http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/08/mqm-f...-province.html
By Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
All-time ally of corrupt and feudal-dominated in-power political parties, the so-called Muttahida Qaumi Movement (formerly Mohajir Qaumi Movement), has through its minister in the centre Dr Farooq Sattar moved a resolution for creating more provinces in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the plea that “his party did not want Balochistan to become another Bangladesh and south Punjab and Hazara as another Balochistan of present day where people felt alienated and deprived.
The MQM forgot to mention the first and the foremost reason which forced the Bengalis to go independent.
That was Urdu and Urduwallas who wanted unchallenged hegemony of Urdu language and did not want to share power with the language of a majority of the population i.e Bengali.
And the second and the immediate reason was the feudal class of the West Pakistan represented by Sindhi landlord Z.A. Bhutto whom the MQM had been accusing of dividing the country.
The bill suggests that the people of 21 districts in the south Punjab should decide through referendum if they want a large Seraiki or more than one province (What about Bahawalpur?)
It has included the following districts of the Punjab – one more than the demand of the Seraiki protagonists: Bahawalpur, R.Y. Khan, Bahawalnagar, Multan, Khanewal, Lodharan, Vehari, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Chiniot, Khushab, Mianwali, Sargodha, Bhakkar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Sahiwal, Pak Pattan and Okara (The last one added by the MQM itself perhaps expecting a seat of Rangharrs for the MQM).
To assure the Sindh PPP, Farooq said that there was no need for creation of a new province in Sindh, which is the ultimate end of the fifth nationality, as envisaged by Altaf Husain at earlier stages.
The idea of referendum in south Punjab speaks loudly the intention of the MQM which could not give a national image without the support of Karachi settlers as is the case of Azad Kashmir, where its candidate Tahir Khokhar could not get a majority of votes either from Azad Kashmir or from Punjab; he got all votes from Karachi.
ANP members opposed the separate province for FATA while the next day the veteran PPP member and former deputy speaker Syed Zafar Ali Shah said the creation of any new province now would not stop the process and warned against the creation of a Northern Ireland-like situation in Karachi, where, he said ethnic Sindhis had been treated badly over the past 15 to 20 years.
Zafar Ali Shah never found favour with the past and the present PPP leadership. President Zardari, being the joint chairman of the PPP, always surrenders to the MQM even at the cost of being a Sindh nationalist… waving Ajrak and Sindhi cap time and again.
On the other hand, Zardari after being elected as the head of the state, avoids to visit interior Sindh even his home-district because of his personal security.
On the one hand he proudly claims that he has surrendered powers voluntarily through constitutional amendment while on the other hand he has violated the constitution of the PPP by appointing second president of the party for the Punjab.
This division of Punjab attracted the attention of PPP co-chairman Zardari when he felt the changing position of his “friendly opposition” led by PML-N.
Before that after the fall of Dhaka even, Z.A. Bhutto used to suspect the majority of Punjab which might have challenged the Sindhi supremacy and in his early period the first and so far the last All-Pakistan Seraiki Conference was held in Multan.
It was sponsored by the then Sindh chief minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. But it was spoiled so far Sindhis were concerned, by a map of Seraikistan in which Seraiki-speaking areas of Sindh were also included.
The Sindhi writers and intellectuals including Rasool Bukhsh Paleejo lodged strong protest and walked out of the conference. Since that conference, the Seraikis of Punjab never dared to include Sindhi areas in their map.
Zardari and the MQM are of the opinion that Seraikis are being ruled and exploited by the Central Punjab and they should be freed.
About the backwardness of the Seraiki belt, a former MPA from the area and former adviser to the chief minister of Punjab, Mahmood Hayat Khan, has been quoted by Husain Ahmad Khan in his book ‘Rethinking Punjab… the Construction of Seraiki Identity’ (70) “… the feudal lords must be held responsible first than bureaucracy and military rulers, as they are not letting the schools and colleges to open in this southern belt.
For instance in my area a parliamentarian did not let any programme of education be completed… we got our first intermediate college in 1970s, when that feudal lord was defeated in the elections and took another 20 years to get the status of a degree college.
They (northern Punjabis) have high literacy rate that is why they have greater share in and stern control over the bureaucracy. In every town or village of northern Punjab you will easily find at last one bureaucrat or military officer.
Here in our region (southern Punjab) you seldom find any high ranking official, our representation is so less that you may count the officials from southern Punjab on fingers”.
Tariq Rahman in his book ‘Language and Politics in Pakistan’ is highly critical of the present feudal leadership and feels that a separate Seraiki province would be dominated by similar people”. P 185
And MQM wants a feudal -ominated province. What a fall my countrymen!
