Regionalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan

Submitted by: Laaraib Raana (4A)

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Why Nationalism Emerges?

"Men do not become nationalists from sentiment or sentimentality,
atavistic or not, well-based or myth-founded: they become nationalists
through genuine, objective, practical necessity, however obscurity.”,
stated by Gellner. In his theory of nationalism, Gellner assumes that
there is always an unequal distribution of economic resources across
the territory of a State. A people, "B", originating from a deprived
region, ask for its share but another ethnic group, "A", which is
relatively more prosperous resist this demand for conserving the
monopoly of its privileged situation. Therefore, it exercises
discrimination towards "B", putting forward as a pretext its racial or
cultural inferiority. Then the members of group "B" are bound to revolt.

Two Nation Theory? A Manipulation?

Brass (1979) who argues that the "two nation theories" basically took
shape when the Muslim elite of the North considered that its socio-
economic interests were endangered by the Hindus. This group then
used identity markers (language, religion), through political
organizations, to shape a nationalist Muslim identity by manipulating
cultural symbols such as Urdu and Islam. This instrumentalization of
identity symbols helped Muslim separatism to crystallized with the
demand for Pakistan

The regionalism took place after the foundation of Pakistan which was
based on Islam and Urdu is an evidence that Muslims were manipula-
Regionalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan
Submitted by: Laaraib Raana (4A)
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ted in the name of Islam and Urdu but the presence of different ethnic
nations with distinguished culture, traditions, race, color and language
within the region of Pakistan led to a diverse regionalism in the
Pakistan which made Pakistan as one of the most diverse regional
country on the Earth besides India.

Where Conflict Initiated?

Such an identity issue could have been expected, given the initial
debates about what the country had to be. When the word Pakistan
emerged in the 1930s, "P" stood for Punjab, "A" for the Afghans (the
Pathans of the NWFP), "K" for Kashmir and "S" for Sindh. The resolution
of Lahore in which the Muslim League asked for the creation of
Pakistan for the first time in 1940, regarded it as a loose arrangement
of sovereign provinces.4 At the same time, the Muslim League, under
the leadership of Mohammed AH Jinnah regarded the Pakistan claim as
a means to give a country to the Muslims of British India since Hindus
and Muslims represent much more than religious communities: they
form "two nations". After 1947, he looked at Islam as a cementing force
that was able to surmount the regional cleavages. General Ayub Khan
also made use of Islam certainly under a modernized and reformist
form - and the Constitution of 1962 stipulated that the laws of the State
could not contradict the precepts of the religion (the Shariat). Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto himself inscribed the notion of an Islamic Pakistan in the
constitution of 1973 and declared the Ahmadis apostates reasserted
this approach forcefully with words recalling Jinnah's Two Nations
Regionalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan
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theory: "The basis of Pakistan was Islam. The basis of Pakistan was that
the Muslims of the subcontinent are a separate culture.
As long as parliamentary system operated, ethno national movements
did not emerge. It was mainly because the ethnic groups continued to
get a share in the power structure". [Amin (1993), p. 78.] Ethnic
tensions certainly emerged as a reaction to socio-economic and
political frustrations. But did the removal of parliamentary really make
a difference? Did Zulfikar Ali Bhutto give their share to the Balochs and
the Pakhtuns and accepted their claims to regional autonomy during
the first restoration of democracy in the early 1970s? Has the post-
1988 democratization process enabled Pakistan to defuse ethnic
tensions such as those orchestrated by the Mohajirs in Sindh? In fact
none of the Constitutions of Pakistan - even those adopted or amended
during phases of parliamentary democracy - have really been respectful
of federalism in the future. That of 1956 and of 1962, for instance, gave
to the Centre the task of dispatching the fiscal resources and enabled
the president to veto the laws voted by the provincial assemblies. The
Constitution of 1973 gave a representation to the provinces in the
Council of Common Interests and the National Finance Commission,
two new bodies in charge of allocating state resources. But the State
remained very much centralized. The laws passed by the provincial
assemblies could be declared null and void by the federal parliament.

Here we are going to take a look at different ethnic groups:

BALOUCHS:
Simmering tension in Balochistan is the cause of multiple factors.
Among them one is the Baloch ethnicity, based on its language, culture
Regionalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan
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and territory. The animosity between state of Pakistan and Baloch
started since 1948, when state of Kalat was in custody with Pakistan.
The annexation was badly criticized by the Baloch nationalists. On the
other hand, the state of Pakistan did not take the matter seriously. A
series of resistant moves were started in Balochistan. The state’s
reluctance to resolve the issue politically, created further distrust
between the two contending actors. All the resistant moves were
suppressed forcefully which developed anti-state feeling among the
Baloch people. The study is an analysis of the nature of the issue of
Baloch identity and conflict with state. It is analyzed that when state
denies the demands of sharing political power or adequate
representation in political and administrative institutions, conflictual
situation develops between the state and ethnic groups.
The disempowerment of the Baloch from administration alienated
them from the main stream system. It is also an established fact, that
those who are more alienated to power are more responsible to
secessionist appeals. In this way the Baloch ethnic movement can pose
a serious threat to the national integration of Pakistan because it has a
combination of structural, political, economic, social, cultural and
perceptual factors. The Study reveals that at present Baloch people are
divided into two groups, i.e. (a) those who are part of main-stream
politics and want to preserve their identity through constitutional
means, (b) those who are involved in insurgent and terrorist activities.
They have organized militant outfits and have relationship with other
terrorist groups. To avoid this situation, the state of Pakistan has to
make policies with the consensus of Baloch leaders and implement
them with political commitment and dedication.

Saraiki Movement:
Regionalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan
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Multan is an important region of Pakistan since the dawn of history.
Multan has been in the limelight in the subcontinent. On the regional
politics of Multan, it is inevitable to determine pros and cons of the
study. Some bits of research material are available which definitely
highlight the existing regional situation but all this is a partial attempt.
Unfortunately, no specific and systematic research has been done on
the politics of the region. The supposition of the study was based upon
the assumption that the population of Multan region wants the Saraiki
province. This study was aimed to know about the political behavior of
the local people of Multan region, in terms of regionalism. One of the
targets of the study was to see the political aspirations and role of the
people of the region with reference to the political policies adopted by
the government from time to time, what were their losses and gains
through this experience. Another persistence of the research was to
analyze the region’s role and its attitudes towards the movement
started for a separate province with its capital in Multan (Saraiki
Movement). The major outcome of the research is that the people of
the region are not happy being part of the Punjab province and the
majority of the people of Multan aspire for a separate province. The
study has also find out the definite aspirations of the people of Multan
towards the political movement to determine the features of
regionalism.

Afghans and Pushtoons:

Of all the provinces of Pakistan the NFWP is the only one to have a
name that does not reflect any ethnic feature, even though it shelters
most of the 16 percent of the Pashto speakers who live in the country.
In 1947, the Pakhtuns engaged in an anti-British struggle that had been
Regionalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan
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organized inside the movement called Red Shirts (or Khudai
Khidmatgar), opposed their integration to Pakistan and asked, instead,
through their main leader, Khan Ghaffar Khan, the formation of a
Pakhtunistan that would cover the Afghan Pakhtun and the Pakhtuns
(or Pathans) of the NWFP. Ghaffar Khan and his supporters boycotted
the referendum by which NWFP was finally integrated into Pakistan17
and later demanded at the Constituent Assembly of which he was a
member that the Province be named Pakhtunistan. He was arrested
soon after and his brother, Dr. Khan Sahib Zada, the then Chief Minister
of the NWFP, was dismissed by Jinnah.
Pakhtoons was in the right of the separate state but they were not
given the equal rights after the freedom and independence that led to
many nationalist and separatists movements. And Pakistan is facing too
much disability because of that. At present, we are facing Manzoor
Pashteen movement.

CONCLUSION:

THE expression of national and ethnic identity has begun to dominate

the political process in Pakistan today in a form unknown to the country
in the past. Since in dependence, the economic and political structure
in Pakistan has been dominated by the ruling sections of at first, the
mohajirs and the Punjabis, and now more recently by the Punjabis
alone, who have come to dominate comprehensively. This domination,
in the last forty years has given rise to movements of separation andor
national expression, the most successful of which culminated in the
birth of Bangladesh. Other movements which did not achieve liberation
or greater provincial national autonomy, in clued the Baluch
movements under Ayub and Bhutto, and *the various Sindhi
Regionalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan
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movements beginning from the one in 1948 against the separation of
Karachi, to the movements against the martial law regime of General
Zia ul Haq. The Pakhtuns have also demanded their rights from time to
time in the past, but due to the greater economic development of their
region (unlike Baluchistan and Sindh) have recently become more
integrated into the federal Pakistani structure. Today, while the Sindhis
and the Baluch struggle, against' Punjabi domination at the centre and
within their provinces, the Pakhtuns have partially succeeded in
establishing economic and political control over their own region, and
thus the Pakhtun Question' has taken on a form very different from
that of the other nationalities. A major reason for the existing
polarisation within Pakistan lhs been the lack of representative
institutions and the persistence of military rule determining economic
and political development. As the military is overwhelmingly Punjabi
and with its rule comprising more tian half of Pakistan's years, regional
and ethnic imbalances have worsened [Babar Ali 1987b; Ahmed 1988;
Zaidi 1989]. With the centre highly centralized and with no channel
floridness for the concerns of those who do not share in the power, the
result has been an expression for the rights of those national/ethnic
groups which have felt excluded. Democracy, on the other hand, of
whatever form, and of even a short duration, has indeed made some
difference to the people of this country.