Sindh's timeless integrity

Sindh, the cradle of the great Indus Valley Civilisation, for all its bounty and bliss, has been under assault throughout its existence, dating back to the Bronze Age. From the Persians to Alexander the Great; from the Umayyads to the Arghoons; to the Turks; from the Ghurids to the colonial British; from the notorious One-Unit policy to periodic assaults on its integrity - Sindh has experienced, resisted and reclaimed its integrity. The land has survived annexations, intrusions, mighty empires and bureaucratic cartographic scissors. Yet the policy suggestion in the aftermath of the system-collapse mantra has once again tested Sindh's timeless integrity and indivisibility.

Since the proposal for new administrative units to address systemic collapse emerged, a selective discourse has been floated by select media outlets and by parties that enjoy no genuine public trust and do not necessarily represent the majority. The leaders of MQM do not necessarily represent the wishes of Urdu-speaking Sindhis. The same holds for the ruling PPP. Yet, for their vested interests, they have occasionally bargained with and risked the province's integrity.

Today, while the people of Sindh unanimously protest any potential move toward division, the ruling party, while pretending to oppose it, has moved a requisition in the provincial assembly to discuss an "urgent matter of public importance": the need for new administrative units, including any potential alteration of Sindh's territories. One wonders whether a move so firmly and unequivocally opposed by the public can truly hold "public importance". This so-called discourse on public importance has originated within the corridors of power, not among the people – as the latter has been systematically denied a say.

Had the people held any real stake, neither the architects nor the beneficiaries of the system could have resorted to experiments paid for and suffered by the people. Instead of focusing on the actual causes of the collapse - governance and legitimacy crises, institutional overreach, a broken local government system, and dynastic-authoritarian power structures - the proposal to create more administrative units in the name of bringing governance closer to the people is akin to inviting a new malady to treat the existing one. The discourse, built on a fallacious narrative of proximity amid a deliberately defunct local government system, seems intent on sustaining or re-erecting the brute system rather than delivering for the masses.

The people of Sindh have consistently championed the socio-political and cultural rights of all federating units, steadfastly resisting any measures imposed against constitutional guarantees without public consent. As power knows no logic, the people of Sindh discard any logic based on power and fallacies. The same holds for any potential division of this timeless and indivisible land under the guise of new administrative units. The people unequivocally reject any plan aimed at dividing the province in any name, pretext or guise. The protests going on across the province make this clear. In the end, the question was never administrative - it was always about consent.

The proposed new units in the name of reform cannot manufacture legitimacy and consent. The people of Sindh have already given their verdict, unanimously and unequivocally. No motion, no "time-sensitive matter", no corridor maneuver should alter what its timeless integrity and history have settled: Sindh remains one, indivisible, and non-negotiable for its people.

The true road to reform - to the system's survival and delivery - passes through governance overhaul via democratisation, a clear separation of powers, transparency and accountability, civilian supremacy, and, more importantly, a local governance system that serves the masses. New units would only increase administrative costs and bring surveillance closer to the people - while erasing whatever remnants of democracy still exist.