Ethnic Issues and National

Integration
 11th August 1947 Speech of Quaid e Azam
as President of the Constituent Assembly
• I know there are people who do not quite agree with the division of India
and the partition of the Punjab and Bengal. Much has been said against it,
but now that it has been accepted, it is the duty of everyone of us to
loyally abide by it and honourably act according to the agreement which is
now final and binding on all. But you must remember, as I have said, that
this mighty revolution that has taken place is unprecedented. One can
quite understand the feeling that exists between the two communities
wherever one community is in majority and the other is in minority. But
the question is, whether it was possible or practicable to act otherwise
than what has been done, A division had to take place. On both sides, in
Hindustan and Pakistan, there are sections of people who may not agree
with it, who may not like it, but in my judgement there was no other
solution and I am sure future history will record is verdict in favour of it.
And what is more, it will be proved by actual experience as we go on that
was the only solution of India's constitutional problem. Any idea of a
united India could never have worked and in my judgement it would have
led us to terrific disaster. Maybe that view is correct; maybe it is not; that
remains to be seen.
Contd…
• All the same, in this division it was impossible to avoid the question
of minorities being in one Dominion or the other. Now that was
unavoidable. There is no other solution. Now what shall we do?
Now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and
prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-
being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If
you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the
hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and
work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what
community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in
the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second
and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and
obligations, there will be on end to the progress you will make.
 11th August 1947 Speech of Quaid e Azam
as President of the Constituent Assembly
• I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to
work in that spirit and in course of time all these
angularities of the majority and minority communities,
the Hindu community and the Muslim community,
because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans,
Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the
Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also
Bengalis, Madrasis and so on, will vanish. Indeed if you
ask me, this has been the biggest hindrance in the way
of India to attain the freedom and independence and
but for this we would have been free people long long
ago
 Sources
• The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan
The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir ethnic movements
by Farhan Hanif Siddiqi

• Berkeley Journal of Social Sciences

Vol. 4, Fall 2014
Nationalism in Pakistan: A Comparative Analysis of
Ethnic Factors
in East Pakistan and Baluchistan Fauzia Ghani, PhD,
Sadia Mushtaq, PhD, Namra Mehmood
 How to start on this topic
• The world comprises of different nation states which are comprised of sub
nationalities. Some states have homogenous and some have heterogeneous
population. States having heterogeneous population consist of many ethnic
groups. Each ethnic group residing in such heterogeneous countries have
their needs and demands which are very hard to fulfill completely. When
this happens, the demands might turn into a movement where people from
a certain ethnicity raise
their voices so that the ruling elites might hear them and address their
concerns completely. States like Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka etc are facing
problems of ethno nationalism. A certain ethnicity may ask for provincial
autonomy, devolution of power and even independence. In Pakistan case,
there are many ethnic groups like Punjabi, Pathan, Baluchis, Sindhi, and
Muhajirs etc which are affecting the whole polity. The issue of
disintegration of East Pakistan which gave a set back to the political system
of Pakistan is well known and nowadays Baluchistan’s movement of ethno
nationalism is attracting national as well as international
attention.
 What is ethnic conflict
• It is a struggle for power between the dominant and non-dominant
groups. Ethnic conflicts in Pakistan are a political matter politics is all
about power. If all the ethnic groups have their share in power structure
the ethnic conflicts can be minimized.

• Ethno nationalism arises due to problematic relations between the center

and the provinces. The powerful Pakistan ruling elite has remained
reluctant to accept heterogeneous society and named it as to law and
order problems rather than focusing and solving the issues of
governability which was the real root cause of ethnic problems.
• State policies play an important role in ethnic conflicts in Pakistan. In order
to reduce the conflicts every ethnic group should be taken in account;
they should have equal participation in every field. Having no equal
participation will mostly result in conflicts among different ethnicities thus
raising the chances of civil war inside the state.
 Factors responsibility
• Leadership Vacuum after Jinnah
• State leaders refused to accept that these regions
were entirely different in culture and language
• Entry of Civil and Military Bureaucracy
• Frustration and deprivation in ethnic minorities
• Highly Centralized System
• Colonial heritage
 Issue of Balochistan
• Baluchistan is the biggest but the least populated province of Pakistan. Less
representation of Baluchistan in the mainstream politics. Baluchis were of the view
that the central government is not at all concerned about them and are only
concerned about the natural resources
• Baluchistan from 1947-70 was a federation and was directly administered from the
center.
• In 1955, Muhammad Ali Bogra combined the provinces of western wing as one unit
in order to counter the superiority of Bengalis. But the one unit policy did not get
popularity in Baluchistan and Khan of Kalat Mir Muhammad Yar Khan showed
serious reservations on this policy. With the help of tribal leaders, the Khan of Kalat
demonstrated against this scheme. Just one day before the imposition of martial law
a military operation was launched in order to counter these demonstrations. Mir
Ahmed Yar Khan was arrested resulting in more worsened situation in Baluchistan.
Army justified their operation in Baluchistan on the grounds that Agha Abdul Karim
who was the brother of Khan of Kalat and was involved with Afghanistan in
assembling an eighty thousand tribal force for rebellion against the central
government. However these charges were denied by the Khan of Kalat. After gaining
the status of province and the election of first representative government in
Baluchistan it was the perception of Baluchis that now their problems and worries
 Issue of Balochistan
• In 1970, National Awami party (NAP) formed a coalition
government with Jamait Ulemae- Islam (JUI) in Baluchistan
but it was dismissed by the central government. This
dismissal of the elected government along with the arrest
of its leaders resulted in third insurgency and then another
military operation in Baluchistan deteriorated the situation
further. The insurgency came to an end when General Zia ul
Haq over throw the Bhutto’s government. The situation of
Baluchistan was under control and the level of ethno
nationalism remained static in Zia’s era and in civilian era
but their concerns was also not addressed properly.
• Another shock in political system was faced by Pakistan when martial law was imposed in
1999 by Musharraf .After coming into power the situation in Baluchistan became more
volatile due to the policies adopted by him. From the very beginning Baloch Sardars were
against the mega projects which were initiated in Baluchistan. In this regard Mengal said “In
the name of gigantic projects is a plan under way to settle the Punjabis in Baluchistan,"
Musharraf was of the view that Sardars opposed the development projects because they
thought that with the development in their region their influence will be reduced however
Sardars said that they are not against the development but are against the deprivation of
Baluch people in the name of development and modernization.
• Chagai district - Saindak . It was the only metallurgy project in Pakistan. The project started
operations in 1995 but after the trail production it was closed down as the government did
not have enough money. Then in 2002, Musharraf gave this project to a Chinese company on
lease for ten years. The distribution of profits is according to a formula that is unintelligible
i.e. The Chinese company takes 50%, the Federal Government 48% and only 2% of
Baluchistan.
• Gawadar port holds a strategic and economic value. It is designed as a regional hub for
transit and transshipment of goods for Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Middle East. When
this agreement was signed in 2002 between Pakistan and China there was no representative
of the provincial government. In Musharraf era, another military operation was ordered
resulting in death of Akbar Khan Bugti giving rise to an unending insurgency inside
Baluchistan. Baluchistan is the least developed province of Pakistan having lowest human
development index and high rate of human rights violation.
 Factors responsible for ethnicity
• Culture (Dehi Police, NCA, Language)
• Inequalities in different areas (12.4 per cent royalty from its natural gas)
• Less representation in influential Positions
• Elitist Policies
• Scarcity of resources
• Centralized System
• Role of military and milita
• Underdevelopment
• Role of foreign powers
• Human rights violations
• Mir Khuda Bukhsh Marri “The motive of the military action is to capture
oil and gas resources of the area”
• Kachkool Ali Baluch “The people of Pakistan did not get a nation – the
Pakistan army got a state”
 Solution and Way Forward
• General amnesty should be given to all Baluchis
• Military operation is not a solution of any problem.
• Education
• Baluchistan, law and order inside the province should be
maintained
• Effective distributive system
• More Representation
• Implementation of 18th Amendment
• inter province games and student exchange programs should also
be initiated in order to create inter province harmony.
• Sardars and Govt to mutually work together
•
 Sindh: Ethnic Politics in Rural Setting
• On 26 June 1947, the Sindh Legislative Assembly decided at a
special sitting that Sindh should join the new Pakistan
Constitutional Assembly
• The Sindh province comprises 23 per cent of the total area of
Pakistan while its population, according to the 1998 census, is
about 22.9 per cent of Pakistan’s total population
• As compared to Balochistan in the 1970s, where the provincial
government was dominated by Baloch nationalists, the Sindhi
ethnic parties failed in the 1970 elections to score impressive
electoral victories
• The Sindhis are set apart from the Mohajirs who are based in urban
areas
• G.M.Syed creation of a separate Sindhu Desh
• Rasool Bux Palijo ethno-nationalism and socialism with abolition of
feudalism but no separatism
 Historical Perspective
• British conquered the province in 1843. The Hindus did
not hold any land but in a century of their rule, the
Hindus came to acquire about 40 per cent of the land,
while another 20 per cent was believed to have been
mortgaged to them. Hindus were more industrious and
entrepreneurial in spirit while the Muslims were
backwards in the field of business.
• The socio-political mobilisation of the Muslims of Sindh
came about as a result of the Khilafat Movement
• Separation of Sindh from Bombay
• New Leaders like Abdullah Haroon, Ayub Khuhro,
Harchandrai Vishindas Bharwani
 Anti Punjab Sentiments
• 1932, the Sukkur Barrage irrigation scheme, the largest of its kind in
the world, brought 7 million additional acres in Sindh under
cultivation. This increased the number of Punjabi ‘settlers’ in Sindh
aided by their former British masters, who regarded Punjabis as
skilled and industrious cultivators, while Sindhi zamindars and haris
were considered lazy
• Issues After independence
– Influx of Mohajirs
– Karachi as capital and separation from Sindh
– Urdu as national language
– One Unit Formula in 1955
– Kotri and Guddu Barrage and allotment to Military
– Sindhi bureaucracy dominated by Mohajirs
– Sindhi Adabi Board and Shah Latif Cultural Centre
– Wapda and PIDC
 Political Crisis in Sindh
• Central government, ignoring the Sindh Assembly support for Mohammad Ayub
Khuhro, appointed Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah as Chief Minister of Sindh. Then
it made Hidayatullah as Governor and appointed Khuhro as Chief Minister. Khuhro,
however, was dismissed soon after he took a stringent line with respect to the
settlement of Mohajirs in Sindh as well as naming Karachi as the capital of Pakistan.
After Khuhro, Pir Illahi Bux assumed the Chief Ministership of Sindh who then
complied with the central government’s directive to make Karachi, the federal
capital. After Illahi Bux, Yusuf Haroon was named as Chief Minister, who was not
even a member of the Assembly. Soon he was replaced by Qazi Fazlullah. Then
Khuhro was brought back again and dismissed soon after. The centre then imposed
governor’s rule in Sindh under a Punjabi lawyer, Din Mohammad. It then decided to
do away with governor rule and appointed Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur as the Chief
Minister. After Talpur, the central government chose Pirzada Abdul Sattar but his rule
brought increased consternation for the centre
• Pakistan is the land of the Muslim s who are a separate nation because of their
religion. On the contrary, the argument put forward by Syed, questions this
assumption by stating that Pakistan is not a land of Muslims, but of different
nationalities. Thus, the discourse of religion on the part of the empowered is
matched by a discourse of nationalism and ethnicity on the part of the powerless.
 Further Development
• Military Operation in Sindh in 1980s
• Intra-ethnic conflict and divisiveness in Sindh:
Sindhis versus Sindhis
• Inter-ethnic conflict and discord in Sindh:
Sindhis versus Mohajirs
 Conclusion
• Pakistan’s best hope for the future lies not in taking out the
begging bowl to international governments and
organizations, nor in sham populist or Islamic sloganeering,
nor in successive bouts of authoritarianism designed to
keep the lid on popular unrest. The way forward can only
lie in the genuine political participation of previously
marginalized groups such as women, the minorities and the
rural and urban poor. This would not only redeem the ‘
failed promise’ of 19 47, but also provide hope that
Pakistan can effectively tackle the immense economic,
social and environmental challenges of the next century.