Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic

Issues

“We are now all Pakistanis — not Balochis, Pathans, Sindhis,

Bengalis, Punjabis and so on — and as Pakistanis we must feel,
behave and act, and we should be proud to be known as Pakistanis
and nothing else”. — Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah (June 15,
1948).

Introduction: The will of the people to live together that comes from common
destiny and interwoven cultural, regional and linguistic traditions, ideals,
history, religion, customs and right to equitable share in physical resources
with privilege of decision making in economic, political and social matters of a
nation state is generally termed as national integration. National Integration
in the case of Pakistan cannot mean creating ethnic or national homogeneity
throughout the country. It can only mean establishing a common citizenry,
common political and
social structures, a common state, and an additional sense of identity of
belonging together. It means building commonality on top of the existing
diversity, and not substituting an artificial new identity for the old ones. This
process is not impossible. However, it would take some generations. It is a
slow but continuous process.

“The crisis of national integration has been particularly severe and

the growing divisive forces and secessionist tendencies have
threatened the federal structure itself”. (M. Nazarul Islam
―Pakistan a Study in National Integration)

The state was captured by small band of corrupt political elite, which
persistently tried to exclude any competitors. Since the ruling elite mostly
consisted of feudal lords, industrialists, generals and mullahs, and their
people in the civilian and military bureaucracy. This created a sense of
exclusion for the rest of Pakistanis. In contrast, the tribal leaders and rural
landowners smaller belonging to smaller provinces perceived their respective
exclusion in ethnic rather than political terms. This ethnic/national group has
little economic power and is underrepresented in the political and
bureaucratic elite.

“A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers

and woods but it is a principle, and patriotism is a loyalty to that
principle”. ― George William

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

The challenge of national integration in Pakistan is as old as the history of

this country. Formed on an ideological ground with the religion of Islam as its
prime source of identity, Pakistan began to face numerous issues of language
and ethnicity in its formative phase. Ethnic nationalism began to be in conflict
with religion particularly in the then East Pakistan where language movement
emerged as a cogent force challenging those who wanted that the country
should be governed according to the ideology of Islam rather than language,
ethnicity or place of origin. Quaid’s warning that the people of Pakistan
should be alert and cognizant from those forces who wanted to plant the seeds
of ethnic nationalism and secession made sense.

For Pakistan Affairs, read: Evolution of Democracy in Pakistan (1947-2019)

The Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940, had called for the establishment of
Muslim states in the Muslim majority regions of northwest and northeast.
However, that resolution was amended in a convention of all members the
Muslim League’s central and provincial councils from all over India in Delhi
on April 7-9, 1946, whereby, it was declared that “the zones comprising
Bengal and Assam in the North-East and the Punjab, North West Frontier
Province, Sindh and Baluchistan in the North West of India, namely Pakistan
Zones, where the Muslims are in a dominant majority, be constituted into one
sovereign independent state and that an unequivocal undertaking be given to
implement the establishment of Pakistan without delay.”

In a book entitled Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ‘The Unfinished Memoirs’

(Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2012) the reaction of Bengali participants
in Muslim League’s convention held in Delhi about dropping the word ‘states’
as mentioned in Lahore Resolution with ‘state’ is stated as: “The resolution
that was taken there altered the Lahore Resolution in some ways. Only Mr.
Hashim and a few others objected when the word ‘states’ of the previous
resolution was replaced with ‘State’ but they were overruled and the
emendation was adopted. Scholars can perhaps decide whether this
convention had the right to alter the terms of resolution adopted in Lahore in
1940.” It is another story how things unfolded when Pakistan came into
existence without Assam, united Punjab and Bengal. Pakistan became a
unique state with a geographical distance of more than 1,000 miles between
its eastern and western wings with hostile India in the middle. No country in
modern history was created by states as in case of Pakistan. Why the
challenge of national integration was not taken seriously by the leadership in
the nascent state of Pakistan and how feelings of ethnic nationalism
permeated particularly in the then East Pakistan? How sense of deprivation
deepened in East Pakistan and in the smaller provinces of West Pakistan and
why issues which triggered the disintegration of Pakistan were not resolved?

National integration cannot be artificially created but it evolves as a result of

a process of social and economic justice along with democratic political

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

pluralism. Cultural, lingual and religious variations exist in many countries of

the world but it is the wise and prudent leadership which provides a sense of
participation, opportunities for progress and development. In case of
Pakistan, after the assassination of the country’s first Prime Minister Liaquat
Ali Khan, the West Pakistan dominated military-bureaucratic elite along with
feudal class and clergy began to propagate the notion of strong centre and
used religion to artificially integrate the diverse provinces of the country. But,
religion alone cannot be a binding force to integrate dissimilar people of a
country as a nation. There are other essential requirements to unite people as
a nation like economic progress, human and social development, justice
system, rule of law, political pluralism, non-discriminatory policy of state by
providing equal opportunities regardless of religion, caste, race, language,
gender and place of origin. The absence of such requirements cannot
transform people of a country as a nation but can cause ethnic, racial, lingual,
religious and sectarian polarisation.

The Soviet Union under the communist ideology tried to form a Soviet man
and woman keeping in mind diverse ethnic and lingual contradictions in that
country. But, that policy failed because it was based on top-bottom approach
and imposed on people in a superficial manner. United States, which has
numerous lingual and ethnic variations has to a large extent succeeded in
creating American man and woman because of a policy pursued at the
grassroots’ level in a democratic set-up particularly its uniform educational
system. India, the neighbour of Pakistan has hundreds of languages, several
cultures and religions but has been able to prevent disintegration because of
its democratic political system as neither the military nor any ethnic group is
allowed to dominate a multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

Pakistan’s dilemma of national integration needs to be examined from three

different angles. First, Pakistan came into being as a result of an accord
reached between the Muslim majority regions of North West and North East of
the Indian subcontinent. That accord was the result of a demand which was
made through Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940, and then reiterated in
Muslim League’s convention in Delhi held in April 1946. Two-nation theory
was the essence of the creation of Pakistan as the founder of the country and
his colleagues in the Muslim League realised that in an undivided India with a
Hindu majority, the Muslim minority will not be able to live as equal citizens.

Unfortunately, after the creation of Pakistan, religion which was the bond
trying to integrate the nascent state became weak as economic and political
exploitation of the majority province of East Pakistan and the smaller
provinces of West Pakistan under the system of one-unit and parity unleashed
the process of ethnic and lingual nationalism. Second, democracy, rule of law,
justice system and good governance which should have been the essence of
the new state of Pakistan went into oblivion. Democracy became the first casu-
alty because of military-bureaucratic nexus to seize power through

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

unconstitutional means. Back to back imposition of martial law and military

takeover diminished hopes to transform Pakistan as a viable nation state.

For Pakistan Affairs, read: Energy Policies of Pakistan (1987-2018) – A critical

review

Ironically, feelings of Pakistani nation only surfaced at the time of an external

threat or natural disaster. Be it 1965 war or the recent terrorist attack at
Pulwama, surge of nationalistic feelings among the people of Pakistan helped
to unitedly deal with issues threatening survival of a country. Earthquake of
October 2005 and the terrorist attack on Army Public School, Peshawar on
December 16, 2014, also united the people of Pakistan. But, once such threats
receded, Pakistan’s internal contradictions in the form of political polarisation
and ethnic/lingual discords reappeared. It is yet to be seen what will be the
duration of current spell of national harmony and unity in the wake of Indian
threat or once the threat fades, will the country revert back to political
schism, inter and intra-provincial disharmony?

Third, national harmony and integration requires ownership of the land,

resources, good and bad things of a country. Except few exceptions, the
history of Pakistan is full of episodes which reflect lack of ownership. Nations
are not created by mere slogans but through sheer hard work, integrity,
brilliance, planning and statesmanship of the leadership. Unfortunately the
menace of corruption, nepotism and bad governance tends to reflect the lack
of ownership of the country as majority of the people, including those
representing various state institutions are interested in protecting their
personal, community, clan or group interests than the interests of the country
as a whole. The tendency to find faults with the country and not doing
anything to remove things which cause social, economic, political and
governance crises means the lack of ownership.

Furthermore, the propensity to seek and explore migration as an option so as

to achieve a better life abroad means lack of responsibility and commitment to
put things in order. Pakistani diaspora, which reflects brain drain from the
country is more than 10 million as their migration means to a large extent the
failure of state to fulfil essential needs of citizens like clean and safe drinking
water, better education, equal employment opportunities, housing, public
transport, health and basic security. Even after the induction of the new
government in 2018, the migration of people abroad has not stopped and the
brain drain continues. Lack of ownership with the resources and public
institutions means there is absence of commitment for the country.

The failure of national integration in creating Pakistani man and woman has
much to do with dysfunctional educational system of the country which is
unable to provide equal opportunities to children to seek basic quality
education. In the absence of a uniform educational system, particularly in

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

terms of curricula and mode of education, one cannot expect the youths of
Pakistan, who are around 50 per cent of the population, to seek attachment
with the land, values, culture, history and other characteristics of the country.
It should be state’s responsibility to provide free, compulsory and quality
education to all the citizens of Pakistan till high school regardless of their
class, language, sect, religion and place of origin.

Those wielding power and other stakeholders in Pakistan who are living in
their comfort zones, it is their responsibility to examine and analyse how in
other countries having diverse cultures, languages and religions, the process
of national integration was unleashed and reached to its logical conclusion.
Unless there is political will, determination along with honest, clear and a
visionary leadership, one cannot expect a country to remain united and
integrated as a nation.

In case of Pakistan, the situation is perplexed and rather challenging because

it was created as a state like Israel on religious grounds. While Jews from all
over the world reached their new homeland along with different cultures and
became a majority in a land which was earlier called as Palestine, in case of
Pakistan, those who had migrated from India with a common language Urdu
were a minority as local people living in a new state already had their
established languages and cultures. Therefore, for national integration,
whether in case of the United States or India, language was not a major issue
as English and Hindi, which were the languages of dominant groups in the two
countries were adopted. In case of Pakistan, Urdu was declared as a national
language despite the fact that it was not the mother tongue of the majority
and was considered only as a lingua franca. As a result, conflict over national
language emerged in the formative phase of Pakistan when Urdu was rather
imposed on the then East Pakistan. Although, in 1956, Bengali was given the
status of a national language along with Urdu, the damage was done and
Bengali nationalism became a major force culminating into the disintegration
of Pakistan in December 1971. The post-1971 Pakistan failed to learn lessons
from the trauma of separation as language riots in Sindh broke out when
Sindhi was declared as a language of the province by the Sindh Assembly in
July 1972. Urdu is a mode of communication and is the language of the
provinces of Balochistan, KPK and Punjab yet, it is not the mother tongue of
90 per cent of the people of Pakistan.

It is not only language which matters as far as national integration is

concerned but tolerance and acceptance of each other regardless of variation
in culture, class and religion also matters. Biases on ethnic, cultural, lingual,
religious or sectarian grounds can never lead to political or economic stability.
Pakistan’s predicament is prejudices and intolerance on the basis of language,
place of origin and sect still persists. For instance, in a TV channel interview,
prominent nuclear scientist and the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb Dr.
Abdul Qadeer Khan bluntly talked of the alleged prejudices he had faced.

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

When people start identifying themselves with their language, culture,

religion and sect and not with the country, one cannot expect national
integration to take place. When lingual and ethnic consideration undermines
merit in appointments and promotions, that country can never emerge as a
unified nation.

Many countries face the challenge of national integration but in some cases
their leadership is able to integrate diverse people by ensuring social justice,
tolerance, rule of law, good governance and democratic pluralism. Pakistan’s
quest for national integration would remain elusive unless the bottom-top
approach is adopted where a sense of belonging to the country evolves at the
grassroots’ level. Care for the resources of the country and pursuing a tolerant
approach vis-à-vis those who are different in race, language, class, religion
and sect will go a long way in promoting what is called as “Pakistaniat.”
Promoting the culture of merit instead of favouritism and nepotism is also the
essence to achieve the goal of national integration.

Furthermore, no mode of communication can effectively promote national

integration as railways because people belonging to different provinces and
regions travel together and share their language, culture and way of life. In a
nutshell, an insecure state will patronise a particular class or an ethnic group
in order to sustain its hold over power but will not be mindful to the damage
done to the country by pursuing such a policy.

Causes of disintegration and ethnic conflicts in Pakistan

Over centralization: government in Pakistan has traditionally been

overcentralized with little provincial autonomy. The 18th amendment in the
constitution of Pakistan was a step in the right direction to fix this. But it is
not fully implemented as yet.

Sovereignty: Provincial rights, regional autonomy, and self-determination are

the forms in which the ―elites‖ of the dominated ethnic groups have raised
grievances against the domination by the ruling class of Punjab. Demands for
complete independence, confederation with only residual powers for the
centre, greater autonomy within the federal structure, creation of new
provinces for the groups not having their own province, and altering the
provincial boundaries to create ethnically more homogenous provinces have
been voiced from time to
time. Lately, the demand for holding local elections and giving more power to
local governments, especially in urban Sindh, has been added to the arsenal of
ethnic demands.

Allocation of resources and economic disparities: This is perhaps the most

important arena for struggle between provinces and between ethnic groups.
The resources for which the contending parties struggle, include financial
resources for development expenditures, share of irrigation water,

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

Government jobs (the quota system), opportunities for professional and higher
education (location of institutions and admission policies, allotment of
agricultural lands in Sindh and Balochistan to military officers and civil
bureaucrats.

Inter-province migration: There is great resentment in Sindh and some in

Balochistan against the in-migration from Punjab and KPK and immigration
from other countries. In 1981, the census calculated a net migration-to-total
population ratio of 9.6 percent for Sindh. Migration of such magnitude tends
to put pressure on their limited resources and change the demographic
balance.

Language and culture: demands for the protection and promotion of the
languages and cultures of ethnic groups against the domination of Urdu and
neglect of regional cultural heritage are a constant feature in the struggle of
ethnic groups for their identity assertion. Cultural symbols serve as
instruments of forging group cohesion and legitimating group demands.

Ineffective national institutions: A combination of excessive corruption and

pathetic under-performance of the state institutions today characterize
Pakistan. Both the development of the economy and stable political conditions
are being undercut by these factors. The police and the legal system, the
bureaucracy, the political and religious class are shamefully corrupt, more
interested in enriching themselves individually, than serving with the sense of
responsibility or development of the country. Since these state structures
represent the state to the citizenry, people tend to become cynical and
alienated from politics and the state. This literally implies alienation from
Pakistan.

Cultural Developments and the trend of linguistic assimilation: Several

cultural trends have been underway that affect ethnic formation, ethnic
relations, and national integration. The most interesting of these from the
point of view of ethnic studies and national integration is the role of the Urdu
language. Although Urdu is the mother tongue of only seven percent of
Pakistan‘s population, historical circumstances have placed it in the position
of being officially designated as the national language of Pakistan. The two
major factors in favour of Urdu were the emergence of Urdu as a secondary
symbol of Muslim identity in pre-independence India, and its adoption as the
primary language of literacy and literary expression, against their own
vernaculars, by all the ethnic groups of Pakistan, except Sindhis and, in
limited areas, Pushtoons. Although protests continue to be voiced against the
preeminence of Urdu, it has clearly established itself as Pakistan‘s principal
language of education, mass communication, politics, business, and
interprovince coordination. An increasing number of Pakistanis whose mother
tongue is not Urdu are learning to communicate in Urdu. Nonetheless, the
trend of linguistic assimilation to Urdu is unmistakable; however, the impact

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

of this assimilation is not uniform on different ethnic groups and in different

regions.

TRENDS AFFECTING ETHNIC CHANGE

Several economic, demographic, social, political, and cultural trends which
have been underway in Pakistan have significantly affected ethnic
identification and ethnic issues. These changes have affected the ethnic
question in the following principal ways:
Economic change The most recent economic trends show continuing
stagnation, balance of payments and reserves difficulties, paralysis of
industrial and commercial activity in and flight of capital from Sindh due to
political confrontation and violence, spiraling inflation, and deepening
poverty. The trend of the decreasing role of manufacturing, mining, and
agriculture, and a greater role of the service sector, foreign remittances, and
illegal/underground economy, including heroin and gun trade, has continued
unabated. Ethnic conflicts have also led to the ethnic segmentation of markets
in parts of Sindh and Balochistan.

From feudalism to capitalism: A socio-economic trend of tremendous

sociological importance is the change in class relations in agriculture. Much
debate and discussion has taken place in South Asia about the nature and
consequences of development in the agrarian economy. However, it is quite
clear that despite persistence of archaic instruments of production, old
oppressive class relations, social power of the big landlords, and traditional
values, the agrarian system inherited at independence and conveniently
labeled as feudal no longer exists. Capitalist development, with all its
distortions and unevenness, has intruded into the agricultural sector of
Pakistan‘s economy, if not supplanting, then grafting itself onto the old
system. As a result of the technological changes, increased population density
in the rural areas, and social changes facilitating alternative means of
acquiring wealth and power, the traditional ―feudal‖ class is no longer tied to
the land, and its younger members are seeking a share in the professions, the
capitalist sector of the economy, and state power, much the same way as other
elements of the ruling class. Nor has its sways over the lives of the rural
populace remained unchallenged and undiluted in the face of material
productive and social changes and the revival of electoral politics. Since the
class structure in different regions and among different ethnic groups varies
quite substantially, the aforementioned changes are of great salience in the
analysis of ethnic questions.

Demographic changes: Uneven development of job opportunities has resulted

not only in massive rural to urban migration within provinces, but large-scale
inter-province migration, mainly from Punjab and NWFP, to Sindh. Continued
existence of more than one million Afghan refugees has impacted the ethnic
balance in Balochistan and Settlement in Karachi of several thousand Biharis
from Bangladesh and the presence of an estimated two million illegal

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

immigrants from neighbouring countries have added to the economic,

political, and demographic complexity of Karachi. As a result of these
population movements, the proportion of both Sindhi and Urdu-speaking
ethnic groups has continued to decline and that of Punjabis, Pushtoons,
Siraikis, and others has increased in Sindh. In Balochistan, the ratio of
Pushtoons to Balochs has increased. The NWFP has become even more
Pushtoonised. The settlement of Pakistani Pushtoons and Afghan refugees, as
well as illegal immigrants, in Punjab has had small effect on its ethnic
composition, because of the large size of Punjab‘s population.

Political Changes: In a political system with a proliferation of political parties,

and most parties having only regional pockets of support, the electoral
process and the quest for power have required the building of alliances across
not only ideological lines but across regional and ethnic lines, both within and
among provinces. This political deal-making has engendered interesting
examples of ethnic and regional interdependence and mutual trust among
parties. There is a vacuum for national parties with the broadest regional and
ethnic representation. The religious parties enjoy limited popular support and
continue to squabble over sectarian and doctrinal issues, but they direct their
appeals across regional and ethnic boundaries. The ethnic nationalist or
separatist formations among Sindhi and Baloch ethnic communities seem to
lack legitimacy and popular support within
their own communities. Thus, there is need for national political parties and
not nationalistic ones for national integration and peaceful co-existence of
diverse ethnic groups.

Approaches to National Integration and State Strategies

1. Assimilation Policy: Based on social integration, distinctive cultures are

tried to incorporate fully with the national culture.

2. Exclusionary Policy: Based on the concept to minimize contacts with

ethnic minorities, whereby conflicts are managed and resolved through a
process of elimination of ethnic minorities

3. Pluralist Policy: Social order, consisting of institutionally segmented

cultural groups living side by side, yet without mingling in one political
unit. One cultural section monopolize power, controls the state apparatus
and dominant over others.

4. The Consociational Approach: Arrangement to secure the interests of

major ethnic groups; two or more ethnic groups come together and
create consensus that they will recognize each other‘s rights and
interests.

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

Federalism: Used to reconcile diversity within the structure of a single

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

5.
state; applies to homeland people who seek a significant measure of
autonomy and selfrule within their territory.

Recommendation for national integration:

1. Good governance: To address political resentments of underprivileged

provinces and ethnic groups and to ensure maximum political
participation for a larger sense of belonging among the common
populace.

2. Democracy continuous and unabated democratic system can address

many issues of national integration and ethnic conflicts. As democracy
ensures representation of the each strata of the society it tends to
minimize political resentments and thus paves the way for national
cohesion.

3. Free, fair and speedy dissension of justice: An independent, vigilant and

efficient judiciary tends to give a sense of satisfaction to the diverse
groups of population that their rights cannot be jeopardized. This
prevents them from resorting to violence and extra-judicial means to get
their due rights.

4. Decentralization of authority is prerequisite of national integration for a

multi-lingual, multi ethnic society like Pakistan. Decentralization leads
to shift of power to the provinces and grass root level and thus ensures
cohesion and integration.

5. Transparency and accountability in governance ensures that no one

province, ethnic group or political elite is eating on the resources of the
other subjects.

6. Equitable distribution of resources: To remove resentments among the

provinces. Government needs to build general consensus on NFC award
and resource distribution criteria.

7. Dividend sharing of mega projects: Federal government should provide

legitimate and due dividends to the provincial governments concerned.
Acknowledging rights on resources: federal government should
acknowledge the rights of provinces on their indigenous resources and
should also pay due royalties.

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 Pakistan’s National Integration & Ethnic Issues

Increase in budget of PSDPs: Increase in the developmental budget and

expenditure for public sector development programs can help in better
provision of basic amenities of life. And resultantly could help in
minimizing the friction among various ethnic groups over hold of
resources.

9. Ensuring accountability in allocated funds: Federal government should

ensure that the allocated funds have reached the targeted group of
population. This would be a potent check on misuse of funds and
accumulation of wealth in hands of powerful few.

10. Constructive role of religious scholars: Religious scholars belonging to

different religions and sects should be taken on board to develop a joint
sense of peaceful co-existence.

11. Revamping the syllabi: in order to make it more aligned with national
interests, the national curriculum should be unbiased, and neutral
towards any religious or ethnic sensitivity, and should be duly
implemented.

12. Responsible role of media: Media should not flame the fire of ethnicity,
provincialism and sectarianism. It should rather work as a binding force,
and should work as an agent of change to promote national integration.

13. Building a national narrative: Sense of patriotism, a common identity and

belongingness to the motherland should be inculcated through social
institutions like education, religion and media. This could pave the way
for a collective national narrative instead of parochial narratives based
on false identities of provincialism, or ethnicity.

— The article of Dawn Newspaper, ‘The challenge of national integration’ by

Dr Moonis Ahmer, published on March 23, 2019 has been included in these
notes. Compiled and edited by Aamir Mahar.

8.

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