A useless battle of claims, counter-claims

LAHORE: Those who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and adopted this country as their motherland are its ideological sons of the soil, no lesser than those whose forefathers were born in the land that formed part of this country before partition. This useless battle of claims and counter-claims of rights must end now.

As a sitting senior minister, Zulfiqar Mirza should not have said what he said. If this is his honest opinion, why was his party in coalition with the MQM in the first place? The MQM must also realise that political leaders are open to public scrutiny and should not be revered like saints, nor can anybody resort to violence or create ‘no-go’ areas. Pakistan was created for those who chose to live in it, as free citizens of a democratic welfare state enjoying equal rights without any discrimination.

In 1971, we went through the pangs of another partition, because we failed to follow in letter and spirit the vision spelt out by the father of our nation very clearly in his address of August 11, 1947. Let us not forget that the real pioneers of the movement for a separate homeland for Muslims were none other than our Bengali brethren led by Maulana Fazal-e-Haq, known as Sher-e-Bengal, who spearheaded this demand in 1906 much before others even thought of it.

Enough damage has been done by ethnicity and it is time people stop questioning the right of any citizen to live in any part of Pakistan, including Karachi. Had the Muslim-majority areas of British India not supported the birth of the new nation, it is unlikely that it would have ever materialised.

That said, we also need to bear in mind that wherever a man moves with his family, he has to adopt that country, assimilate with the local population and try to adopt their culture and language, otherwise he will find it difficult to be accepted there.

Malik Tariq Ali

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2011.