By Sikander Salahuddin and
Haroon Rashid
Names of Mountstuart Elphinstone and Alexander Burnes rank topmost among the British adventurers who explored and opened up in the 19th century India’s North West frontier and Afghanistan. Mountstuart Elphinstone in 1808 ventured forth with native Indian troops and some white officers. Some accounts say that Sir Syed Ahmaed Khan was also part of his expedition. Whereas. Alexander Burnes embarked on his expedition on 21st January 1831 sailing up the Indus , ostensibly to take four stallions, the gifts sent by King Williams !V for Maharaja Runjeet Singh. From Lahore he went further on to Peshawar, and then Afghanistan proper. The actual aim of these expeditions was to get a thorough understanding of the political state of affairs in these regions and report these findings back to the British government.
The accounts of both these Scottish explorers show profound observations, penetrating analysis of the Pashtoon and deep insight into their psychology. It was the tribal Pathans frontier region where Elphinstone met a tribal leader who said to him something quite interesting. He said “We are content with discord, we are content with alarms, we are content with blood, but we will never be content with a master.” What the tribal chief communicated to British explorer represents and encapsulates the very mind, mental outlook and way of life of a tribal Pashtoon.
But Pathans living in plains were subdued first by the Sikhs and later by the British, more due to their conqueror’s organized armies and advanced weaponry than for they lacking in the necessary martial spirit. But in wild mountains of the North West live those Pashtoons whom no body could subdue, conquer or tame. Hence evolved their claim of invincibility and superiority, their disdain of all other kind of people whom they came into contact with . Living by a Spartan code of chivalry and honor, with fierce individualism and passion for liberty they become people like no others. The Sikhs are equally renowned for their warlike nature and fighting skills but they can be content with a master. After the fall of kingdom built by Runjeet Singh in 1849 they quietly flocked to the British fold and began serving their new masters.
But the Pashtoon of the mountains loath to serve masters, they are so much full of themselves. Their way of life is the touchstone with which they measure other kind of people and no body appears their equal, let alone a superior, so why should they serve a master? They are more prone to serve master of another kind, a non human master: a God whom they only like to worship and happily serve.
Pathans are profoundly religious people but why Pathans are more religious and take their religion more seriously than the other people? One theory is that being not sufficiently advanced and sophisticated, their absorption in religion is actually primitive man’s fascination for his religion. After all, it was the religion that determined and dominated the whole life of man during ancient history and subsequently as civilization advanced in complexity, the hold of religion over human minds receded considerably. This theory is partially vindicated by the fact that many of those Pathans who came under the spell of communist ideology, when Afghanistan fell to Soviet influence, showed marked departure from their traditional religion and its practices. The same was witnessed among their brethrens across the Durand line in Pakistan. ANP in old days was a leftist party and some of its ideologues had marked Marxist Leninist tendencies including atheism.
Another justification for a Pathan’s fascination for religion can be traced in his great qualities of passionate love and unflinching, unvarying loyalty to those whom he come to love and respect. Let alone friends and loved ones, a tribal Pashtoon provides shelter to a total stranger, in many cases at the risk of his own life. A Pathan fulfills customs and conventions of hate and love equally well. If the same bonds of steadfast love and loyalty are maintained in man to man relationship, then the same must reach their highest level in his relationship with God. It is for the same reason that loves of God, respect for religion, its customs, conventions and rituals form the most essential part of a Pashtoon’s life.
But this absorption and the highest respect for religion, a thing quite nice in itself, brings in its wake something quite unforeseen and unexpected. What if a Pathan falls into the trap set by some clever manipulator who knowing his sensitivity for religion touches and manipulates the strings and cords of his heart that link him to God? From a Pathan’s simple life, mind and simple interpretation of religion the manipulator will easily spin the material for taking control of his mind and energies. In this case scenario, a Pathan’s judgment will be blurred and he will accept a master, a human master. And let us not forget Pathans are people most warlike, vengeful, full of wrath and anger for their enemies and more so for the enemies of God if they believe so or if they are made to believe by their manipulators. Pathans will then in all sincerity unleash his potential and energies at some enemy dictated and chosen by some body else, fighting some body else’s war, shedding their precious blood for some body else’s cause. This is not a hypothetical proposition, but in reality this has happened and still happening.
The foul plot of making use of Pashtoon’s prowess and energies was hatched once the Soviet tanks rolled into Afghanistan in 1978. One can’t deny the fact that there was much local Pashtoon resentment when Soviet influence began to penetrate in Afghanistan. But the threat was exaggerated beyond limits by their Americans and Pakistanis “backers” and the Pathans were lured into fighting a “jihad “against godless Soviet Union, to ward off supposed threat to their Islamic way of life and centuries old customs. Their simple belief in Islam was systematically manipulated and exploited to make them the fodder of war in fight against “The Evil Empire”. It was stated in propaganda that soviet style system had no morality and all of man and women in Soviet Union had common husbands and common wives. The real fact was that it was USA not USSR where moral degeneration, promiscuity and laxity in sexual decay were rampant , though US claimed itself a country which believed in God and USSR put no belief in organized religion .
But nobody cared for these delicate differences at that time. The world was abuzz with Mujahedin’s valiant struggle and among the Pashtoon few thought seriously that Jihad in Afghanistan had some seamy side to it too. The Pashtoon’s fighting the jihad, on account of their lack of education in international politics and strategic studies couldn’t rise that much high to see the whole affair from a vantage point and appraise their actual role in the war. They had pretty much limited and narrow way of looking at things, being in total ignorance of the fact that they were merely puny figures or pawns at the great game for containing Soviet influence in the region. This fate was sealed and the same fate awaits all of those who without education, and advancement in science and technology live in modern times, loosing the very means to control their own destiny and directions in life
East West rivalry of the Cold war was played out on Afghan and Pakistani soil for ten long years, resulting in the deaths of near one million Afghans, countless others becoming crippled for life and 5 million became refugees in neighboring countries.
Other times quickly followed when Pashtoons were misled by the enemies from within, their own fellow Pathans who urged them to offer their blood again in other wars, against other foes. .As America attacked Afghanistan on October 2001, a massive sympathy wave swept across NWFP, and rest of Pakistan for Taliban and their cause. But it was NWFP where Taliban sympathizers especially JUI organized rallies for raising new recruits to fight American forces. Religious emotions took the better of common people who volunteered themselves for fighting the new invaders, others who couldn’t volunteer donated money. Women donated their gold jewelry and the Pathan recruits crossed the Pak Afghan boarder but proved no match for superior American air power, their dead bodies lying scattered over the mountains and plains of Afghanistan ,others who survived fell into the hands of Northern Alliance fighters who released them only after hostage money was paid by their Pakistani relatives.
But it was AL Qaeda, a sharp witted band of Arabs, with a global agenda and an apocalyptic vision which excelled even the CIA and ISI in exploiting Pathan’s gullibility, his warlike spirit and his simple belief in Islamic creed,. This organization has on its agenda the destruction and defeat of the remaining “infidel super power” and the overthrow of Muslim regimes friendly to the west. To achieve its goals and objectives it needed a territory and a people sympathizing with its cause. But no country in the world even a Muslim one wanted to buy Al Qaeda brand of Islam and its confrontational ideology. But AL Qaeda among the tribal Pashtoons of Pakistan has found both. It has misused and exploited their tribal rules of hospitality, had them indoctrinated and proselytized into there version of Islam and launched them into the war zone laced them with guns, bombs and suicide jackets.. The Pathans have again in the name of Islam become the unconscious agents and foot soldiers of some body else’s war. On the chess board of this new kind of ideological war driven by history, religion and international politics Pashtoons move now again as pawn. Ironically they claim the role of player, but who is the player, the entire world knows except them.
Monday, May 4, 2009
The institution of Begging
By Sikander Salahuddin and Haroon Rashid
The intuition of begging is very rich in complexity though the beggars are considered the most trivial objects in our world, unfit for serious thought. It is only upon reflection that we come to gradually unfold the superficial exterior of begging and reach its real inner core, which is intriguing, complex, interesting and multidimensional.
Often an approaching beggar is dismissed with a scorn; his beseeching hand simply puts us off. He doesn’t impress us at all. The manner he comes to us with the apparent aim of evoking our emotions of pity make him look nothing more than a cheat. A beggar doesn’t impress because he doesn’t look like a successful man, His failure and fault is his poverty. He lies at the end of our social ladder, he is the one who in our competitive driven world can’t compete or doesn’t want to. With his empty pocket and haggard looks he is totally unimportant. Lying at our mercy, a victim of our whim, he can instantly be rewarded or could` be dismissed with a harsh word.
This is the most common stereotype of a beggar. But there are more things to him too which make him interesting in his own right. In the first place, the beggar is a brilliant psychologist, he turns upside down the normal ideas and notions of the world, the way, the manner, we the normal human beings think of human physical deformities and infirmities. And then with brilliant stroke of logic he uses them to his or her advantage. We often take pity when see someone physically or mentally handicapped and disabled. The proud among us born with such handicaps try to overcome the physical defect or some hide them and present themselves as normal human beings. Beggar on the other hand makes his physical handicaps and deformities more prominent and the defining character of his personality. It is a common sight to see beggars lying on the roadside showing their handicapped parts to the passers by with the aim of evoking their pity. Why they do that? Simply for the reason that such things move humans to pity. Same is the case if we see small children orphaned at early age. Beggar use this human feeling of compassion and pity for his advantage too. Many of women take their small children around while on begging spree and present themselves being widowed with small children. In short, pity is what they want us to feel for them. This is his or her main instrument and weapon. And what stands correct for individual beggar becomes same for normal individuals or at bigger scale for the governments in certain cases. Countries in indeed of money resort to the same tactics to extract money from the donor agencies. I remember many foreign dignitaries visited Pakistan when a massive earthquake struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005. Many of the earthquake affectees were brought to relief camps in Islamabad and housed in refugee camps. Among the afectees there were women widowed, children orphaned, and many people becoming handicapped for life. The rich foreign dignitaries were purposely shown around the human tragedy being unfolded in the wake of colossal tragedy wrought by earthquake. The aim, purpose and impulse were the same which drive a beggar. Though Pakistani authorizes would loath to even think of acting the role of a beggar, but this was the role they played.
Feeling compassion and pity for the people in real suffering is natural, but even the reservoirs of pity dry up when one is confronted on daily basis by professional beggars using various tricks to extract money out of other’s pockets. Many of such beggars could earn their living in a decent manner, provided they have a will and determination but they don’t and prefer the easy way. The efforts of the government, of the social reformers in many such cases prove futile. Doesn’t it mean that beggars are the product of a sort of the Darwinian natural selection, of the natural division of society, into the one who are powerful and who on account of their personal drive, initiative and ability carve out their own destiny and reach to the very top, and the beggars and their likes who merely live on the fringes of life and are reduced to crump and morsels which others throw at them.
For beggars it is all a way of life, he doesn’t have to swallow his pride because he as a matter of fact has no pride. Selfhood and personal pride have been wiped out in his personality, he no longer is moved by the conventions and modes of thought which propel normal human beings to become high achievers in life and attain a life of great status and wealth. Most of us try to present ourselves as highly respectable, hide our all faults and failings, and give a good account of ourselves even to the point of lying, simulation and hypocrisy. We do that because the society we live in doesn’t consider the weakness a mark of success. And so people trying to build up their great image in the hearts and minds of others tell others things, which in reality bear no resemblance to truth. This is because showing oneself in stark reality in front of others might be an unpleasant truth. We try to dress up nicely when we go in public only for the reason that our false self takes the better of us, though in our own home we are not bothered by such niceties. The great beggar stands at the very opposite end on the spectrum. On the question of selfhood, personal pride and honor he has no claims. Such claims are the reserve and domain of the mainstream life, driven by ambition, power, and struggle.
Times have changed, the empires have come and gone, the world saw the advent of the age of science, man climbed to the moon, but the institution of begging is still stayed with us, remaining unaffected by the fast changing world and showing great resilience in spite of our efforts .Perhaps begging is too deep rooted a trait of human personality to be uprooted with acts of legislature or the efforts of the society. And for the same reasons the beggars might stay with us in future as well.
The intuition of begging is very rich in complexity though the beggars are considered the most trivial objects in our world, unfit for serious thought. It is only upon reflection that we come to gradually unfold the superficial exterior of begging and reach its real inner core, which is intriguing, complex, interesting and multidimensional.
Often an approaching beggar is dismissed with a scorn; his beseeching hand simply puts us off. He doesn’t impress us at all. The manner he comes to us with the apparent aim of evoking our emotions of pity make him look nothing more than a cheat. A beggar doesn’t impress because he doesn’t look like a successful man, His failure and fault is his poverty. He lies at the end of our social ladder, he is the one who in our competitive driven world can’t compete or doesn’t want to. With his empty pocket and haggard looks he is totally unimportant. Lying at our mercy, a victim of our whim, he can instantly be rewarded or could` be dismissed with a harsh word.
This is the most common stereotype of a beggar. But there are more things to him too which make him interesting in his own right. In the first place, the beggar is a brilliant psychologist, he turns upside down the normal ideas and notions of the world, the way, the manner, we the normal human beings think of human physical deformities and infirmities. And then with brilliant stroke of logic he uses them to his or her advantage. We often take pity when see someone physically or mentally handicapped and disabled. The proud among us born with such handicaps try to overcome the physical defect or some hide them and present themselves as normal human beings. Beggar on the other hand makes his physical handicaps and deformities more prominent and the defining character of his personality. It is a common sight to see beggars lying on the roadside showing their handicapped parts to the passers by with the aim of evoking their pity. Why they do that? Simply for the reason that such things move humans to pity. Same is the case if we see small children orphaned at early age. Beggar use this human feeling of compassion and pity for his advantage too. Many of women take their small children around while on begging spree and present themselves being widowed with small children. In short, pity is what they want us to feel for them. This is his or her main instrument and weapon. And what stands correct for individual beggar becomes same for normal individuals or at bigger scale for the governments in certain cases. Countries in indeed of money resort to the same tactics to extract money from the donor agencies. I remember many foreign dignitaries visited Pakistan when a massive earthquake struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005. Many of the earthquake affectees were brought to relief camps in Islamabad and housed in refugee camps. Among the afectees there were women widowed, children orphaned, and many people becoming handicapped for life. The rich foreign dignitaries were purposely shown around the human tragedy being unfolded in the wake of colossal tragedy wrought by earthquake. The aim, purpose and impulse were the same which drive a beggar. Though Pakistani authorizes would loath to even think of acting the role of a beggar, but this was the role they played.
Feeling compassion and pity for the people in real suffering is natural, but even the reservoirs of pity dry up when one is confronted on daily basis by professional beggars using various tricks to extract money out of other’s pockets. Many of such beggars could earn their living in a decent manner, provided they have a will and determination but they don’t and prefer the easy way. The efforts of the government, of the social reformers in many such cases prove futile. Doesn’t it mean that beggars are the product of a sort of the Darwinian natural selection, of the natural division of society, into the one who are powerful and who on account of their personal drive, initiative and ability carve out their own destiny and reach to the very top, and the beggars and their likes who merely live on the fringes of life and are reduced to crump and morsels which others throw at them.
For beggars it is all a way of life, he doesn’t have to swallow his pride because he as a matter of fact has no pride. Selfhood and personal pride have been wiped out in his personality, he no longer is moved by the conventions and modes of thought which propel normal human beings to become high achievers in life and attain a life of great status and wealth. Most of us try to present ourselves as highly respectable, hide our all faults and failings, and give a good account of ourselves even to the point of lying, simulation and hypocrisy. We do that because the society we live in doesn’t consider the weakness a mark of success. And so people trying to build up their great image in the hearts and minds of others tell others things, which in reality bear no resemblance to truth. This is because showing oneself in stark reality in front of others might be an unpleasant truth. We try to dress up nicely when we go in public only for the reason that our false self takes the better of us, though in our own home we are not bothered by such niceties. The great beggar stands at the very opposite end on the spectrum. On the question of selfhood, personal pride and honor he has no claims. Such claims are the reserve and domain of the mainstream life, driven by ambition, power, and struggle.
Times have changed, the empires have come and gone, the world saw the advent of the age of science, man climbed to the moon, but the institution of begging is still stayed with us, remaining unaffected by the fast changing world and showing great resilience in spite of our efforts .Perhaps begging is too deep rooted a trait of human personality to be uprooted with acts of legislature or the efforts of the society. And for the same reasons the beggars might stay with us in future as well.
The Great Wrong
By Sikander Salahuddin
Whenever in Pakistan some political leaders or political party comes forward with the suggestion to divide Punjab for the larger good of Pakistan, then the reaction seen among certain politicians, intellectuals and literary men of Punjab is of total hostility. The idea of the division of Punjab into two or three provinces in their opinion goes against the interests of Pakistan and its ideology. People demanding the division of Punjab are immediately branded as unpatriotic and the demand for the division is dismissed on various grounds. But is this determined and vociferous opposition to the division of Punjab warranted and justified?
An impartial view of the whole situation reveals that division of Punjab isn’t in any conceivable manner against Pakistan or its ideology. Division of Punjab is very much in the fitness of things and such administrative measure would strengthen the federation of Pakistan and would end once and for all the underlying reasons, which wrecked havoc with the idea of united, stable and prosperous Pakistan. Pakistan doesn’t seem to loose anything if Punjab is divided. Rather with united Punjab ,Pakistan seems to loose all. For understanding this we need to look back at our past. It was unbridled power of the Punjabi burecracy and its overwhelming strength in the armed forces that gave rise to skepticism among small provinces and ethnic minorities and gave them ample cause to point their accusing finger at Punjab for being the leading cause of their backwardness and deprivation. Much ill will among the federating units has resulted from perpetuating the wrong of a untied Punjab being the dominant force in country’s affairs, even it cost the country its dismemberment in 1971, but still the influential people in Punjab oppose demands of its division tooth and tail and are not ready to give the matter a calm consideration.
There are various reasons why the idea of the division of Punjab is met with so much opposition and hostility in Punjab. One major reason is the emotional attachment of Punjabis to the very idea and name which the word Punjab evokes. The word Punjab resonates with deep symbolic, and legendry and historical attachments. Punjab thus assumes the character of a holy land, a land through which five rivers flow. The power and strength of Punjab is symptomatic of the strength of Pakistan and so on and so forth. Viewed in this context, the proposition and notion of dividing Punjab is nothing short of a conspiracy to dismember the very land Punjabis so much love and take pride at.
Secondly Punjabi establishment acts as a monolithic group, acting and thinking in unison. It keeps its vital interest at the top most and brooks no compromise. Punjabi establishment consider itself a successor to the British and like them maintains its rule over smaller ethic group whom again, like its British predecessor, it considers as half civilized. For example the common stereotype of Pathan is a driver or a chaukidar, who serves a Punjabi or an Urdu-speaking Sahib, who has now taken on the mantle of the departing British. So the colonial mentality persists even today, though colonialism in its classical sense has departed. And all this leads us to a nasty situation. And as the British weren’t so justified in their claim, then so are the Punjabis. The excesses they commit are the excesses of the colonial mentality, which they have inherited. This is exactly which makes them oblivious to the wrongs they commit. It should be kept in mind that the great wrong in Pakistan originates from Punjab being the dominant force in the country’s decision-making process. Any such measure, which seems to threaten the very interests of Punjab is vetoed down, no matter if it gives rise to the sense of grievance among smaller provinces and ultimately loosing of their belief in the very idea of Pakistan.
Bengalis parted their ways in 1971, after realizing that they got nothing form being part of a united Pakistan. Same feeling is filtering down into the psyche of nationalities like Sindhis, sarakiks and Balochs. All of them are parochial and insular in geographical sense; are not adventurous and lack the spirit of braving the hazards and dangers of the unforeseen. The sense of perceived wrong at the hands of Punjab makes them turn inwardly to the land which they inhabit and with which they feel strong emotional attachment. Opinion is crystallizing among some of them that they got nothing from joining the federation of Pakistan and consequently they flirt with dangerous ideas such as succession and separation. The domination of Punjab is a constant theme in the litany of their accusation. Canada faced problem of French speaking Quebec province. And Canadian English speaking majority amicably solved this problem by reaching out to the French to such an extent that referendum held many times to determine Quebec’s future didn’t give the secessionist enough votes for separation. Even if hearts of Canadian French want separation, their minds don’t. Being part of Canadian federation is too much financially rewarding to entertain the idea of succession. This is not happening in Pakistan so far as smaller nationalities are concerned; a day may come when neither their hearts, nor their minds would want to be part of Pakistan. What is daily fed into their minds is the idea of Islam as a uniting force, a recipe which doesn’t work any more.
The fact is that a state like Pakistan contains the seeds of its very destruction. The founding fathers of Pakistan laid the foundation of a state on an ideology without taking into account some other tangible factors. The overriding emphasis on Islam as a binding force, holding together diverse linguistic and ethnic group was an unwise policy without providing proper safeguards for the equal opportunities of all. Especially so when there lay inherent danger of one linguistic group maintaining its dominance over the rest. But these inherent dangers were not taken notice of, and then gradually all the divisive forces started gaining momentum in East Pakistan. Bengalis took refuge in their separate identity and at last parted ways in 1971. Even after the dismemberment of Pakistan the lessons weren’t learnt. Now it is Sindhis and Balochs who complain bitterly about the shabby treatment they receive at the hands of Punjab. Many of their grievances are not without substance. Extreme and lunatic fringe of disgruntled and dissatisfied Balochs and Sindhis see the final solution in cession from the federation of Pakistan, and they try to realize their dream by even siding with the very enemies of Pakistan. Help they receive from outside is not sufficient to make them turn the scales in their fight against what they call ‘ Punjabi army and establishment ’. Outside world in general, and big powers at the moment don’t want to encourage instability in Pakistan because such a case scenario is not in their interest. Just at the moment United States and Britain don’t want Balochistan to secede as some people during recent Bugti uprising claimed. But in changed global settings things would turn quite difficult for those trying to keep Pakistan united.
So in what way we can shape a stronger Pakistan, which is able to able to withstand the vagaries of time and the conspiracies of its enemies. In plain words such a Pakistan can emerge only if its biggest unit is divided into two or three parts. Such a measure would not be a conspiracy against Punjab or its people, rather it would be a step to end once and for all a great wrong write large throughout Pakistan’s history and which has been the cause of all grievances, perceived or real among the smaller provinces and linguistic groups.
We have to take a broader and longer view of things and see the evolution of states and their demise in the broader perspective of future and the past. We have to dispense with the idea that things stands still in Pakistan and that the voices clamoring for their rights are some trouble makers having no broad based representation. The fact is that things in Pakistan may spiral out of control and the theory that Pakistan is a failed state, our nightmare, may come true. We should no longer be lulled by the wishful thinking that tomorrow things may turn out for the good. To prove to the world that Pakistan has come for all times to stay and is not merely founded on the shifting sands, we have to take many steps. Division of Punjab is not the panacea, yet it is something that would bury the ghost of Punjabis dominance and would ensure a stronger Pakistan. The system, which is heavily loaded against small provinces, needs to readjusted. We have squandered so much of good will among the federating units and now it the time to do something about it. Unless we do it, the great wrong will remain and many unpleasant things will follow, if not today, then definitely on tomorrow.
Whenever in Pakistan some political leaders or political party comes forward with the suggestion to divide Punjab for the larger good of Pakistan, then the reaction seen among certain politicians, intellectuals and literary men of Punjab is of total hostility. The idea of the division of Punjab into two or three provinces in their opinion goes against the interests of Pakistan and its ideology. People demanding the division of Punjab are immediately branded as unpatriotic and the demand for the division is dismissed on various grounds. But is this determined and vociferous opposition to the division of Punjab warranted and justified?
An impartial view of the whole situation reveals that division of Punjab isn’t in any conceivable manner against Pakistan or its ideology. Division of Punjab is very much in the fitness of things and such administrative measure would strengthen the federation of Pakistan and would end once and for all the underlying reasons, which wrecked havoc with the idea of united, stable and prosperous Pakistan. Pakistan doesn’t seem to loose anything if Punjab is divided. Rather with united Punjab ,Pakistan seems to loose all. For understanding this we need to look back at our past. It was unbridled power of the Punjabi burecracy and its overwhelming strength in the armed forces that gave rise to skepticism among small provinces and ethnic minorities and gave them ample cause to point their accusing finger at Punjab for being the leading cause of their backwardness and deprivation. Much ill will among the federating units has resulted from perpetuating the wrong of a untied Punjab being the dominant force in country’s affairs, even it cost the country its dismemberment in 1971, but still the influential people in Punjab oppose demands of its division tooth and tail and are not ready to give the matter a calm consideration.
There are various reasons why the idea of the division of Punjab is met with so much opposition and hostility in Punjab. One major reason is the emotional attachment of Punjabis to the very idea and name which the word Punjab evokes. The word Punjab resonates with deep symbolic, and legendry and historical attachments. Punjab thus assumes the character of a holy land, a land through which five rivers flow. The power and strength of Punjab is symptomatic of the strength of Pakistan and so on and so forth. Viewed in this context, the proposition and notion of dividing Punjab is nothing short of a conspiracy to dismember the very land Punjabis so much love and take pride at.
Secondly Punjabi establishment acts as a monolithic group, acting and thinking in unison. It keeps its vital interest at the top most and brooks no compromise. Punjabi establishment consider itself a successor to the British and like them maintains its rule over smaller ethic group whom again, like its British predecessor, it considers as half civilized. For example the common stereotype of Pathan is a driver or a chaukidar, who serves a Punjabi or an Urdu-speaking Sahib, who has now taken on the mantle of the departing British. So the colonial mentality persists even today, though colonialism in its classical sense has departed. And all this leads us to a nasty situation. And as the British weren’t so justified in their claim, then so are the Punjabis. The excesses they commit are the excesses of the colonial mentality, which they have inherited. This is exactly which makes them oblivious to the wrongs they commit. It should be kept in mind that the great wrong in Pakistan originates from Punjab being the dominant force in the country’s decision-making process. Any such measure, which seems to threaten the very interests of Punjab is vetoed down, no matter if it gives rise to the sense of grievance among smaller provinces and ultimately loosing of their belief in the very idea of Pakistan.
Bengalis parted their ways in 1971, after realizing that they got nothing form being part of a united Pakistan. Same feeling is filtering down into the psyche of nationalities like Sindhis, sarakiks and Balochs. All of them are parochial and insular in geographical sense; are not adventurous and lack the spirit of braving the hazards and dangers of the unforeseen. The sense of perceived wrong at the hands of Punjab makes them turn inwardly to the land which they inhabit and with which they feel strong emotional attachment. Opinion is crystallizing among some of them that they got nothing from joining the federation of Pakistan and consequently they flirt with dangerous ideas such as succession and separation. The domination of Punjab is a constant theme in the litany of their accusation. Canada faced problem of French speaking Quebec province. And Canadian English speaking majority amicably solved this problem by reaching out to the French to such an extent that referendum held many times to determine Quebec’s future didn’t give the secessionist enough votes for separation. Even if hearts of Canadian French want separation, their minds don’t. Being part of Canadian federation is too much financially rewarding to entertain the idea of succession. This is not happening in Pakistan so far as smaller nationalities are concerned; a day may come when neither their hearts, nor their minds would want to be part of Pakistan. What is daily fed into their minds is the idea of Islam as a uniting force, a recipe which doesn’t work any more.
The fact is that a state like Pakistan contains the seeds of its very destruction. The founding fathers of Pakistan laid the foundation of a state on an ideology without taking into account some other tangible factors. The overriding emphasis on Islam as a binding force, holding together diverse linguistic and ethnic group was an unwise policy without providing proper safeguards for the equal opportunities of all. Especially so when there lay inherent danger of one linguistic group maintaining its dominance over the rest. But these inherent dangers were not taken notice of, and then gradually all the divisive forces started gaining momentum in East Pakistan. Bengalis took refuge in their separate identity and at last parted ways in 1971. Even after the dismemberment of Pakistan the lessons weren’t learnt. Now it is Sindhis and Balochs who complain bitterly about the shabby treatment they receive at the hands of Punjab. Many of their grievances are not without substance. Extreme and lunatic fringe of disgruntled and dissatisfied Balochs and Sindhis see the final solution in cession from the federation of Pakistan, and they try to realize their dream by even siding with the very enemies of Pakistan. Help they receive from outside is not sufficient to make them turn the scales in their fight against what they call ‘ Punjabi army and establishment ’. Outside world in general, and big powers at the moment don’t want to encourage instability in Pakistan because such a case scenario is not in their interest. Just at the moment United States and Britain don’t want Balochistan to secede as some people during recent Bugti uprising claimed. But in changed global settings things would turn quite difficult for those trying to keep Pakistan united.
So in what way we can shape a stronger Pakistan, which is able to able to withstand the vagaries of time and the conspiracies of its enemies. In plain words such a Pakistan can emerge only if its biggest unit is divided into two or three parts. Such a measure would not be a conspiracy against Punjab or its people, rather it would be a step to end once and for all a great wrong write large throughout Pakistan’s history and which has been the cause of all grievances, perceived or real among the smaller provinces and linguistic groups.
We have to take a broader and longer view of things and see the evolution of states and their demise in the broader perspective of future and the past. We have to dispense with the idea that things stands still in Pakistan and that the voices clamoring for their rights are some trouble makers having no broad based representation. The fact is that things in Pakistan may spiral out of control and the theory that Pakistan is a failed state, our nightmare, may come true. We should no longer be lulled by the wishful thinking that tomorrow things may turn out for the good. To prove to the world that Pakistan has come for all times to stay and is not merely founded on the shifting sands, we have to take many steps. Division of Punjab is not the panacea, yet it is something that would bury the ghost of Punjabis dominance and would ensure a stronger Pakistan. The system, which is heavily loaded against small provinces, needs to readjusted. We have squandered so much of good will among the federating units and now it the time to do something about it. Unless we do it, the great wrong will remain and many unpleasant things will follow, if not today, then definitely on tomorrow.
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