that she had selected 25 villages of Hyderabad district and 150 farm families were interviewed.
She said that each rural women was contributing 43.08pc towards total labour inputs employed to grow winter crops, 44pc in summer crops and 66pc in live stocks and 100pc in domestic activities.
Rights of smaller provinces being usurped-SNF
HYDERABAD, Jan 17: Sindh National Front chairman Mr Mumtaz Bhutto has said that oppressed nationalities of the country will have to go to Punjab and tell the masses that rights of smaller provinces are being usurped by the majority province.
Mr Bhutto was delivering his presidential address at the party convention held here on Sunday at which he was re-elected chairman of the party for the next four years. He claimed even the rulers had in a way accepted that the federal system had failed.
He expressed the hope that the confederation proposed by him would gain momentum with the passage of time. The SNF chief said he was trying to create a genuine alliance of the nationalist parties to unite people on one platform in furtherance of their rights.
He recalled that in 1983 movement, 5,000 people were killed in Sindh and said at present inhuman excesses were being committed against people of the NWFP and Balochistan. Under the circumstances, he said, alliance of the nationalists was the need of the hour.
He said all the institutions including judiciary had broken down and corruption had become the order of the day in every walk of life. He said if the repressive policies were not discontinued, the very existence of the country would be endangered. Gul Mohammad Jakhrani, Amir Bux Bhutto, Ayub Shar and Allah Warayo Soomro also spoke on the occasion. RESOLUTIONS: The convention adopted several resolutions demanding full provincial autonomy to all federating units in accordance with the 1940 resolution, effective measures to secure the release of kidnapped persons, finding a political and peaceful solution to Balochistan problem by holding a dialogue with the Baloch leaders.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, PUBLISHED JAN 18, 2005
Sassui vows to get provinces their say in Ogra
THATTA: Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sassui Palijo has said that the federal government along with Punjab has always usurped the smaller provinces constitutional rights to the country’s natural resources especially petroleum products.
She was briefing local journalists about the bill she was going to table in the upcoming Senate session.
“The PPP has never remained silent over the unfair treatment being meted out to the smaller federating units by the federation and Punjab and will continue to raise its voice at every available forum,” she said while highlighting the salient features of the draft bill.
The proposed law would provide representation to all provinces in policy-making as well as decision-making bodies, she said, adding that it would ultimately curtail nomination of non-representative elements in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). She said the bill also called for making Ogra answerable to provinces.
Ms Palijo said that the bill was aimed at amending the Ogra Ordinance, 2002.
“We are going to insist on the replacement of the word ‘federal’ with ‘provinces’, and this is actually the essence of the 18th constitutional amendment,” she said. Ms Palijo said she on the floor of the house would also demand holding of the long pending meeting of the Council of Common Interests.
The Senator expressed the confidence that once the bill was enacted into law, provinces would able to get all their issues relating to oil and gas resolved through as every province would have an equal say in policy matters and decisions.
Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2015
‘KP, Balochistan being deprived of CPEC share’
Sabz Ali Tareen
CHARSADDA: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Friday said that the federal government was depriving the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces of their due share in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project to the benefit of Punjab.
Talking to reporters at the residence of the Member Provincial Assembly Fazal Shakoor Khan of JUI-F here, he said the federal government was trying to give additional benefits to the Punjab province in the CPEC project. The chief minister said the Centre was usurping the rights of the smaller federating units. “The smaller provinces are being meted out step-motherly attitude in the development project,” he added.
He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was producing surplus electricity but has been denied its due share in the total power generation. “The province is even not being paid the capped net hydel profit arrears,” he lamented.
The chief minister said that massive power loadshedding was being carried out in the province, which has slowed the industrial development in the militancy-torn province.
Pervez Khattak said the federal government was taking huge loans to run the country and manage the deteriorating economy. He said the National Action Plan (NAP) was not being implemented in letter and spirit in the other provinces.
The chief minister said that implementation of NAP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was yielding results and law and order has improved in the province.
Rejecting the allegation of the opposition parties of political victimisation of rivals, the chief minister said that there was no truth in such allegation.
“The hue and cry by the opposition parties would not make any difference. The process of accountability to go on unabated,” he added.
Defending the campaign of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission (KPEC) against corrupt elements and corruption, he said the accountability body has been set up in consultation with all the political parties.
He reiterated that the KPEC was autonomous and the provincial government didn’t interfere with its affairs.
Curtsey:The News, Dec 5, 2015
Pakistan's water politics create ripples in the smaller provinces
Farhan Bokhari
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf's warning that Pakistan would face its most acute water shortage in the next decade if it did not build a large new dam could not have been closer to the reality of an increasingly water deficient country.
Special to Gulf News
August 26, 2004
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf's warning that Pakistan would face its most acute water shortage in the next decade if it did not build a large new dam could not have been closer to the reality of an increasingly water deficient country. But his promise to take the lead in undertaking a new project for such a dam neither bears relevance to the complicated state of Pakistan's politics nor demonstrates an adequate appreciation of the country's recent history.
Three of the country's four provinces have found themselves frequently divided on this issue, which has the capacity to become politically explosive. Most Pakistanis have heard provincial politicians repeatedly condemn one irrigation project or another, on the grounds that it would usurp their rights.
The most controversial project remains the plan for building a new dam at Kalabagh, along the River Indus, in central Punjab. The plan involves a proposed dam that would be comparable to Tarbela and Mangla – the world's two largest earth-filled dams built on Pakistan's soil more than 30 years ago.
Musharraf is widely believed to favour launching the Kalabagh project soon, perhaps realising that the resultant economic benefits for the country would be substantial. But, take a step back from a plan like Kalabagh and the complicated state of Pakistan's politics and policy environment returns to haunt the country. Politicians from the North West frontier Province, NWFP, have taken the lead in the past, challenging Kalabagh on the grounds that it would cause flooding upstream in areas of their provincial jurisdiction.
Politicians from the southern province of Sindh have dismissed Kalabagh on the grounds that it would undermine the flow of irrigation water to their province, especially at times when a drought-like condition causes water shortages. Bitten by the harsh criticism from Sindh and NWFP, many politicians from Punjab lament the resistance from the two provinces as nothing more than an attempt to undermine their vital interests.
Political rigour
Like many military men who often just don't have the patience to face political rigor, Musharraf is keen on overcoming the teething problems by only seeking advice on technical aspects of a newly proposed dam and perhaps even ordering its construction. This is a recipe for prospective disaster.
Pakistan is too diverse a country. Here, key decisions, especially those involving the already wide political divisions, have to be undertaken through often painfully achieved consensus. A key misfortune of any military ruler, including Musharraf, must be that their continuing detachment from mainstream politics often leads to the tendency of seeking quick fixes to intricate problems.
But such quick fixes are bound to give yet another common cause to groups of dissenting politicians seeking to block emerging ventures. Politicians from Pakistan's smaller provinces, such as Sindh and NWFP, have complained for long about getting a raw deal in national affairs. Nationalist politicians have often complained about the overwhelming influence of Punjab and the extent to which Pakistan's largest province often usurps the rights of the smaller provinces.
To Musharraf's misfortune, his relations with Pakistan's main political parties remain shrouded by underlying friction and prospective uncertainty. The chances of reducing the divide with such groups have been further diminished with Musharraf's decision to back the creation of a new political party, known as the Pakistan Muslim League "Quaid-e-Azam" group or PML (Q).
Key representative
The PML (Q) is now, indeed, Pakistan's ruling party, but its position as a key representative of mainstream group remains in doubt. The creation of PML (Q) is a powerful reminder of Pakistan's unfortunate historical legacy. Successive military rulers in the past oversaw the creation of a new political party in the hope of not only building a new supportive political force but indeed one which successfully assisted in tackling such difficult and complicated challenges as a national divide on the water issue.
But if Pakistan's history is a guide, such experiments at creating pro-military political parties to confront tough challenges have often failed. Like his predecessors, the day Musharraf is replaced by a new ruler, especially a politician, would also be the day when the measures that he has undertaken would begin to be undone.
The long term solution to the challenge of facing tough battles, like the water issue, lies in moving aggressively towards building a national consensus with dissenting political groups. For Musharraf, the way to beating a reversal of his policies lies in launching a fresh dialogue with politicians whom he has anxiously opposed during his five year rule since the military coup of 1999.
Only the agreement of such dissidents with the continuation of Musharraf's reforms provides him with a long-term and sustainable guarantee that measures such as the construction of a new dam would not be stopped halfway, if indeed Pakistan witnesses an unforeseen change of regime. In the end, the politics of Pakistan's water divide may be a far more overwhelming issue to tackle than the many vital technical matters so eagerly discussed by leading analysts consulted by the government.
– Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters. He can be contacted at fbokhari@gulfnews.com
All the intellectuals are agreed on the point that one of the main reasons behind the rise of a nation or a country, is its ability to learn from history. It implies that all the developed nations of today have made use of the history to understand the mistakes which their forefathers and other nations made, and formulated their strategies accordingly.
Unfortunately, Pakistanis are one nation which refuses to learn from history. We have a tendency of viewing everything in the context of religion, therefore even the good deeds of non-Muslim nations are brushed aside as sinful. For example the European countries, learning from their history, separated the religion from the affairs of estate. This was the time when the Church, in connivance with the monarchy, exploited the religious sentiments of the masses to help the monarchy in usurping the rights of common citizens and in maintaining their iron grip over the estate.
The civilized and technological advanced Europe we see today, is the result of eliminating the role of religious establishment from the matters of estate.
On the other hand, we in Pakistan, continue to let the religious leaders and religious-political parties to dictate the policies of estate. Generations after generation these religious leaders have played havoc with the country's progress and have ensured that their own vested interests are served. This handful group of people has thrived on anti-India and anti-all religions sentiments.
This is why whenever there is an attempt to improve the ties with India, these religious parties swing in to action to oppose such moves. Their objective is not the betterment of our country, for if that had been the case they would have whole-heartedly supported such moves as the huge funds spent on reinforcing our eastern borders could be easily diverted towards development projects. The main objective of these religious parties is to ensure the continuation of billion of rupees in donations which they collect in the name of anti-India slogans.
Interestingly these religious contractors are not the only ones who consider it their responsibility to dictate our foreign policy. There are some journalists and anchorpersons who too are always trying to keep the war hysteria alive.
This nexus of religious establishment and journalists is visible these days in a Show of Dunya News where the anchorperson Kamran Shahid along with some religious leaders, is seen indulging in useless and at times pointless arguments with Indian Journalists and intelligentsia. I don't have any problem with the nature of the program but what sends my blood boiling is that both Kamran Shahid and his panellists, keep blaming the Indians for the fall of Dhaka in 1971.
It is sad to note despite losing one half of the country, our so called opinion makers have not learned the lesson from history. Blaming India is easy but the fact of the matter is that we ourselves are responsible for what happened in 1971.
The separation of East Pakistan was in the making for a long time, the continued neglect, denial of rights and uneven distribution of resources had nurtured the sense of deprivation which finally culminated in the demand for separation from East Pakistan.
Sadly, instead of learning lessons from our history and mistakes, we blame India for the creation of Bangladesh. The religious establishment which has always strengthened the hands of landlords and politicians, had termed the people of East Pakistan as anti-Islam, they had formed their own death squads which indulged in merciless and brutal killing of Bengalis.
Things are not much different today, journalists like Kamran Shahid use religious leaders to endorse the view that Pakistan's politicians and religious leaders were innocent and it was actually India which had caused the separation of East Pakistan.
These journalists are turning a blind eye to the sense of deprivation prevailing among the people of smaller provinces. All resources are being diverted to Punjab and in some cases the funds allocated for projects of other provinces are being diverted towards Punjab, to be precise in Lahore. The atrocities being committed in Karachi are completely being ignored, while the rights of Baloch people are also being denied.
Things are again moving towards the 1971 direction. The failure to learn lessons from history has brought the country to the point where there are separatist movements in Sindh and Balochistan, while other parts of the country are also heading in the same direction.
We must address the issues and must ensure equal distribution of resources to prevent a tragedy like 1971, whereas there is a strong need to keep the religion out of politics also.
LAHORE, Feb 21: Speakers at a conference here on Wednesday urged the people of Punjab to lead the struggle of provinces and nationalities for their rights.
The conference on `Provincial autonomy and rights of nationalities’ had been organised by Minority Rights Commission (MRC) at the Lahore Press Club.
Pakistan National Party leader Senator Dr.Maalik Baloch said in his presidential address that the country was not under a real dictatorship but a military democracy in which the common run of people and nationalities had been deprived of their constitutional rights.
He said the people of Balochistan had been divided into pro-Musharraf lobby and nationalists talking about the rights of the people. It was wrong to say that Balochs were opposed to development. They only wanted control of the resources of the province which was not acceptable to General Musharraf.
He said Musharraf considered Baloch nationalists against Pakistan but they had never talked about secession.
The Baloch nationalists wanted a federal democratic system in Pakistan whereas tribal chiefs supporting Musharraf were opposed to it. Thousands of political workers had been arrested and women baton-charged for demanding control over provincial resources.
He said the federal government was taking unilateral decisions about Balochistan against the wishes of the people. Gawdar had been handed over to a Singaporean company without the consent of the provincial assembly or any committee of the national assembly. Most of natural resources of the country were found in Balochistan but its 80 per cent people did not have access even to clean drinking water.
Jiye Sindh Mahaz chairman Abdul Khaliq Junejo said the democratic system had not strengthened in Pakistan during the past 60 years because the provinces and nationalities were not accepted.
He said discussion on provincial autonomy and rights of nationalities in Punjab would send a good message to people in other provinces.
He said provincial autonomy had become an old question in Pakistan. A new question had emerged in the form of the demand for the rights of nationalities. The nationalities and provinces wanted reconstitution of the state on the basis of the Pakistan Resolution of March 23, 1940.
PPP Punjab secretary-general Ghulam Abbas said his party supported the rights of small provinces and nationalities. The problems of nationalities and provinces could be solved only in a democratic system based on principles of economic justice.
Balochistan assembly member Shafiq Ahmed Khan said Punjab was exploiting smaller province. The smaller provinces and nationalities were not secessionists but wanted their point of view to be understood. The federal government was dubbing Baloch nationalists as separatists for demanding provincial autonomy. He demanded payment of Rs6 billion to Balochistan as gas royalty.
Pakistan Labour Party secretary-general Farooq Tariq said sense of deprivation was increasing among nationalities, minorities and small provinces because their rights had been usurped.
He said Rs10 billion development budget of Gujrat district in Punjab was equal to that of Balochistan.
Bacha Khan Centre, Peshawer, cordinator Dr Fazal Rahim Marwat said educational syllabus introduced during the Afghan War had been instrumental in making the Pashtoons extremists. Pakistan had degenerated into a country where the state needed the territory and not the people.
Pakistan Social Forum secretary-general Irfan Mufti said provincial autonomy and rights of nationalities were extremely important issues. India had recognised the identity of nationalities and given them their rights but even their existence was not accepted in Pakistan despite the fact that they had existed even before its creation and had supported its establishment.
Rashid Rehman said Pakistan was a multi-nationality state but its government was not ready to accept the reality. He said four MNAs from Balochistan had not signed the 1973 Constitution because they had reservations over it. The government had not implemented the concurrent list so far because the army had become too strong to be challenged by any political party.
Pakistan Seraiki Party vice-chairman Hassan Raza Bokhari said Seraiki people wanted creation of a separate province because they were not Punjabis. The state required to be separated from religion for protection of rights of the people.
Curtsey:DAWN.COM, — PUBLISHED FEB 22, 2007
Punjab’s Pakistan
by RSN Singh
The part that constitutes the Punjab province in Pakistan, like other provinces of Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan, were not enthusiastic about the concept of Pakistan. It was much later, in the early 1940s, that the Muslim League made strong inroads into Sindh and Punjab. Finally, when they did decide to join the Pakistan Movement, their aspirations and motivations differed from that of themohajirs and Jinnah. Jinnah acutely realised that Punjab was central to his idea of Pakistan. The undivided Punjab province had 56.2 percent Muslims. The Muslim League was a negligible force in the 1936-37 elections. It had won only one seat out of 84 Muslim seats in the province. Determined to make inroads into Punjab, Jinnah entered into a pact (known as the Jinnah-Sikander Pact) with the ruling Unionist Party leader Sir Sikander Hyat Khan. According to the pact, Sir Sikander conceded to Jinnah’s claim of being the sole spokesman of Indian Muslims, and in turn, Jinnah promised not to interfere in the politics of Punjab. Taking advantage of the pact-an indirect foothold in the province-Jinnah chose Punjab to declare the famous Lahore Resolution in March 1940, which categorically envisaged the creation of an independent and sovereign Muslims state. Sir Sikander resented the resolution, but could not bring himself to oppose it publicly, thus the Unionist Party became a party to it.1 The Unionist Party’s dominance in Punjab began to wane after the death of Sir Sikander in 1942 and resulted in the consequent rise of Jinnah.
With nearly 56 percent of the country’s population, the agriculturally and economically rich Punjab province of Pakistan is both a national asset and the biggest barrier to national integration.
In the annual session of the Muslim League in Delhi in 1943, Jinnah said, “I regret to say that the Punjab has not yet played the part it ought to play, and is entitled to play because remember Punjab is the corner stone of Pakistan. I particularly appeal to the delegates of Punjab, when you go back please – I would not say anything more – please substitute the love of Islam and your nation in the place of sectional interest, jealousies, tribal notions and selfishness.”2 Jinnah by political machinations further undermined the Unionist ministry of Khizar Hayat Khan Tiwana and ensured the rapid ascendance of the Muslim League in Punjab between 1944 and 1947. He resorted to rabid and unabashed use of Islam and its symbols. Jinnah targeted the critical political constituency of the Unionist Party, i.e. the Muslim landed elite, the pirs (sufi saints) and Sajjada-Nashin (custodians of sufi shrines). As a result, the Hindus and the Sikhs gravitated towards the Congress in large numbers. The divide increasingly became irreconcilable. In the 1946 provincial elections, the Muslim League won 75 of the 86 Muslim seats in Punjab. The Congress and Akali Dal won 57 (56.8 percent in general con-stituencies) and 21 (40.7 percent in Sikh constituencies) seats respectively. A coalition government of Unionists-Akali Dal-Congress under Tiwana came to power. Under intense pressure and deteriorating political situation, Tiwana resigned in March 1947, thus finally paving the way for Pakistan.
With nearly 56 percent of the country’s population, the agriculturally and economically rich Punjab province of Pakistan is both a national asset and the biggest barrier to national integration. The bulk of the army and officialdom is drawn from this province. Politically, an opposition government in Punjab can be a counterpoise to any non-opposition government at the centre, as was the case in Benazir’s (PPP) first tenure as Prime Minister, wherein Nawaz Sharif’s PML was in power in Punjab. The demographic dominance of Punjab has been a decisive factor in the evolution of Pakistan as a nation. Before the break up of the country, the West Pakistan dispensation sought to neutralise East Pakistan’s demographic superiority by initially denying parliamentary democracy based on adult franchise and then by introducing the ‘one-unit scheme’. As per the 1951 census, the population of East Pakistan and West Pakistan was 42 million and 33.7 million (Punjab 20.5 million) respectively. The one-unit scheme that operated in Pakistan from 1954 to 1970, however, was resented by other ethnic nationalities, i.e. the Sindhis, the Baloch and the Pasthuns. They viewed it as a tool for Punjabi domination since the bureaucracy and the army was over-whelmingly Punjabi. Ironically, the demographic the dominance of East Pakistan was replaced by domination of Punjab after the emergence of Bangladesh. Parliamentary democracy in West Pakistan between 1988 and 1999 was heavily skewed in favour of Punjab by sheer demographic, cultural and economic dominance, which ultimately translated into political dominance.
The non-Punjabi Muslims therefore withdrew into religious, cultural and political isolation. The winds of reforms and changes experienced by the Hindus in these areas, as a counter to the challenge posed by Christian missionaries, left these Muslims un-impacted.
In the 1988 National Assembly Elections, the distribution of seats were: Punjab-115, Sindh-46, NWFP-26, Balocistan-11, Islamabad-3 and FATA-8. Punjab therefore is the deciding factor in the formation of governments. In the 1997 elections, Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N was able to come back to power by virtue of the massive support it received in Punjab. Ironically, the movement for the creation of Pakistan received Punjab’s support in the final stages.
The growth and domination of Punjab has its roots in the British colonial rule. Following the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, who ruled from Lahore (Sikh kingdom at its peak extended beyond Peshawar and Kashmir)-the British fought two wars with the Sikhs. In the Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, the British annexed Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir, which was sold to the Dogra Dynasty in 1850. The British authorities brought about unprecendented development of the region, particularly in the areas of infrastructure and irrigation. As a consequence of these developments, the Sikhs and Muslims in Punjab developed a sort of admiration for the British. This admiration and respect translated into support to the British in suppressing the ‘First War of Independence’ (referred to as Sepoy mutiny by the British).
The Sikhs had also allied with the British in the first ‘Anglo-Afghan War’ (1838-1842). The First War of Independence was confined in terms of area and scope. The troops, who rose to revolt, were primarily from the Bengal Army. The war was sparked off at Meerut and engulfed areas of present-day Bihar, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and parts of Madhya Pradesh. Their attempt to restore the power of the Mughal ruler Bahadur Shah Zafar, as the Emperor of India, however failed. British forces with the help of Punjabi sepoys recaptured Delhi. The consequence of this failed war of independence, perceived the Russian threat through Afghanistan, and the distrust of nationalist classes, was that the area of Punjab became one of the most preferred recruiting grounds for the British. The Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims, Dogras, Gurkhas and Pakhtuns came to be regarded as martial races. On the other hand, the Bengalis, high caste Hindus, and the landed upper class Muslims of the Indian heartland stood discredited. Even as the British were compelled during World War I to extend recruitment to the so-called ‘non-martial races’, the response was tepid. Bengal with the population of 45 million provided 7,117 combatant recruits, while Punjab with the population of 20 million provided 349,689.3 In Punjab, one out of 28 males was mobilised for the war, as against the rest of India where the ratio was 1:150.4 In the 20s, Punjab, NWFP and Nepal provided 84 percent of the recruits. In World War-II, Punjab and NWFP provided more than 700,000 recruits out of 20.5 lacs from all over India.5 The non-Punjabi Muslims therefore withdrew into religious, cultural and political isolation. The winds of reforms and changes experienced by the Hindus in these areas, as a counter to the challenge posed by Christian missionaries, left these Muslims un-impacted. As a result, the economic and social hiatus between the Punjabi Muslims and the Muslims of the Indian heartland widened to the extent that the latter had ceased to be a force of any consequence. Moreover, most of the Sikhs and the Punjabi Muslims have a common Rajput and Jat ancestry.
The irrigation projects undertaken by the British administration transformed the area into the granary of India and as such is the case with the Punjab province of Pakistan, especially the Lahore division (particularly the districts of Lahore), Gujranwala and Shekhpura districts which enjoy both good rainfall and canal irrigation. Relatively the northern part of Punjab was less productive and characterised by small farms. Its economy was largely sustained by army recruitment. The southern part of the region was even drier and sparsely populated by nomadic herders. The agricultural economy of Punjab province received further boost with the ushering of the green revolution. The districts of Lyallpur, Multan and Montogomery stole the march over others during the Green Revolution. They, by 1965 accounted for 46 percent of Punjab’s Gross Domestic Products, but had only 28 percent of the area. The number of farmers in 150 acres and plus category increased by 106 percent and 8-25 acres declined by 28 percent. By mid 70s, Punjab was producing 72 percent of country’s output of major crops and 67 percent of food grains.6 The surge in agricultural economy in Punjab as result of infusion of new technology further sharpened the differences in levels of prosperity between various provinces in Pakistan. Within the Punjab province itself the economic cleavages became deeper and wider between irrigated and non-irrigated regions. A symbiotic relationship between landowners of Punjab and the military emerged because of the government policy (particularly after the 1959 Land Reforms) of providing land to servicemen at abysmally low prices. This policy started by Ayub was pursued by other military rulers. Therefore, for large number of Punjabis of Pakistan, including refugees from East Punjab, support to the military is vital to their economic interests.
During the colonial period, only few industries existed in the part of Punjab that forms part of Pakistan today. The major industrial centre was Sialkot, which was known for its sports goods and ‘Ittefaq Foundries ‘established by Nawaz Sharif’s father in 1940. With influx of refugees from East Punjab, industralisation received a major boost. The process was encouraged during the martial law regimes of Ayub, Yahya and Zia. Faislabad and Lahore, emerged as new industrial hubs. In fact, Faislabad was dubbed as the ‘Manchester of Pakistan’. Owing to the ethnic tensions in Karachi, a substantial industrial capital shifted from there to Punjab.
The Punjabi domination in the bureaucracy became more acute during the period of Ayub Khan and later Zia-ul-Haq. The imbalance between the Punjabi dominated bureaucracy and military vis-à-vis Bengalis…
With introduction of diarchy in the 20s by the British, the responsibility of education fell on Indian representatives. Mian Fazal-e-Hussain of the Unionist Party became the education minister (1921-1926). During his tenure he introduced 40 percent reservation for Muslims in prestigious centers of learning such as the Lahore Medical College and Government College Lahore, which hither-to-fore had Hindu predominance. This emphasis on colonial and western education made Punjab the principal recruiting ground for bureaucrats and army officers. Initially, after the creation of Pakistan, the bureaucracy was dominated by Mohajirs and Punjabis; the military, however was overwhelmingly Punjabi dominated.
The Punjabi domination in the bureaucracy became more acute during the period of Ayub Khan and later Zia-ul-Haq. The imbalance between the Punjabi dominated bureaucracy and military vis-à-vis Bengalis, whose population was more, is evident from the under-mentioned statistics7 of 1955.
The number of Pathans in the army has increased substantially since then; nevertheless the army as such continues to be Punjabi dominated. The continued emphasis on British concept of martial class has perpetuated the Punjabi domination in the army. Despite the fact that two Mohajirs, General Aslam Beg and General Musharraf rose to be the Chiefs-Mohajirs (in lower ranks), Sindhis and Balochs are severely under-represented. It is estimated that the representation of Punjabis and Pathans in the Army are as follows:-
The resentment against Punjab becomes more acute in Balochistan and Sindh during the military regimes, because the military is essentially seen as Punjabi-Pasthun dominated. Nevertheless, that Punjab is not an economic, linguistic, social and cultural monolith. In fact, the province of Punjab is characterised by a great deal of heterogeneity. The northern region of Punjab (corresponding roughly to the Rawalpindi Division) constitutes 10 percent of the population of Punjab. Agriculturally, it is not as rich as Central Punjab and therefore is the most fertile region as far as military recruitment is concerned. Its economy is substantially sustained by remittances from servicemen and its workforce employed in the Gulf.
In the year 2004-05, approximately Rs. 30 billion was disbursed as pensions to retired military personnel. The share of the various provinces with regard to officers and other ranks is shown in the fig:-8
In parts of the northern region, Hindko and Pothwari are spoken along with Punjabi. The central region of Punjab is agriculturally most rich, the most prominent being the districts of Lahore and Gujrawalan. Faislabad, one of the most important industrial centres in Pakistan is also located in this region. It has nearly half the population of Punjab and accounts for 55 out of 115 National Assembly seats in the province.
The Punjabi domination of Pakistan has been the biggest obstacle in nation building. By virtue of its population predominance, sense of martial superiority, and political and economic prowess, the Punjabis in Pakistan have treated the other provinces as their vassal states.
The south-western region of Punjab (cor-responding to Multan and Bahawalpur Divisions) has about 20 percent of the population of the province. This part of Punjab became the major cotton-growing region owing to the canal irrigation constructed by the British. A considerable segment of the population in this region speaks ‘Seraiki‘, which is more akin to Sindhi. Some Seraikis also inhabit contiguous areas in Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP. Since the mid-80s, there has been a demand for a separate province (Seraiki Suba) by the Seraiki speakers. However, in their demand for a separate province, in the NWFP they have only laid claim to the district of Dera Ismail Khan. The Seraiki’s complain that being major producer of wheat and cotton, their contribution to the Pak economy has not been acknowledged, and they have been rather ignored in terms of development, industrialisation, army recruitment and representation in the bureaucracy vis-à-vis the rest of Punjab. They have also been demanding for a ‘Seraiki Regiment’ in the Army.
The western districts of Punjab (cor-responding to Sargodha and Dera Ghazi Khan Divisions) are the poorest. The society in this region is feudal. This region of Punjab, especially the Jhang district, is the hotbed of sectarianism in Pakistan. The rural areas of the Jhang district are dominated by Shia landlords while the Sunni organisations like the Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) have more influence in Jhang city. SSP’s militant arm Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has in the past targeted Shia mosques and Iranian diplomats. It even made an attempt on Nawaz Sharif’s life in 1999. In the 1993 elections, the SSP had garnered 46.8 percent of the votes. Regional differences in Punjab were best reflected in the 1993 National Assembly elections, while the majority of the seats in Northern Punjab were won by the Muslim League, the PPP won 22 out of 36 seats in the Seraiki speaking areas of Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur.
The Punjabi domination of Pakistan has been the biggest obstacle in nation building. By virtue of its population predominance, sense of martial superiority, and political and economic prowess, the Punjabis in Pakistan have treated the other provinces as their vassal states. The fact that historically and culturally the Sindhis and the Balochis have much older, if not superior claims, is conveniently dismissed by the Punjabi elite. When queried by this author on the composition of the Baloch and Sindh regiments in the Pakistan Army, one of the senior officers said that both the regiments are overwhelmingly Punjabi, as the Sindhis and the Baloch, particularly the former, did not make good soldiers. Delving deeper in the pre-partition history makes it evident that the four provinces of Pakistan to begin with were acutely skeptical about the idea of a separate country. They were temporarily beguiled by Jinnah, his political machinations and religious appeal. The innate historical and cultural diversity was bound to reassert itself once Pakistan was created in the name of religion. Even after the separation of East Pakistan, the present day Pakistan is therefore struggling in its quest for nationhood, but the centrifugal forces being witnessed today are far stronger than the centripetal forces.
Notes
Amarjeet Singh (ed.), Jinnah and Punjab, Shamsul Hasan, Collection and Other Documents 1944-1947, (New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 2007), p.221.
S S Pirzada (ed.), Foundation of Pakistan: All India Muslim League Documents 1906-1947, (Karachi), Vol.II, p.406.
Report of the Indian Statutory Commission, London, 1930; cited in Hasan-Askari Rizvi, The Military and Politics in Pakistan, (Lahore: Progressive Publishers, 1987), p.137.
Punjab Administration Report, 1921-22 (Lahore), cited in Hasan-Askari Rizvi, The Military and Politics in Pakistan, (Lahore: Progressive Publishers, 1987), p.137.
Prasad, Expansion of the Armed Forces and Defence Organisation, 1939-1945 (Calcutta), 1956, cited in Hasan-Askari Rizvi, The Military and Politics in Pakistan, (Lahore: Progressive Publishers, 1987), p.137.
Christophe Jaffrelot (ed), Pakistan: Nationalism Without a Nation, (London: Zed Books, 2002), p.56.
Christophe Jaffrelot (ed), Pakistan: Nationalism Without a Nation, (London: Zed Books, 2002), pp.54-55.
Data based on: Ayesha Siddiqa, Military Inc. Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy, (London: Pluto Press, 2007), p.214
Source: IDR
Published at: https://pakistanblogzine.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/punjabs-pakistan/
Federalism under Squeeze
Afrasiab Khattak
The prolonged and mad fixation of the two big political parties and the country’s media with the by election of NA 122 Lahore kept the political focus of the country hostage for quite some time. For many days there was very little space in the so called mainstream media of the country for issues like war on terror in the country, military operation in FATA, the miseries of millions of Pashtun IDPs, bloodshed in Balochistan, turmoil in Karachi, load shedding, the menace of polio, and last but not the least the deteriorating situation on both the eastern and western borders of the country. It was flabbergasting to see the obsession of the two big parties withbye-elections in just one constituency of the National Assembly, which is a house of 342 members. It is particularly so when the federal government of Muslim League (N) has a comfortable majority and loss of one seat would not have made any difference in the parliamentary strength of the ruling party. There is one and only one explanation for the aforementioned obsession. The contest was not for just one National Assembly seat. It was about Takht-e-Lahore (throne of Lahore) which decides as to who will rule the country. So the fixation with NA 122 was basically a mere symptom of the deeper and more serious malaise, the growing Punjabisation of Pakistani politics and further marginalization of the population wise smaller units of the federation in the last few years.
Now to call these phenomena new one would be factually wrong. The hegemony of the Punjabi ruling elite over the state system and its policies has dogged the country through out its existence. Interestingly this imbalance prevailed even in the undivided Pakistan when the then East Pakistan (Bengal) had a bigger population than the population of all the four western provinces put together. The aforementioned imbalance was embedded in the state structure inherited by Pakistan from the colonial era. Pakistan had a week political class, week parliament and a week judiciary from day one. Compared to these institutions we got an over developed civil and military bureaucracy of the colonial system that launched the first coup in 1954 by dissolving the Constituent Assembly of the country. In 1955 One Unit was created by coercing all the provinces and regions to merge in West Pakistan Province with Lahore as its capital to counter the population weight of the then East Pakistan. But even then the East Pakistan had 54 percent of the country’s total population. So the then East Pakistan was forced to disenfranchise part of its population by accepting the principle of “ parity” (50 percent seats in the National Assembly) for “ greater national interests”. The martial law imposed in 1958 further reinforced this oppressive and exploitative system. This development led to severe crises that culminated in the disintegration of the country in 1971, a history well known to all.
In the aftermath of the debacle in East Pakistan the ruling establishment dominated by military and civil bureaucracy had to beat a retreat and elected representatives of the people were able to frame a federal, parliamentary democratic Constitution in the country in 1973. But the authoritarian establishment could not reconcile with a federal democratic system. So it consistently worked for undermining the system. After learning of the previous two unsuccessful efforts, in 1977 General Zia led a successful coup and the first casualty was the Constitution. It was not only suspended but its federal and democratic structure was also undermined by distortions and deformations inserted in it by the military dictator. Subsequently Musharraf imposed many more distortions in the Constitution. After the 2008 general elections democratic forces of the country tried to cleans the Constitution from distortions and deformations and bring the original federal and democratic character of the Constitution back. Although they could only partially succeeded in achieving that aim but the 18th Constitutional Amendment was a landmark development in terms of abolition of the concurrent legislative list and devolution of power to the provinces.
PML-N had supported the 18th Amendment because it also did away with the ban on third time prime ministership inserted in the Constitution by GeneralMusharraf to prevent Mian Nawaz Sharif and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto from becoming prime minister for the third time. Having achieved that purpose the current ruling party has not hidden its reservations about the 18th Amendment. It has revived ministries of health and education ministries in violation of the Constitution. The federal government has not been calling the constitutionally mandatory meetings of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) in 90 days. The unfinished task of devolution of powers under the 18th Amendment remains unfinished and there is no visible movement on this front. Federal government is not an abstract or neutral entity. It is by and large an extension of the Punjabi ruling elite. So for obvious reasons the ruling party is least interested in devolution of power and would roll back whatever is achieved so far.
But that is not all. The military dominated Pakistani state system is neither neutral nor politically inactive. It resorts to political engineering by tilting state policies into certain direction and at times by using naked coercion. The unlimited and growing powers of the apex committees, that do not figure anywhere in the country’s law or
Constitution has practically reversed whatever little autonomy the provinces had enjoyed in the past. Provincial governments in Balochistan and Sindh have been rendered dangerously powerless. As if that was not enough PTI has expanded its political power base with the clear support of the establishment. Nationalist and progressive political forces (in comparative terms) in the smaller provinces, weather in power or in the opposition, have faced growing pressure of state institutions. Media control has played an important role in it for casting political leaders in the roles of either Devils or Angels. Alternative to a Punjab based PML (N) has been created in the shape of PTI, representing another faction of Punjabi elite. It is not surprising to see these developments accompanied by more overt support for Afghan Taliban confirming the nature of overall state policies.
These developments practically amount to a reversion to a not so invisible One Unit even without any pretension of its constitutionality. It’s a policy rejected by the people in the past and will be also resisted in the future. Using force to impose it will certainly lead to the rise of centrifugal forces and weakening of the forces believing in the federation. Make no mistake about it.
The writer is a retired Senator and an analyst of regional affairs.
Curtsey:The Nation, October 17, 2015
Baloch,Pashtun and Sindhi tribes must unite to end Punjabi hegemony
KALAT, Balochistan – One has to be blind, deaf or mentally challenged to ignore the fact that the miseries inflicted upon the ethnic Baloch, Pashtun, and Sindhi races in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is caused by a single race – the Punjabi Muslim. Since the partition of India in 1947, the fascist “Punjabi Raj” has systematically oppressed the minorities in Pakistan. The laws of the country are designed in such a way that it favors the Pakistani province of Punjab and its people at the expense of the minorities from other areas. Prior to 1971, this Punjabi centric policy even alienated the Bengalis of Bangladesh (former East Pakistan) who eventually seceded from Pakistan (West Pakistan).
To strengthen their hold on oppressed minorities, the Punjabis have turned the Pakistani armed forces into a country club for the Punjabi people and the loyalist minorities. However, it is rare to find any Balochi or Sindhi serving in the Pakistani military, but it is common to find a few loyalist Pashtuns from Pakhtunkhaw (officially known as the Northwest Frontier Province) serving the Punjabi Raj to illegally colonize parts of Afghanistan (Pakhtunkhaw and Northern Balochistan), Balochistan, Northern Areas (including Kashmir), and Sindh. In order to control any revolt by the minority races, the Punjabi Raj has convinced the minorities (predominantly Muslims) that the Punjabi people are their Muslim brethrens. In fact, the Punjabi Raj repeated the same rhetoric to the Muslims of Bangladesh before the Punjabi armed forces killed over 3 million Bengalis and raped more than 250,000 of their womenfolk.
It is a historical fact that the Baloch, Pashtuns, and Sindhis have coexisted with each other for centuries. They learned how to coupe and overcome any challenges, and were able to rule the region together in harmony. But, ever since the Punjabi Raj took control of the area, they have oppressed the minorities, and meddled into the internal affairs of Afghanistan and India resulting in chaos.
To further strengthen their grip on the region, the Punjabi Raj has developed a modern armed force, equipped its forces with nuclear arsenal, and aligned itself with Islamic terrorists. It destabilized Afghanistan to the brink of total annihilation, and engaged the Indian army in a perpetual Islamic insurgency in Kashmir. At the same time, the conniving Punjabi Raj was successful in convincing the western nations that Pakistan is an ally in the ‘War on Terror’, though it is now clearly evident that the Punjabi Raj is the real terror.
Government of Balochistan (GOB) in Exile extends an invitation to the Pashtun and Sindhi tribes to join the Baloch freedom struggle to liberate not only Balochistan, but also free Pakhtunkhaw and Sindh from the occupation of the Punjabi Raj. For the last 59 years, the behavior of the Punjabi Raj towards the minorities is a clear indication that the Punjabi race is the enemy of the Baloch, Pashtun and Sindhi races.
Mir Azaad Khan Baloch, general secretary of the newly formed GOB (Exile) announced today that the time has come for all the minority ethnic races in Punjabi-controlled Pakistan, especially the Baloch, the Pashtuns and the Sindhis, to unite and end the Punjabi hegemony in the region and cease their oppression of the minorities. He emphasized that the common enemy of Afghanistan, Balochistan, India, Pakhtunkhaw and Sindh is the Punjabi-controlled Pakistan. Therefore, he encouraged India and Afghanistan to financially, morally and militarily support the freedom struggle of the Baloch, Pashtuns and the Sindhis to end the Punjabi Raj.
Calling CPEC,China-Punjab Economic Corridor is not a mistake
Adnan Aamir's reply to the objections raised by Amar Jajja in his blogpost against Aamir's earlier blog.
Adnan Aamir
Last week, I wrote an article which presented a case about Punjab being the biggest beneficiary of China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) at the expense of smaller provinces. Amar Jajja wrote a rebuttal and termed my genuine criticism as anti-Punjabi slur. Just like any criticism on Muslims is termed as Islamophobia, similarly, any genuine criticism on Punjab is quickly labeled as Anti-Punjabi slur. The said article has cherry-picked some of points in my article and twisted them to present a case against my stance. First I would respond to the incorrect points raised in that rebuttal and then further elaborate why CPEC is indeed China-Punjab Economic Corridor.
Amar Jajja writes that Punjab gets 39% share from the $28 billion projects of CPEC despite having 60% population of Pakistan. He implies that just because Punjab is not getting 60% of the project then CPEC is not Punjab centric. Whenever it comes to development planning, projects are distributed based on the backwardness not on population. Less developed provinces of Pakistan should get the lion’s share of projects but Punjab is the biggest beneficiary with 39% share. Author mentioned the share of Sindh which is $9 billion but he conveniently ignored the share of Balochistan which is 0. So, when Punjab gets $11 billion from CPEC and the most backward province of Pakistan, Balochistan, gets nothing, is it not right to call CPEC as China-Punjab Economic Corridor?
Secondly, Amar Jajja maintains that I have mentioned three projects and drawn general conclusion out of them. Again, he deliberately avoided mentioning the name and nature of these projects. These projects are not ordinary projects and include the $1.6 billion Orange Line Mass Rail transit system for Lahore. Lahore already has a Metro Bus service; would it not be fair to allocate this project to Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan? A branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China would be established in Lahore; would it not be fair if it were established in Quetta or Gwadar? Lahore is the single largest recipient of the urban projects in CPEC, and yet calling the project Punjab-centric is a mistake?
Thirdly, the author mentions that if Lahore-Karachi Motorway is meant for Lahore then Gwadar-Kashghar route is meant for Gwadar. This statement reflects complete ignorance about the dynamics of Gwadar. Lahore-Karachi motorway is being financed through CPEC to use it as a permanent route for this corridor. That’s why it’s meant for Lahore because it will ensure that CPEC route passes through the city in the future. National Highway that connects Karachi to Lahore is in pretty good shape as compared to Highways in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). First priority should have been to develop motorways in the two western provinces but that is not the case. Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the existing Quetta-Surab road would be extended to Gwadar and it would connect Quetta to CPEC. Quetta-Surab Road is a one-lane broken road and that would be extended till Gwadar. This is what Balochistan would get and Punjab gets a state of the art Lahore-Karachi motorway from CPEC.
Moreover, the author has criticized the thankless attitude of people of Balochistan by stating that Khuzadr-Ratodero Motorway would be financed by federal government and it should be appreciated rather than loathed. For his kind information, Motorways are always financed by the federal government as they are federal subjects. That’s just an example of twisting facts to make a point.
Coming back to the main point, CPEC serves as an umbrella for four categories of projects. These categories are Gwadar Port, Infrastructure, Energy and Economic Zones. The Gwadar port project is the starting point of this corridor but it’s not getting a single penny for its socio-economic development from the $28 billion. It’s a fact that Lahore as a city would benefit much more than Gwadar, which is the reason that Pakistan is getting $46 in first place. The second part is the rail road projects that would connect Gwadar with Kashghar. It has become crystal clear that the federal government is hell bent on preferring the eastern route over the western route. Developing Karachi-Lahore Motorway and inferior roads in Balochistan is part of that agenda.
As a part of CPEC, several economic zones would be established in Pakistan to enhance economic activity. Mysteriously, the federal government has not disclosed the exact location of these economic zones. This has led the politicians of Balochistan and KP to allege that the majority of these economic zones would be allocated to Punjab. This concern seems to be justified because if these economic zones were evenly distributed among all provinces, then Ahsan Iqbal would have proudly mentioned it to debunk the claims of CPEC being Punjab centric. That’s yet another reason to believe that federal government is trying to benefit Punjab at the expense of other provinces.
I agree with Amar Jajja on the point that CPEC must not be kept under wraps and eastern route should not be prioritized over the western route. However, the federal government is doing whatever it clan to give preference to the eastern route and that’s the main source of controversy. Kalabagh Dam was not made controversial by the smaller provinces, it became controversial due to its inherent nature; benefiting Punjab at expense of other provinces. If the Punjab centric nature of CPEC is not revised the CPEC would end up being too controversial for Pakistan’s benefit. Rather than blaming the victims for protesting, everyone who is concerned about the prosperity of Pakistan should oppose the Punjab-Centric nature of CPEC.
Adnan Aamir is a freelance writer and researcher. He is the editor of The Balochistan Point; Balochistan’s only English-Language online newspaper. He can be reached atAdnan.Aamir@Live.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook
Curtsey:The Nation, May 01, 2015
The Punjabi Hegemony
Goher Shah
Creation of Pakistan result the destination of Muslims of Subcontinent. The undivided Punjab was center of British Government. After British departure the divided Punjab also remained the center of affairs for Pakistan. The institutions British left proved to be creating awareness and worked as a beacon mainly in the Punjab. Punjabis learned, worked with them and after them handled major affairs of the country.
Today it has continued its hegemony by driving Pakistan in every wolk of life i.e. politics, bureaucracy, judiciary and military heads are majorly from Punjab. The recently announced result of CSS by FPSC is a proof of it.
The disqualified aspirants of CSS shared amazing data on CSS Forum. Out of 11,406, only 238 candidates passed the test as compared to 800 out of 10,066 in 2012, which is the first round of competition.
Interestingly according to the disqualified candidates, out of those 238 successful candidates 165 successful candidates were from Central Punjab and only 12 from entire South Punjab, the saraiki rural belt who also struggles for its identity. Statistics shows that 12 belong to Karachi and only 4 declared passed from the entire interior Sindh. Baluchistan domiciled candidates also shows the same result. Only 8 passed who are from Quetta. KPK has only 3 candidates passed on its domicile. There is not yet any successful candidate I have find from FATA/GB and AJK.
The civil bureaucracy like other public sector is a Punjabian asset depriving other provinces and GB/AJK from this opportunity. Punjab holds the public sector think tanks of Pakistan, therefore it does not allow the external force to act in Punjab. Mark my point, in politics neith er PTI nor PPP will clean sweep in Punjab because federal establishment and Bureaucracy are there owned by Punjab.
The unstable Karachi, Sindh, Baluchistan as whole and KP does not experiences peace due to these overhead factors. Who asks GB assembly when Punjab’s bureaucrats and Military elites are there!
In a nutshell one can say that Punjab has hegemony on Pakistan. The think tanks of every government sectors make decisions in interest of Punjab, when ever against the interest of Punjab, the stake holders defend their interest. Just missing the point that if other provinces suffer and if it do not affect Punjab directly. There is surely an indirectly effect on them also. Therefore as an elder brother Punjab should observe equality and justice with other provinces. So Pakistan will grow prosper but if it will continue like this. Analysis about Pakistan to collapse will become clearer.
See more at: http://brooshaaltimes.com/punjabi-hegemony/#sthash.N2zGgQ5X.dpuf
The Punjabi Pakistan
Raza Habib Raja
The selective way of presenting history in Pakistan conveniently ignores the fact that at its creation, there were two large sometimes contrasting and sometimes overlapping movements. The first was primarily centred around Muslim identity and tried to actually bargain a better position for its bearers. This movement though ended up in carving a separate homeland for the Muslims, nevertheless did not have that strong separatist thrust at least in the beginning.
However, the Islamic identity itself was not the only identity assumed by Muslims as strong ethnic nationalist tendencies existed particularly in the region which later became Pakistan. Thus the ethnic nationalist movements in Khyber Pakhtoonkwha and Baluchistan existed even before the partition. Let’s not forget that Khyber Pakhtoonkwha and Baluchistan were not fully comfortable when they “opted” for Pakistan. At best their support for Pakistan was tepid. West Pakistan at its creation was a multi-ethnic region with strong individual demands for greater autonomy based on linguistic and ethnic lines. The residents were largely Muslims but at the same time they also gave importance to their ethnic linguistic identities.
East Pakistan had a more or less uniform language and culture and at that point supported Pakistan as they perceived the creation of that state as synonymous to sufficient degree of autonomy.
One thing grossly overlooked by the establishment is that ethnic-based nationalism flourishes and may even embrace separatists tendency if the state is seen as biased. Nationalism is not merely preservation of identity; it is very much intertwined with the concept of state. If state is perceived as unjust, secessionist movements will most likely find a hearing. Ernest Gellener actually defines nationalism in the context of injustice. The deprived and excluded, if belonging to some common ethnicity, will revolt and will form nationalist expression built around that ethnicity and may end up striving for a state of their own.
Another important fact is that, identities based on linguistic cum ethnic lines cannot be made to disappear through superimposition or playing up the religious factor particularly when discrimination and exclusion is based on such lines. Yes being a Muslim is an important part of the identity, but at the same time so is the ethnicity and language. The latter would assume supremacy in an environment of discrimination, whether real or perceived.
Keeping this situation in mind, where five major ethnic nationalities existed with a strong tendency to demand a sufficient degree of economic, social and cultural autonomy, the best bet to keep the state of Pakistan intact was to allow sufficient autonomy at the provincial level to ensure that ethnic expression was not stifled. However, here came the crucial error. The Pakistani establishment at that time and ever since has assumed that allowing provincial autonomy and greater ethnic expression coupled with decentralization would weaken the federation. Moreover, it erroneously assumed that the two nation theory negated fostering of regional identities.
These two assumptions have accounted for the various ideological, political and administrative missteps which the state has taken over the years to “tackle” the issue of ethnic diversity and nationalism. Instead of accommodating ethnic diversity the central idea has been to negate it through various means.
As pointed out quite eloquently by Mr. Stephen Cohen in his book The Idea of Pakistan that Pakistani leaders have not fully grasped that in an ethnically diverse state most politics is of identity and closely linked to issues of pride, status, jobs and social equality. They seem convinced that ethno-linguistic demands are an economic problem, not a political problem, and if other means fail, a military problem.
There are a wide range of administrative, political as well as ideological blunders which the largely Punjab dominated centre and establishment have committed over the past 60 years and with devastating results. These blunders have proven to be counterproductive to the original aim of keeping the state intact in a smooth manner and have created alienation in the other ethnicities. But the ill effects go beyond harming the harmonious relations between the ethnicities. These have actually had catastrophic effect on the other aspects also.
The ideological drive which places a strong emphasis on Islamisation actually also tries to counter the issue of ethnic identities. The aim has been to ensure a strong centre as it has been viewed critical for the integration of the state. The policy of Islamisation has not been carried out to radicalize the population but chiefly as a political tool to subdue nationalistic forces. Even state sponsored Talibanization was partly done to diffuse Pushtoon ethnic identity and amalgamate it into state preferred Sunni Muslim identity. Needless to say that it has produced catastrophic results and continues to produce such results.
In fact we have not learnt anything from the history and instead of trying to address ethnic nationalist demands, have continued to counter it by efforts to play up the Islamic factor to diffuse ethnic identity and demands. The Islamic drive became more vehement after the secession of East Pakistan. Instead of getting to the root of the problem which was OVER CENTRALIZATION AND PUNJAB’S DOMINANCE, our response has been to play up Islamic identity in order to overcome the ethnic forces. The fundamental assumption is that ethnic demands would weaken the state and therefore if ethnic identity can be “replaced” or at least superseded by Islamic identity, the state would survive.
Of course ideological thrust on fostering Islamic identity has been carried out to chiefly supplement the administrative, political and economic set up in which the centre dominates.
Pakistan has in fact continued with the colonial structure with minor amendments to “adjust” it to its ground realities. This structure with a centralized bureaucracy, powerful feudal structure, huge powers vested in the centre and a large army is chiefly designed to ensure a powerful centre. One has to go into pre-partition times to understand about the structure and rationale of this brand of state structure.
The British created a new breed of feudal lords with proper legal title while retaining monopoly on the sole use of violence as coercive measure. This clever tactic insulated the populace from the state as it created a layer while ensuring that monopoly of violence (state’s coercive power). The landlord while legal owner of the land had to exclusively rely on a centrist state to tackle with any trouble at the local level. Thus state eventually evolved as a mere enforcer rather than a body responsive to the local concerns. Its prime concern by design was ensuring authority of the centre.
On a broader level the state was structured with powers vested in the centre and provinces were to be ruled with limited autonomy. The act of 1935 which also became the source of inspiration for all the subsequent acts was again centrist in orientation. These two important characteristics which were designed by British, a foreign ruler, to ensure “insensitive” hegemony of the centre and Pakistan’s establishment as well as political class with centrists tendencies continued to persist with it. The post-colonial state is actually an extension of the colonial state but with the changed central government. This structure was deliberately allowed to continue to ensure preservation of a centre-oriented state. This structure is bound to create resentment at the local/provincial level and is designed for the IMPERSONAL kind of ruling.
In this structure the centre more or less controls the revenue and expenditure. And the centre is dominated by Punjab. The population wise allocation of revenue and Punjab’s dominance in the “establishment” institutions such as civil services, judiciary and above all armed forces has created resentment and given rise to grievances. The revenue and resource allocation is highly controversial and automatically gives rise to feelings of exclusion which invariably will be manifested in strong tides of nationalism and occasional political violence around the question of scecession. The revenue generated from other provinces is spent on Punjab disproportionately. Likewise, the royalties from resource usage of smaller provinces do not proportionally match up the benefits derived from such usage. The resource rich Baluchistan despite enabling Pakistan to save billions of dollars because of natural gas gets paltry amount of royalty in return. It remains a poor province despite benefitting Pakistan a lot. If today there is a strong resentment in Baluchistan’s middle-class, it arises from these grave injustices not due to so called grand conspiracies of foreign powers.
The current structure is skewed, whether deliberately or inadvertently, in favour of Punjab. Hence, not surprisingly, the identity of Punjab’s middle-class is strongly reminiscent of official version of what constitutes a Pakistani. The other provinces increasingly identify themselves on ethnic lines even though all may not be harbouring secessionist aspirations.
Moreover, several blunders have been committed in the past to ensure preservation of the dominance of the privileged centre. One was the tactless imposition of One Unit, which in the name of administrative “efficiency” tried to subdue the ethnic-linguistic expressions within the mould of governance. The One Unit scheme was a disaster and effectively sealed the fate of Pakistan unity. It ripped open the already smouldering wounds and needlessly aggravated the situation eventually leading to dismemberment of the country in 1971.
The administrative blunders have always been supplemented with violent and unconstitutional methods of dealing with the nationalist forces. The centrist tendencies manifested in violence as Bengalis were crushed using military, a pattern which has repeatedly been used. The culture has developed where autonomy if voiced is construed as a danger to the state and is handled with force. We did not learn the lessons with Bangladesh and repeated the same with Baluchistan repeatedly. Baluchistan has literally experienced several uprisings and brutal retaliations from the state. The ongoing insurgency is not the first such insurgency as it has been preceded by insurgencies in 1958, 1960s and 1973-77. And the provincial governments have also been dismissed and at times on the explicit charge of “conspiracy to dismember Pakistan”.
Right now as Pakistan is fighting for its existence and bearing the brunt of its ideological blunder of promoting political Islam to tackle ethnic diversity, the time has come for us to learn our lessons. The foremost lesson is that dissent can only be addressed by addressing the root causes which are often emanating from exclusion and discrimination. Use of ideological engineering and tactics of coercion and intimidation will not strengthen the federation but weaken it.
Another lesson which needs to be learnt and particularly by democracy-skeptic Punjabi middle-class, is that an ethnically diverse country needs democracy even if it means scarifying governance. Ethnic diversity needs consensus at every step and the way it has evolved in Pakistan the need to negotiate and renegotiate the relationship terms between the provinces will increase with time. Only democracy provides the framework as well as the forum to do so. Only democracy provides the mechanism which can tap the voices of the provinces and project them for discourse at the national level.
Therefore, this nonsensical yearning for army rule has to stop. Armed forces have always dealt with coercion and since they largely hail from Punjab, they have only succeeded in instilling hatred in the smaller provinces against it. While media and urban middle-class of Pakistan have been lynching the PPP government at the top of their voices, the party actually deserves praise at least on provincial autonomy front.
Curtsey: www.pakteahouse.net: May 24th, 2012
Pakistan or Punjabistan:
Crisis of National Identity
by Hooria Saboor
Transcript of Pakistan or Punjabistan: Crisis of NationalIdentity
Pakistan or Punjabistan: Crisis of National Identity
Overview
Yunas Samad is a British social scientist.
He published several books on the topic of Pakistani nationalism and ethnicity.
Nationalism is a belief, creed or political ideology that involves an individual identifying with, or becoming attached to, one's nation.
Ethnicity
could be referred to as being associated with ethnic traits, background or allegiance.
Examples of Ethnic groups are: Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, Kashmiri etc.
The Post-1947 Scenario
PUNJAB:
Sikander Hayat did not want Pakistan
This was Punjabi regionalism not Muslim nationalism
BENGAL:
Regionalism was absorbing nationalism
Suhrawardy rejected Two Nation Theory-> Independent Bengal
SINDH:
Opposed to any center whether controlled by League or Congress
NWFP:
No clear articulation of nationalism
Wanted restricted power for the center
KASHMIR:
Sheikh Abdullah was loyal towards Congress
BALOCHISTAN:
Lay outside the British controlled Balochistan so did not have much of a say in the matters
The Pre-1947 Scenario
Muslim nationalism was Janus-faced i.e. it would shape shift to either Islamic ideology or to regionalism given the situational context
The Muslim League had garnered support from Muslims all over India who possessed discreet modes of nationalism
->
fear and distrust of Congress
Pre-Bangladesh: Divorce of Ethnicity and Nationalism
High degree dissimilarities between Bengalis and Punjabis
Imposition of Urdu as the national language.
Elections called by Yahya Khan:
West Pakistan politicians failed to homogenize the West.
Victory of Eastern Party.
A six point formula proposed to weaken the federal structure.
MILITARY-BUREAUCRATIC OLIGARCHY
The military-bureaucratic oligarchy had a lot of influence on the politics of the pre-1947 era.
This trend continued in the post-1947 era.
80% of the military and 55% of the federal bureaucracy constituted of individuals with Punjabi roots.
The oligarchy played an interventionist role in Pakistan’s affairs.
The oligarchy was not ethnically neutral in the co-option of its allies.
Representatives of other ethnic classes politicized their ethnic identities in an attempt to legitimize rebellion against the pro-Punjabi government.
Bhutto: A nationalist
After the separation of East Pakistan, and the failure of the army in the Indo-Pak war. Bhutto came into power. He was a nationalist and a socialist. Even though he was a Sindhi, he was a proponent of central control and against India which made him acceptable to the Military-Bureaucracy.
He introduced many policies which made the country strong economically and in international security matters.
Aftermath of Bengali Victory
Fears of West Pakistan:
Weakening of Federal Structure.
Domination of Eastern officials in National Affairs.
Tikka Khan unleashed army action in East upon Yahya Khan’s orders.
Mass migration to India.- 90% emigrants were Hindus.
1971 war broke out.
RESULT: Bangladesh gained Independence.
Group 9
Ijlal Haider
Lala Rukh
Jehanzeb Mufti
Izza Adnan
Hiba Shakil
Hamza Ahsan
Habiba Rehman
Hooria Saboor
Agenda
How Punjabi hegemony of the state has perpetuated correlation between Punjab’s and Pakistan’s interests.
How nationalism and ethnicity actually came to co-exist in the first place
Processes that reactivated ethic identification at the expense of nationalism; 1947 till current date.
Reasons for distrust:
Congress attitude towards Muslims in inter war years (1939-1945)
Inadequate constitutional safeguards for Muslims provided by Congress
Continued.
Present Scenario
Muslim nationalism was not a homogenous phenomenon
Punjabis and Muhajirs initially advocated a highly centralized state
Ayub Khan, Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto & Zia-ul-Haq changed policies with each passing regime
Balochis always ignored
Conclusion
M.Q.M: Muhajir nationalism
1971:
separation of East Pakistan
1973
: 33.5% of civil service officers were Muhajirs
Bhutto implemented
Quota system
Lost their influence in center
Zia and Bhutto both policies served to decrease the Muhajir's power in the center.
Altaf Husaain
: a student of Karachi university formed an organization APMSO.
Formation of Mutahida Qaumi Mahaz.
Benazir reign
: A threat to military influence on centre so the military is said to have supported the Muhajir and Sindi conflict.
Party/Government Stance (you decide)
Musharraf:
Strengthen Federation, remove Inter-Provincial disharmony and restore National cohesion
PPP:
Neglected Balochis and Pashtuns, continuous power war between Sindh and Punjab
PML-N:
Decentralized government with Punjab being favoured the most, developments seen only in one province
This was the first time when a civilian politician was gaining such power in the centre and popularity and it was taken as a threat to their influence over country’s politics by the military and the bureaucracy who had been the ones controlling the center. He provided political access to Sindhis.
The recognition of the Sindhi language in 1972 and the quota imposed on Muhajirs entering the civil service led to the deflation of the Sindhi identity and subsumed them in the official Pakistani National identity.
His main opponents were the Balochis and the NWFP
In 1977 Zia ul Haq over threw Bhutto’s government very eagerly and later on Bhutto was hanged to death.
9,000 lives were lost in the Balochi uprisings in attempts to crush the opposition.
Bhutto’s regime also threatened the Military-Bureaucracy and the creation of FSF displaced the army’s role in internal security and lateral entry of political nominees into the bureaucracy antagonized the oligarchy.
When the Pakistan National Movement against PPP mobilised urban groups against electoral misconduct in the 1977 elections, it paved way for the Military-Bureaucracy led by Gen. Zia Ul Haq to take over.
Muslim Nationalism used before the partition was a
heterogeneous
phenomenon with all of its parts subsumed by the Pakistan Movement.
The tension between nationalism and ethnicity was the basis of all opposition to the center which hardened the ethnic fault lines.
The Military-Bureaucracy were key preserves of the Punjabis and their allies of which they vigorously defended the necessity for a highly centralized state.
Bhutto’s regime reformulated the power at the center and co-opted Sindhis at the expense of Muhajirs.
Zia’s expulsion of Sindhis led to uprisings from Sindh, however, as a result of the soviet invasion, the western provinces had to be neutralized.
However, not all Punjabis benefited from this domination, Zia’s regime alienated some Punjabis and introduction of Islamic Law politicised women.
His regime was also opposed by Saraiki areas, the Mirpur population and Azad Kashmir.
Domination by the Punjabi elite was the primary cause for the ethnic conflicts that convulsed the nation’s history and challenge the Punjabi hegemony!
Curtsey: presi.com 17 November 2014
Opposition leader criticises 'Punjab-centric' CPEC projects
by MATEEN HAIDER
ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressing reservations on projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and called the initiatives taken on the project "Punjab-centric".
He asked the premier to adhere to the decisions reached at an all-party conference (APC) held over the project in May this year.
The letter maintains that Sindh and smaller provinces are being ignored in the construction of development projects as new power plants are being constructed majorly in Punjab while the small provinces.
"Sindh is being deliberately ignored despite the fact that the province generates 60 per-cent of country’s revenue and holds largest natural gas reservoirs." read the letter.
Shah also objected on the preference given to the construction of eastern route for project ignoring the short and better western route.
The opposition leader however maintained that that the $46 billion CPEC project is a vital development opportunity for Pakistan and all parties agree on its vitality in strengthening our bilateral ties and economic cooperation with China, But the way the project is being executed has raised fears among stakeholders.
He demanded that the government revisit its policies and priorities regarding execution of the CPEC and other development projects 'in order to keep the federation intact' adding that the objective can only be achieved by taking all the federating units into confidence and ratifying their reservations.
Looking at the CPEC
ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, on Friday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressing reservations on projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and called the initiatives taken on the project "Punjab-centric".
He asked the premier to adhere to the decisions reached at an all-party conference (APC) held over the project in May this year.
The letter maintains that Sindh and smaller provinces are being ignored in the construction of development projects as new power plants are being constructed majorly in Punjab while the small provinces.
"Sindh is being deliberately ignored despite the fact that the province generates 60 per-cent of country’s revenue and holds largest natural gas reservoirs." read the letter.
Shah also objected on the preference given to the construction of eastern route for project ignoring the short and better western route.
The opposition leader however maintained that that the $46 billion CPEC project is a vital development opportunity for Pakistan and all parties agree on its vitality in strengthening our bilateral ties and economic cooperation with China, But the way the project is being executed has raised fears among stakeholders.
He demanded that the government revisit its policies and priorities regarding execution of the CPEC and other development projects 'in order to keep the federation intact' adding that the objective can only be achieved by taking all the federating units into confidence and ratifying their reservations.
China vows support for CPEC security
Vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission General Fan Changlong arrived in Islamabad on Thursday and held separate meetings with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief General Raheel Sharif.
The General, ranked third in the Chinese hierarchy, pledged to support Pakistan on the security of CPEC .
“We look forward to close cooperation with Pakistan to ensure proper management and security of the CPEC,” Gen Fan Changlong was quoted by ISPR as telling Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif during a meeting at the General Headquarters.
Terming the project equally beneficial for both China and Pakistan, the Chinese military official also appreciated the efforts of Pakistan Army in safeguarding the CPEC route. Curtsey:DAWN.COM, NOV 13, 2015
