April 19, 2010
Demand for creating new provinces out of the existing four is not as new as many people might think.
Once the infamous one-unit scheme that had merged all the provinces and the princely states into West Pakistan in 1954 to create parity with then East Pakistan was disbanded in 1969, the peoples of Bahawalpur agitated for restoring autonomous character of the former state as a province.
The demand was so popular that a large number of nominees of the Bahawalpur Suba Mahaz won elections for the Punjab and National Assembly. The movement subsequently died down but the passion never did. Although the political actors and the dynamics that shaped them have changed a lot, one can still feel occasional rumbling of that movement.
In recent months we have seen the political class from that region, with less control than dynastic political parties, speaking their mind on the issue openly and threatening to launch a fresh move. The impetus for dividing and demarcating existing provinces has got steam from the debate on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issue.
It cannot be ignored and has created backlash in the non-Pashtun regions of Hazara and the southern Seraiki belt. What is wrong in naming a province after the majority ethnic group? This is what the people of the province want. While the constitutional requirements for choosing a new name were met, the democratic credentials of the process remain a suspect.
How should the renaming have been done? Ideally it should have been referred to the people directly –a referendum should have been held and if they voted for it then the name should have been changed. This is a process that is universally accepted for creating or naming states or creating provinces.
Perhaps the ANP, long associated with ethnic politics of the region, was not so sure about winning its demand through free and fair referendum or the fears of chaos in a time of raging terrorism might have deterred it from taking that route. The party played a game of politics, as mainstream parties were desperate for constitutional amendments and needed the support of the regional parties.
At the end, it was an inter-elite political bargain, an evergreen characteristic of Pakistani politics that settled the issue in favour of the ANP. An ethnic name for a multi-ethnic province that is culturally and linguistically as diverse as any other province of Pakistan will ignite latent political forces in every province of Pakistan. The latter in turn will demand that provincial status to be given to other minority ethnic groups as well.
The question on the minds of many people is whether or not more provinces are a better solution for the kind of politics and governance the helpless peoples of Pakistan have endured for 6 decades. Maybe, maybe not. The provinces of Pakistan and their boundaries have evolved over centuries and contain diverse ethnic groups that intersperse into other provinces as well; a true ethnic mosaic shaped by migration, conquest and modernization.
Undoing historical entities like the Punjab, Sindh and more so Balochistan with a clear dividing line between the Baloch and the Pashtun in the main but with other ethnic groups like Brahavi, Sindhi and Mekran Baloch may provoke sentiments of ‘divide and rule’. The question of redrawing provincial boundaries and creating new ones must be referred to the people, and not left to the ruling groups.
Even breaking down larger provinces into smaller units along ethnic or administrative lines alone will not benefit the peoples or bring a fundamental change in the quality of governance without a real change in the rule of law regime and representative character of the ruling elites.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais is professor of political science at LUMS.
Waseb 
shala lagni bhaag saraiki……..jaag saraiki jaag saraiki
saraikistan zindabad
strange argument if a ‘ZHOBWAL’ or ‘ZARIATWAL’ pathan from southern PASHTOONKHAWA settles in any part like at SAWAT or BANNU of northern PASHTOONKHWA. how could he be named someone else other than Pathan… so is the case of a Punjabi from any part of Punjab… -As far as having absence of personal experience of dealing with Urdu speakings is concerned, ask poor Sindis and now Balochs…it was argued that Urdu speakings sacrificed for Pakistan…is a sheer joke as they sacrificed what? they calmly infiltrated during 60s, 70s and still on, in this federation having divided Punjab after instigating and fueling the element of religion, which caused Punjabis massacre unfortunately by Punjabis….and what Urdu speaking (Hindustanis) had to loose? however Bangalis and Punjabis lost half parts of their mother lands. Sindis are loosing politically and economically and Balochs were enforced to be the part of this federation on the barrel of gun….were they not? ask them…! -Pathans were deceived as Zia-ul-Haq deceived people in his referendum on the name of religion…didn’t he? -it was claimed with a mind suffering with the inferiority complex,that “Urdu speakings are intelligent and they increased competition…” so let us discard Urdu, then tell who are more intelligent??? the natives’ children, who have been in a fix since 1947 or prior to that, when Urdu was imposed on them and the early ten precious years of their education life, they merely spend in learning an aliens language (Urdu)…not to speak of gaining knowledge even kudos to them, that compete these alien Hindustanis in every field of life…yet are called/titled uncivilized, uncultured etc. just sit among these Hindustanis, then you people would come to know the irrefutable reality… – as far as ones intelligence is concerned, keeping in view the first gentleman claimed in his argument… one may dare to ask why Britishers were asked to quit India even though they were far more intelligent and an atmosphere of competition could have been developed in the presence of those more intelligent people, above all they were at least not hypocrites because they kept never meddled in the religious and personal liberty of any community and rather secured it… didn’t they? -Finally natives of this federation are now sick up of listening the slogans of Islam Islam Islam… these words have been misused and misquoted a lot enough to exploit the sons of the soil of this federation(who are of course Muslims) by imposing a UPite version of Islam on us. But has someone from Punjab ever thought that it is a religion of pure nature or against of it… for instance poor Bengalis and Sindis with total devotion and purity endeavored to get emancipation from the linguistic, political and economical subjugation of UP based “BAMAN(IN PUNJABI ACCENT)the upper class of Hindus”. But soon after the emergence, do you guys know what happened…the same Bengalis and Sindis were attempted to be deprived one of their very basic fundamental rights I mean “language” by the nexus of dominating ‘UPite’ class of Hindustani Urdu speaking and mesmerized Punjabi vultures’ establishment. The very first self-proclaimed Governor General of this newly created federation, while addressing in DHAKA University, tried to impose Urdu on well aware and educated Bengalis, who out rightly rejected this arbitrariness. Later on political and economical deprivation turned Bengalis sense of deprivation to its culmination point. And a vast majority got liberation from a minority in the world’s history for the very first time, who sacrificed a lot for the creation of this federation in order to live a peaceful and prosperous life in an atmosphere based upon equity and justice. Later on after striving a lot in 70s, even Sindis got partial success to some extent by getting their national language (Sindi) declared the official national language of sind and the integral of their curricula though yet they are politically and economically subjugated to their own upper ruling vultures and above all the Urdu speaking wolves, whose major chunk since 50s, 60s, 70s (after the settlement of the dust of Punjabis’ massacre ironically by Punjabis, displacement and division right in 1947) has been infiltrating in this federation apparently on the name of religion from UP, CP, BIHAR etc. through WAGHA, SEA, AIR & now KHOKARAPAR merely in search of better economic opportunities. This massive influx of Hindustanis mainly in Sind has almost changed the demography of Sind. It is no more a secret now that the same racist swarm of these Urdu speaking again attempted to settle new colonies in the coastal belt of Balochistan at GAWADAR in their own Hindustani dictator Musharraf’s time by building a coastal belt in order to link GAWADAR to Karachi (interestingly where already two ports are operating) instead of linking GAWADAR directly through the interior Balochistan up to Quetta and then other parts of the federation via fort MANROO, Afghanistan via CHAMAN, Iran and central Asian states, for which this port was supposed to be established. The malicious self-explanatory purpose was to get easy access to this region and settlement of new Urdu speaking colonies, which could ultimately not only take the control of Balochistan’s politics and economy by them but also the whole federation would become under their thumb. That is why MQM always fight for two federal portfolios of ‘port and shipping’ and ‘housing and works’. If Balochs hadn’t launched another armed struggle specifically after the martyrdom of Lion NAWAB BUGTI, the said region would have been fallen prey so earlier to this racist Urdu speaking mafia thriving and enjoying the perks and privileges under the extremely condemnable shield of ignorant Punjabi masses, whose minds have been intoxicated by portraying ‘Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam, Urdu’ as holy symbols. The genuine national question of the nationalities of this federation (which eventually resolves all the political, cultural and economical issues) has always been attempted to be countered by using state forces and religion in the first five to six decades… but with the passage of time as the sense of alienation and deprivation lingered on among Sindis, Pathans and Balochs due to the exploitation of the said mafia, ignorant Punjabi masses have been used as a scapegoat by getting them abused by their centuries old Sindi, Baloch and Pathan neighbors by the nexus of 5% upper ruling class of all natives of this federation (among whom sons of the land of five rivers are no doubt more being large in numbers) and the extremely well organized racist Urdu speaking hyenas. As soon as the element of religion for the said exploitation has been abating and losing its charm and shelf life, the above described establishment (ruling class of all natives particularly Punjabis of this federation plus Urdu speaking mafia) maneuvered another conspiracy of cutting iron with iron in order to counter the same genuine national question by engineering so-called nations within nations on the basis of ethnicity or dialects. So that a conundrum could be created in the minds of masses of this federation particularly ignorant Punjabis, and either they finally could be agreed on single virtual “PAKISTANI” nation or be divided into further number of nations. Which would of course give more opportunities in terms of new governor, chief minister houses, assemblies, portfolios etc to the upper ruling class of all the natives particularly Punjabis and above all would set a precedence for the Urdu speaking aliens finally to demand for a share in the pie and yes its best part (coastal belt of this federation) for them. It is well said that deeds are louder than words. Shah Abdul Lateef’s centuries old plant, when couldn’t be rooted out by these Urdu speaking hyenas, they strategically surrendered by painting themselves, from MOHAJIR QOOME MOVEMENT to so-called MUTAHIDA QUME MOVEMENT and cunningly started introducing themselves as ‘new Sindis’. But their deeds (no need to explain here) always proved against their claims. The biggest contradiction in their claim is this that never owned the language and culture of the sons of the soil of this federation due to their superiority complex (though it is known the acme of inferiority complex). Even though most of them have learnt the languages of the regions as a tool to plunder more and more the natives, they don’t own it at their homes and even in educational institutions. In this regard their way of crime is far more lethal than English or other colonialists, who rather studied the history, psychology and learned the language of the people of the region, which they occupied. Robert Sandaman and Jacob’s race was not hypocrite, they developed the areas, they ruled and didn’t touch the personal laws and individuals liberty of the natives. However, the BHAEES’ of GANGA JAMNA civilization from MUMBAI, used every weapon in the skins of MULLAHs, PAKISTANIs & now so-called “new Sindis’. but how long they successfully carry on their dirty game, depends upon the ignorance or awareness of the huge population of one the units of this federation, living in the lands of five rivers (Punjab). Whose criminal ignorance on the one hand put them in the hot water since 1947 or far earlier, when they accepted Urdu’s hegemony over their own rich saints’ language (Punjabi), while on the other hand got their Sindi, Baloch and Pathan neighbors suffered by the said illegitimate rule of the exploiters. Now this criminal ignorance of the natives of five rivers is going to disintegrate and quarrel the sons of KHAWAJA GHULAM FAREED, SHAH HUSSAIN, PIR MEHR ALI SHAH, WARIS SHAH, BULLHAY SHAH, BABA FAREED, SULTAN BAHOO, MIAN MUHAMMAD BUKSH at the behest of the above described wolves, hyenas and vultures. Ironically those saints, who spread the universal message of peace of love based on equality and justice, are now being labeled as SERIAKIS, POTOHARIS & PUNJABIS by the ignorant sons of the lands of five rivers due to multiple stigmatized sorts of reasons and purposely by the ruling mafia of opportunist Politicians of the land of five rivers like all the land lord politicians of south Punjab and even now by the apes from the central and upper Punjab like SHUJAT BROTHERS, AITZAZ HASSAN, ABIDA HUSSAIN, SKEIKH RASHEED etc; who were born on the other side of the blanket (of INDUS VALLEY) as their real fathers belonged to GANGA JAMNA civilization because they proudly own Urdu and un-naturally try to emulate their GANGA JAMNA’s civilization brothers even though they can’t and are made butt of joke by the same JANGA JAMNA breed. Contrary to the sweet language of the saints of five rivers, who could be proved a natural binding force between the sons of the five rivers’ land if these saints were purely and consciously owned by the natives of five rivers by introducing their language in educational institutions (as Bengalis and Sindis did) instead of Urdu literature and rest of the subjects would be kept in English (which is a lingua franca across the globe and provide handsome bread and butter and modern knowledge too). It is neither un-Islamic nor illegitimate; rather it is one of the basic fundamental rights of the humans, which has been accepted by all the saints, philosophers, prophets, religions and civilizations. Until and unless the Urdu speaking aliens own the language and culture of the land in its true letter and spirit, stop instigating brothers (living side by side in any particular geographical region for centuries) against each other on the basis of peculiar regional religious, linguistic or ethnic sentiments and psychology, and stop occupation like JEWS on the coastal belts of our Sindi and Baloch brothers lands, they can never merge in the natives. It would of course beget another massacre and migration, and peace (Islam) could never prevail. Bengali, Sindi, Baloch and Pathan brothers are well aware about the malicious design of establishment, but sons of the land of five rivers are still living in deep criminal ignorance and hibernation because of their unlimited ardent desire. That is why they are the most vulnerable segment of this federation, which could easily fall prey to the ulterior motives of the said nexus of establishment. The nationalists of other units of this federation should also realize that the division of Punjab would ultimately be the culmination point of their division, as the formula advised by the ruling exploiters’ nexus and annoyingly supported by the nationalists (PONAM etc.) applies/fits much more appropriately on them than it applies on Punjab. The intellectuals and litterateurs of Punjab shall have to quit planting the tree of GHALIB in the land of five rivers, as it is against the very laws of nature. Because a mango can’t be planted in Quetta nor an apple or almond tree could grow in Sind and Punjab. However if on smaller scale by using expensive state resources, these are grown in an artificial atmosphere, they can’t produce the fruit having the similar flavor in their natural habitats. So how could GHALIB, MOLVI FAZAL HAQ, MIR DARD blah blah blah could be flourished in the lands of RAHMAN BABA, KHAWAHA GHULAM FAREED, GHUL KHAN NASEER, SHAH ABDUL LATEEF BHATTAI or RABINDAR NATH TAGOOR. Any un-natural imposition or division always leads to a further chaos and mayhem. In the present turmoil sons of the lands of five rivers have been suffering the most and their misunderstanding and myopic vision has been one of the prime reasons of other neighbors’ sufferings as well (the cruel and illegitimate army operations in PASHTOONKHWA & above all in Balochistan are the open secrets for every one), so it is the first and foremost responsibility of the sons of five rivers to try to figure out the actual disease and smoke out the described real culprits, who have been capitalizing from their criminal ignorance by widening the gulf between them and their Baloch, Sindi and Pathan neighbors… May Allah bless Punjabis the true vision and cognizance of the situation….! A PUNJABI
very nice analysis. you spoke my mind.
God bless Punjab and give sense to Punjabis to be proud of their culture and language like the Bengalis.
I have personally met lots of Bengalis and the Bengalis have been successful in making February 21 as UNESCO World Mother Language Day.
The Bengalis have taken their language in the United Nations to be declared it an official U.N. Language and we the Punjabis have not been able to make it official in Punjab and haven’t made it mandatory in schools.
The U.P. wallahs have tried to push the Punjabis back by imposing a foreign tongue on them. It pains my heart to see when the native Punjabis are proud of Urdu rather than their centuries old mother tongue.
In LUMS, the students from Karachi make fun of our Punjabi culture as “Paindoo Day”….imagine, in Lahore, capital of Punjab, they are insulting us and the Punjabis don’t do anything!!!
I think the Bengalis were better as they sacrificed their blood for their language, culture and land instead of U.P./Bihari version of Islam shoved down our throats in the form of Urdu!
I WONDER AS SOON AS I ENTER IN MY MOTHER LAND…I FIND SUNNIS, SHIAS, CHRISTIANS, JATS, ARIANS, RANAS, LAGHARIS, MAZARIS, DARAYSHAKS, DOLTANS, LANGAS,RAJAS, AWANS, CHUHADARIS, MALIKS, KAMEES BLAH BLAH BLAH….ALAS! I CAN’T FIND A SINGLE PUNJABI, WHO LOVES HIS MOTHERLAND, LANGUAGE AND CULTURE… AS I CLAIMED BY EVERY SECT THAT ISLAM IS A RELIGION 100 % SYNCHRONIZES WITH NATURE… IF IT IS REALLY SO THEN WHY RELIGIOUS OR NON RELIGIOUS PUNJABIS DON’T OWN THEIR LANGUAGE…??? IN DIFFERENT BOOKS LIKE ‘THE SPIRIT OF ISLAM by Syed Ameer Ali; PERTAINING TO THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD (PBUH), IT IS TOLD THAT THOUGH THE LANGUAGE OF MUHAMMAD (PBUH) AND ALL ARABIAN PENINSULA WAS ARABIC, YET WHEN MUHAMMAD (PBUH) USED TO ADDRESS A PARTICULAR TRIBE OF ARAB, HE WOULD STRIVE HIS LEVEL BEST TO USE THAT TRIBE’S PECULIAR DIALECT…THERE IS NO NEED TO EXPLAIN IT WHY…! IN THIS SO-CALLED ISLAMIC REPUBLIC, WHICH IS NOW IN FACT A FEDERATION OF FOUR MAJOR NATIONS, NOT TO SPEAK OF DIALECTS, EVEN THE CENTURIES OLD RICH LANGUAGES OF NATIVES HAVE BEEN SUBJUGATED BY THE HEGEMONY OF AN ALIEN LANGUAGE URDU…SO HOW COULD ONE EXPECT PEACE PREVAILING IN THIS COINED FEDERATION…NEVER…!UNTIL AND UNLESS THE LINGUISTIC, CULTURAL, ECONOMICAL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS OF AN INDIVIDUAL OR ALL FOUR NATIONS ARE RESTORED, PEACE WOULD ALWAYS BE A DREAM FOR VULTURES INFILTRATING AND RULING THE POOR MASSES OF ALL FOUR UNITS OF THIS FEDERATION…PUNJABIS BEING IN MAJORITY WILL HAVE TO HAVE THE COGNIZANCE OF THE SITUATION…AND URDU SPEAKING HYENAS IF LITERALLY INTEND TO LIVE IN ANY UNIT OF THIS FEDERATION, THEY WILL HAVE TO OWN THE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF THE LAND IN ITS TRUE LETTER AND SPIRIT RATHER IN A WINDOW DRESSING MANNER AS THEIR RACIST LEADER HAS BEEN PORTRAYING BY WEARING SINDI CAP AND AJRAK…OTHERWISE HOWEVER CUNNINGLY THEY MAY PROJECT THE NAME ISLAM AND A SUPERFICIAL NATIONALITY OF PAKISTANI, THEY MIGHT DECEIVE FEW PEOPLE FOR SOME TIME, BUT CAN NEVER MAKE FOOL MANY PEOPLE SO MANY TIME…
Salam,
Brothers,
Just a bottom line,
BIG GAMES; IT’S A EUROPEAN N BRITISH POLICY THAT ‘DIVIDE N RULE’.
What ever u people said it quite obvious n rite too..
but it a fact that due to lack of proper education and awareness we are always used, just like pupits. If v r set free we will struggle for the development of our country, thats why v r always kept busy..:) in these kinds of sectoral and ethnic violences, Shia Sunni, Pathan Punjabi, Pathan Muhajir, hhahahahahahhahahahahhhhahhahahahahahhahahahaha shame on me that in the long period of 60 years i never or tried to understand this BIG GAME.. DIVIDE N RULE.. Allah meray mulk ko Salamat rakhna..Aamin
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