Seeds of Separatism in Pakistan
India's Independence Day, August 15, is also the partition day. In ( 1947 ), this day saw the creation of Pakistan which accounted for about 1/4th of undivided India's geographical area of 4.2 million square km. Originally, Pakistan consisted of two parts separated by more than 1000 miles of Indian territory. The Eastern part (Bangladesh) accounted for more than half of Pakistan's population but less than 1/5th of its land. The numerical Superiority of East Pakistan resulted in the emergence of Awami League under Sheikh Mujib as the largest party in the 1970 elections. This resulted in the imposition of military rule in East Pakistan and its eventual separation from Pakistan in 1971. Before Partition, the areas comprising Pakistan used to supply wheat to India's food deficit areas and also cotton and jute for India's mills. These farm surpluses in Pakistani areas were the result of an irrigation system which was about the largest in the world. This irrigation system had been developed by the British purposely in a predominantly Muslim area in furtherance of their policy to show favours to the Muslims. The British rulers openly favoured Muslims, because, they argued. "Hindus have be consistently against us : Hindus planned the revolt of 1857 and Hindus organised the Congress movement".
When the British took over the administration of Pujnab around 1850, most of the agricultural land there was owned by Hindus and Sikhs. The British wanted to weaken the position of Hindus and Sikhs in the rural areas. Therefore, they introduced several changes in the laws which favoured Muslims. Also, much bias was shown in favour of Muslims while allotting newly irrigated lands. A top British official wrote a book inciting Muslims against Hindus. This book was a subtle hint to the Muslims that the British rulers were with them and they should keep away from the Hindu Congress'. A detailed account of the machinations of the British during an 80-year period up to ( 1930 ) is given in the series of 18 articles published in the Tribune of Lahore under the caption "Hindu Problem in Punjab”. Published in ( 1932 ). this marathon series of articles covered all problems affecting Hindus of Punjab in the pre-partition period.
The writer of these articles, Professor Gulshan Rai, was a renowned historian and a famous journalist of his time. Copies of these 18 articles have been taken from the micro-films of the Tribune available in the Nehru Museum Library at Teenmurti in New Delhi and are in the process of being published along with three articles by the same author about Kashmir and the role of Sheikh Abdulla before 1940.
By the time of Partition in 1947, the share of Hindus and Sikhs in the agricultural lands of Punjab had been considerably reduced. Partition meant a further reduction. The displaced Hindu and Sikh farmers were given only 1/3rd of the land owned by them. But, the hard labour put in by the farmers of Punjab revolutationised agriculture and made Punjab the granary of India. Punjab has only two per cent of India's population and only three per cent of India's net agricultural area, it accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total procurement of foodgrains and about 25 per cent of the production of cotton! In addition, Punjab produces substantial quantities of pulses and oilseeds. In the whole country, Punjab has the highest per captia income and the lowest poverty ratio.
An important aspect of economic development of Punjab is that the millions of families which had arrived from Pakistan have been completely integrated with the original inhabitants. The word “refugee” ceased to be in use long ago. But not so in Pakistan. The word “muhajir” is a much used word in Sindh province of Pakistan. Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) is quite a strong organisation in Sindh. During the last two years, thousands of people have been killed in Karachi in the fight between the MQM and the armed forces of Pakistan. This fight is a continuation of the conflict going on since the very inception of Pakistan. The causes of this conflict are mainly differences of opinion on five issues, viz. (i) Discrimination, (ii) Separate nationality, (iii) Urdu, (iv) Aversion for Sindhi language and culture, and (v) Bihari refugees.
(i) Discrimination ·
The MOM firmly believes that Muhajirs have been a victim of discrimination. This is not true. Muhajirs in Sindh had been given preferential treatment in regard to joins and other amenities. “The preferences in jobs could not be continued due to protests from other ethnic groups in Sindh. Actually Muhajirs considered preferential treatment as their right and privilege. This attitude has a historical background. Muhajirs in Sindh mostly hail from UP where they had got accustomed to getting preferential treatment. In 1913, Muslims formed 14 per cent of the population of UP, but they occupied 41 per cent of the important executive posts and 25 per cent of judicial position by the mid-1930s, they had succeeded in securing guaranteed quotas in government services and in elected bodies.
(ii) Separate Nationality
MQM considers muhajirs a separate nationality — the fifth in Pakistan. Sindhis took serious exception to this stand of MQM.
(iii) Urdu
According to MQM, Urdu alone was Islamic, and, as such, had the exclusive right to be the state language of Pakistan. Jinnah and Liaqat Ali both supported Urdu and it was made the state language.
(iv) Aversion for Sindhi Language and Culture
Muhajirs in Sindh, coming from UP, had a sort of superiority complex. They considered Sindhis not only lesser Muslims, but also less civilized. They did not show any inclination to learn the language and customs of Sindhis. Urdu was made a compulsory subject for Sindhi students and the teaching of Sindhi language to Muhajir students was discontinued. All this caused much resentment among Sindhis.
(v) Bihari Refugees
The emphasis laid by MQM on repatriation of Biharis from Bangladesh was seen by Sindhis as part of an MQM plot to turn Sindhis into a minority in Sindh. The above-said differences are indicative of the separatist mentality of the Muslims of UP which had been fostered by the British, and resulted in the Partition of India. One should not be surprised if this mentality results in another division of Pakistan, or a fragmentation of Sindh.
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