The state of Pakistan came into existence after the immense struggle of Bengalis, Mohajirs [who fought the independence war against the rigid Hindu extremists and migrated to the newly-formed state], Punjabis, Sindhis, Pukhtoons, Baloch tribes and others. After the establishment of the country, all these people opted to live as a nation under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his companions. Mr Jinnah endeavored to make these people as a single nation whilst they had vast linguistic and cultural differences.
In Jinnah’s optimistic outlook, none of the ethnic groups had any kind of privilege on the others; all had liberty to live in the country with equal rights. But after the demise of Jinnah, gradually the concept of a single nation faded out and disputes emerged among different linguistic groups which were struggled for the creation of Pakistan. Apparently at that time, Pakistan had split into different sects, ethnicities and communities; some of them were considering themselves as the brokers of this territory. Hence, the history witnessed the division of East-Pakistan [later, Bangladesh] and it was not the tragedy that just happened. Predominant classes of the country had deliberately created such circumstances for this.
After celebrating the 66th Independence Day, still Pakistan could not re-forge the national identity due to the radical bigotry and prejudices. We are living in the state, where it is easy to declare anyone as traitors or infidels [Kaafir]. For the reunification of this nation, we will have to revive Jinnah’s vision and obliterate the supremacy of selective elite class. We cannot retrieve our national identity unless we have not eradicated the injustice and racism. The people of this state should have to denounce those norms where anyone can be declared as a traitor or infidel. We will have to pursue the principles of the Holy Prophet [SAWW] that no one has supremacy and everyone has equal rights to live peacefully.
The southern province of Pakistan, Sindh, has gifted the lower middle class a man who has intended to obliterate the oligarchy of feudalism, plutocracy and partisanship in the country. Embarking upon a journey of the movement, this man raised the voice for the maltreated people of Mohajir community afterwards he dilated the spectrum of his movement for all the communities. Now the Muttahida Qaumi Movement [MQM] and its founder Altaf Hussain have become the voice of suppressed people irrespective of their caste, creed and sects. Undoubtedly, the political party had emerged as the clear victor of Urdu speaking and still it is the depiction of this class but eventually it has increased its followers apart from Mohajirs.
It has also been seen that political parties and their leaders depicted Hussain as a fiery political figure. After three decades, still Hussain’s movement is being deplored vociferously by its antagonists and often labeled as ‘a regional and ethnic’ political party, although if we assess other political forces then we will come to the analysis that all political parties have emerged as regional political parties in the recent general elections of 2013. Pakistan Muslim League [PML-N] won majorly in Punjab, Pakistan People’s Party [PPP] in rural-Sindh, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Muttahida Qaumi Movement in urban-Sindh.
In many instances MQM has stipulated the equal rights for non-Mohajir communities. One of those examples is the call for separate provinces for Hazara and Seraiki people. MQM extended its support to the Seraiki people whenever they felt neglected for their own separate province after facing dogmatism and fanaticism of Punjab.
After transforming into Muttahida, it has always tried to shun those perceptions that it was an ethnic party and was formed to oversee the rights of Mohajirs only. The movement’s coordination committee has been considered as one of the most powerful think tanks in the country. The famed Rabta Committee includes people from all ethnic backgrounds of Pakistan. The separate wing, Karachi Mazafati Organizing Committee [KMOC] has also been formed and the main objective of this coterie to safeguard the rights of non-urdu speaking populace and serve them. In short, the Urdu speaking and non-Urdu speaking members have mingled with each other, keeping class differences at bay, and working towards a common objective, in an egalitarian setting.
The party chief has foretold that the year of 2014 will be the make-or-break year for this country and has pointed towards the prevailing deprivation in the state. Further he urged high authorities to take sufficient action on urgent basis to dispel the deprivation among masses.
Earlier, I directed your attention towards MQM’s struggle for the fundamental rights of non-Mohajirs in Pakistan. Apart from that it has also succeeded to perpetuate peace and harmony among different ethnic groups and sects in its strongholds especially in the metropolis. In the beginning of this year 2014, Hussain proposed the formula of Sindh I and II after evaluating the stiff attitude of the Sindh-rural based political party, PPP towards Urban-Sindh. Clearly it was proposed that Sindh-I for the pro-PPP elements while Sindh-II for the rest. As we have witnessed that the party and its chief always emphasized and promoted the emancipation. In many point, Mr Hussain has manifested his wish that he wants to see Jinnah’s Pakistan where everyone can practice and exercise his/her religion and no one remains underprivileged.
We lost the East-Pakistan because we didn’t address the issues of Bengalis. In fact we made fun of them. We can save this country from further damage if we address the issues faced by the masses and not by the elite classes. We will have to embrace the vision of Mr Jinnah, if we want to save our homeland, otherwise “Pakistan Ka Khuda hi Hafiz”. As we have seen the fresh deadly attacks on the Hazara community like there used be attacks on the Muslims of sub-continent before the partition took place. Are we heading towards the separate states for the Shias and Sunnis of Pakistan?
