Let me explain some changes and then argue why they are currently too insignificant to alter this historical pattern. Two economic changes in some parts of this region are very important. One, overseas employment, mainly in the Gulf has pushed some poor sections several notches up to the urban, middle class ranks, owing to influx of remittances. Second, the agricultural production and rising prices of commodities have raised living standards of small- and medium-size landowners. The proliferation of small- and medium-size landowners is itself a huge change in areas where the big landowning families have dominated the economic, social and political life.
It is equally true that a middle class through general and professional education has emerged from the Seraiki belt. But they are like an expatriate class, with little roots left in the towns and villages where they have come from. Spending their productive life in major cities, very few have generally looked back or have tried to retain social ties with their own areas. As a class, they are quite irrelevant to the social, cultural and political dynamics of the Seraiki regions.
These changes, that I believe will eventually reconstruct a new pattern, are still taking place within the old frame of social reference — in the feudal, tribal social system. There are, however, patches of territories where the size of landownership and with that, the influence of the big landowning class has shrunk. The same retrogressive social forces of caste and biradari have captured the vacant spaces.
The diversity of ethnic, linguistic and social groups within the Seraiki regions is more complex than in any other part of Pakistan since, the Baloch, Punjabis, Pashtuns and Seraiki — with their different sub-identities, tongues and local cultures — inhabit this land. These divisions create localism and sustain narrow parochial sentiments more than lend any support to a major political enterprise of creating a coherent ethnic community. Against this background, the idea of a Seraiki province may provoke further narrow divisions rather than to bring these many diverse ethnic communities together on a single platform.
For a long time though, the dream of the Seraiki province has been envisioned by the expatriate middle class, who being scattered and living in distant places couldn’t popularise at the grass-root level. Some of those from within the region like the Pakistan Seraiki Party and other subgroups have also attempted to raise the issue of Seraiki identity, grievances, deprivation and unjust allocation of resources across the regions. Their political voice, so far, has remained feeble.
The traditional ruling classes of the Seraiki region are ambivalent at best about the Seraiki province and some of them are rightly apprehensive about further ethnic divisions within the region. For instance, why would the Baloch-majority areas on the western side of the Indus with a strong Baloch identity remain in the Seraiki province and not opt for Balochistan?
The same can be true of the Punjabi-dominated parts of the region. On the other hand, the people of Bahawalpur are very proud of their history, legacy and non-ethnic geographic identity that are more inclusive than the narrow Seraiki sentiment.
The issue is really how we can address and manage social and economic change in the best possible manner, and thus alter the historical pattern of relationships through modernity. Faltering back to primitive instincts of narrow identities will create divisions within divisions and provide only emotional escapism from hard issues of development and justice.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2012.
COMMENTS (26)
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I have a Question that those feudal lords which are instigating the Seraiki movement that from whom you want to separate. From your Past or what.?.The Birthplace of Punjabi literature is South Punjab. Punjabis means a resident of land of five rivers. A resident of Punjab is a Punjabi, In Lahore half of the people speak Punjabi and half speak Urdu and Half of the Punjab population usually speak Urdu now a days and all those people who came after 1947. So what type of Racist definition of Punjabi are you talking about ??
So how come another identity based on Racist Idea of Language is Coming here. I have a question that those people who dont speak Seraiki Dielect what will they do if some Province based on Language will be made. In North Punjab you dont have to speak Punjabi to become a Punjabi but this Definition of Feudal lords that came from Sindh and Balochistan define a person on the basis of Pure language. Multan and other regions have significant Urdu Speaking Population and this step will alienate them like In Sindh the Imposition of Sindhi have alienated the Karachities and now there is a Linguistic problem there in Sindh.
If Leaders and Feudal lords want this Separation and narrow mindedness like of KPK and Sindh where rather integration people willl be differentiating on the basis of Languages then sorry to say but we will see a new type of ETHNIC Tension here based on language.
The North Punjab is an example of Integration and the South Punjab should learn from North and should not differentiate people based on pure language basis.
I live in South Punjab and I am totally astonished that how murder of history is going on in this region. The real people of this land are Gujjars, Jatts and Rajputs inhabiting this land for thousands of year. The Punjabi Poetry Foundation was laid by Baba Farid in 11th Century who was born in Multan. So Multan is a City of Birth of Punjabi language. Secondly The word Seraiki even did not exist before 1947 so how Seraiki has a Different Identity. When Baba Farid used the word of Punjabi in 11th century in Multan then it simply tells us that birth place of Punjabi literature is South Punjab and so Punjabi is just one language with DIfferent Dielects. It was after 11th century that Balochs, Khans, Tareens, Gailanis , Durranis came here because this land was rich in Agriculture and rather than accepting the Local Jatts, Gujjars and Rajputs they rejected the idea of integration and even they rejected the local literature which . Now the same people who were outsiders are now claiming that they were living here for centuries. With due respect Please dont do the Murder of History.
Please go and study the difference in Language and Dialect. Only some outsiders are creating the division for their own designs. Also I am GIVING A CHALLENGE that anyone bring a single reference that the name of Seraiki exists before the creation of Pakistan. This is my challenge. Seraiki word did not exist 50 years ago. It was created by Feudal lords to meet their own needs and desires and since then Murder of History of this region have been started. But the word Punjabi is always associated with Multan even before 11th century.
@HH: Not only do Seraiki speaking politicians dominate much of Pakistan's and Punjab's politics, but they do no do enough for their own regions. In fact Shahbaz Sharif has done more for the Seraiki belt than any Seraiki politician. Good governance won't come from name changes or artificially creating more provinces with more bureaucracy to consume public funds. It comes from respnsible governance and Punjab is already the best managed and run province. As for your description of Shahbaz Sharif as someone from Central Punjab, I disagree because he is ethnically a Kashmiri.
@Waqas Tariq: Status quo is the major cause of stagnation of Pakistan society. Smaller provinces mean govt will be closer to the people. People can always decide about the perks and expenses of the politicians. Richest country in the world- USA does not provide residences to their assembly members or civil servants. In Pakistan CSPs are living in residences sprawled over few acres. MNAs &MPAs are given too many perks. These can be curtailed.
@Khan: To all saraikistan loving people! You have so many politicians who are in mainstream of punjab and Pakistani politics e.g., Lugharis, khosas, Hashmi, Gilani, quraishis, and countless multanis They have done nothing for you except blaming upper punjab to hide their own corruption. From upper punjab there is only Sharifs. You can create sariakistan, nothing would change unless these politicians change their attitude towards saraiki people then real progress will come. Sindh always blame punjab for water shortage that is why they make jamat ali shah as commissioner of indus water commission, what good did he do for sindhi people, taking away more water and give to India and then sindhi nationalists will again blame punjab. Sindh has govt in centre and they are doing nothing for their own province. Then saraiki MPs come to Lahore and say we can smell cotton from Lahore's Roads. Same is the case with Balochistan. No doubt there is corruption in Northern Punjab but atleast they also spend on Punjab and do some corruption but in rest of Pakistan they only fill their own pockets and then point finger at Punjab.
@Walayat Malik:
well bro i do not think so. Because 81 provinces means increasing number of politicians. And as we all know our political system have its own flaws which are yet to be sorted out. Major flaw is extensive use of facilities by diplomates of our country that means we`ll be paying more taxes to meet these expenses.
We better find 81 leaders who can lead us as a Unit...
Ideally, there should be no problem on making administrative units on linguistic basis. We should be proud of our diversity and market it in the world. On the other hand, if this formula is adopted, many paradoxical situations will emerge and the whole point will be lost in historical and anthropological debates. Wise solution is to disintegrate provinces and give provincial powers to divisions or even the districts. This will indirectly solve the problem of ethnicity too.
Gilgit Baltistan became a new province. In case, the present provincial boundaries are so holy, how could the formation take place so smoothly, without any special demand or noticeable protest?
Was the land for GB a gift from neighbouring countries?
constitution of Pakistan gives equal rights to every citizen regardless of the geographic location of the citizen. new provinces should be made on administrative basis instead of ethnic or linguistic basis. I don't agree with the author that "no need for further division". We need new provinces but it should not be done by our so called politicians. there must be an independent commission which should include technical people from all over Pakistan. after a complete study by the commission and based on their recommendations, new provinces shall be formed by the consensus of provincial assemblies. the situation now is the "Bander Baant" through 20th amendment.
Why there are very few Searikis in bureaucracy, army and judiciary. Who is responsible for that?
Mr.pakistan khan Seraiki and punjabi are same lunguages no need any province in that bases Seraiki speakout in Lahore Faisalabad and same punjabi speakout in R khan
Japan has 47 prefectures. England has 9 regions.
We can and should learn from the Indian experience in this realm. The smaller provinces that emerged after the partition of East Punjab, especially the State of Haryana, have done extremely well both administratively and economically. Yes, there are stark differences between the two Punjab’s but the Indians have set a precedence which is worth emulating.
Why don't we go for a local govt system, so that all issues are resolved locally.
Virtually, with local resources & resolutions, we won't be needing any Provinces.
Will this offend Provincial mafias?
Dear Professor, though it is very easy to make claims and predict future on the basis of your own assumptions. But the problems faced by people of region should be considered before giving any opinions. It is the right of the people of that land who have to decide what they want and that's what democracy is all about. The case you represent is based on your own assumptions rather than reflecting the concerns of people who demand new provinces. In case of K.P the hazara people want their own province because the division was made on ethnic base when changed the name from NWFP to K.P. A person has to travel 14 hours journey from village of Kohistan to get his paper attested from provincial capital Peshwar and yet being discriminated there and called punjabiyan. If the jobs, resources and land is being exploited by outsiders than people would ask for new provinces. It is my humble request to check the reality and visit the areas and ask about the opinion of the people before giving your own analysis. Dont forget Bangladesh...!
And the real issue is the legal Riht of the people of Seariki belt. Upper Punjab's politision spend revenue of this area onto upper punjab.
LET ME TELL YOU AUDIENCE
Seariki parties live since 40 year but they dont win even one seat WHY??????????
THEN Why NOW peoples accepting Seariki parties agenda????????????
ANSWER IS
Seariki poples are not ligustic loving ....They love AREA, CULTURE... They want prosperity of their area...PLEASE stop BLURRING their idea of GETTING their RIGHT. And STOP diverting their attenstion by inducting words PUNJABI, BALOCHI, etc
We can and should learn from the Indian experience in this realm. The smaller provinces that emerged after the partition of East Punjab, the smaller provinces, especially Haryana, have done extremely well both administratively and economically. Yes, there are stark differences between the two Punjab's but the Indians have set a precedence which is worth emulating.
rasul baksh rais
It's not only the 'Seraiki' identity that is an artificial and recent creation. The notion of a separate 'Seraiki' language is as recent and as artificial. The so-called 'Seraiki' of Multan is no different to the 'Punjabi' of Khushab, Sargodha, Jhang, Sahiwal, Mandhi Bawaldeen and many other districts of Central Punjab. There is a real issue at the core of all this: the exploitation of Southern Punjab by Lahore but creating this fake Seraiki identity is a bizarre and ultimately counter productive way of dealing with the issue
Very good explanation of the real reality in the Sariaki region! Instead of division on the basis of language the provinces should be created out of the present divisions and districts. We have to follow the example of another successful Muslim country if not one of Western ones. Turkey has achieved impressive progress in recent years. It has population of 76millions and is divided into 81 provinces. Every province has less than one million people. Every district in Pakistan has average population of more than TWO million. Why not make every district a province?
excellent article
Brilliant article. I have said again and again that Seraiki is a linguistic identity and real locals of the land are in fact the Rajputs, Jatts and Gujjars. These people have been in Seraiki land for at least 2000 years while the likes of Gillanis,Qureshis,Hashmis came from outside in our land. Balochs too came from outside and adopted our culture, language and traditions. In no way an ethnic Rajput and Jatt like Hiraj, Berah, Toor, Kanju, Khar, Rana etc is related to Hashmi, Gillani, Mazari, Khosa, Qaiserani because the later one's came from outside in our land. These are the one's who in turn are raising Seraiki issue and even though a huge amount of Rajputs and Jatts of Seraiki belt do want their province but we want it on administrative basis rather ethnic because Seraiki is not an ethnic group but Linguistic.
Well! Professor I would suggest, please visit Saraiki areas some time and talk to common people. It would give you a better idea what they want. And you would also see the kind of "development" Pakistan has done there. And I wonder who in Bahawalpur except Muhammad Ali Durrani and some settlers ,want a separate province? On the other hand, if Punjabis, Sindhis, Pakhtoon and Baloch can have there provinces, then why not Saraikis (Who are more than 40 million and are "Indigenous" people ). And kindly get your facts corrected. Baloch living in Saraiki area own their Saraiki identity instead of Baloch identity. In fact, main supporters of this movements for Saraiki province are Saraiki Baloch people. There is a huge difference between Baloch from Saraikistan and from Balochistan.