Paint the town red: City walls painted with demands for a ‘separate province’, residents share mixed opinions
Some residents support demand, others say it will lead to more violence.
A man walks in front of a wall painted with a slogan demanding a separate province in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/ EXPRESS
KARACHI:
When Riaz Shah pulled up the shutters of his furniture shop in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Tuesday morning, he was surprised to see slogans of a separate province painted on most shops in the area.
Since the Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain’s recent speech on a separate province for the Urdu-speaking, or Muhajir, residents of the province, walls in various neighbourhoods of Karachi are sporting demands to split Sindh. Slogans, such as ‘Shehr humara, jungle tumhara, iss soobay mein hoga kaise guzara, adha tumhara, adha humara’ [Our city, your jungle, how will we survive like this, half yours, half ours], are painted across Karachi even though the party later clarified that Hussain did not want to split Sindh.
The association that has claimed the wall chalking for a separate province has identified itself at Mohajir Sooba Tehreek and has mostly targeted neighbourhoods dominated by Urdu-speaking residents, such as Landhi, Malir, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
There are, however, several residents of the city who do not agree with the demands for a separate province. “There is already too much violence and killings in the city. Do they want more bloodshed by demanding another province?” said Shah.
Another furniture owner insisted that, for years, people of different ethnic backgrounds have been living in harmony as brothers. “This is the work of the politicians who want communities to fight,” he said. “There is nothing good about a separate province.”
Standing opposite one such wall, Aftab - who has been living in Gulshan-e-Iqbal for 30 years - recalled how similar slogans were raised in the 1980s to expel Punjabis and Pathans from the province. “Now the move is to make Sindhis and Mohajirs fight.”
Meanwhile, there are some who support the case. Syed Umair Shah, a resident, has even thought of a name for his dream province - ‘Mohajiristan’. “We are deprived of our rights here…” said the 21-year-old man. “I wanted to be a cricketer but I was not considered for the domestic team when they came to know that I was Urdu-speaking,” he claimed, adding that the organisers demanded Rs1.4 million to let him on the team.
Another woman felt a new province will help the government manage the city. “The population of Karachi has increased tremendously over the years and it is difficult to manage it as it is,” she said. Her neighbour, Muhammad Kaleem, pointed out if provinces for Hazaras and Seraikis can be considered, then Altaf Hussain’s demand should also be considered. “We want a province as soon as possible. The Pakistan Party Party leaders should take this seriously.”
Meanwhile, MQM Rabita Committee’s Aminul Haque said that people living in the city have a democratic right to demand a province if they are not getting their rights. “Wanting a separate province would not make them unpatriotic,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2014.
When Riaz Shah pulled up the shutters of his furniture shop in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Tuesday morning, he was surprised to see slogans of a separate province painted on most shops in the area.
Since the Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain’s recent speech on a separate province for the Urdu-speaking, or Muhajir, residents of the province, walls in various neighbourhoods of Karachi are sporting demands to split Sindh. Slogans, such as ‘Shehr humara, jungle tumhara, iss soobay mein hoga kaise guzara, adha tumhara, adha humara’ [Our city, your jungle, how will we survive like this, half yours, half ours], are painted across Karachi even though the party later clarified that Hussain did not want to split Sindh.
The association that has claimed the wall chalking for a separate province has identified itself at Mohajir Sooba Tehreek and has mostly targeted neighbourhoods dominated by Urdu-speaking residents, such as Landhi, Malir, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
There are, however, several residents of the city who do not agree with the demands for a separate province. “There is already too much violence and killings in the city. Do they want more bloodshed by demanding another province?” said Shah.
Another furniture owner insisted that, for years, people of different ethnic backgrounds have been living in harmony as brothers. “This is the work of the politicians who want communities to fight,” he said. “There is nothing good about a separate province.”
Standing opposite one such wall, Aftab - who has been living in Gulshan-e-Iqbal for 30 years - recalled how similar slogans were raised in the 1980s to expel Punjabis and Pathans from the province. “Now the move is to make Sindhis and Mohajirs fight.”
Meanwhile, there are some who support the case. Syed Umair Shah, a resident, has even thought of a name for his dream province - ‘Mohajiristan’. “We are deprived of our rights here…” said the 21-year-old man. “I wanted to be a cricketer but I was not considered for the domestic team when they came to know that I was Urdu-speaking,” he claimed, adding that the organisers demanded Rs1.4 million to let him on the team.
Another woman felt a new province will help the government manage the city. “The population of Karachi has increased tremendously over the years and it is difficult to manage it as it is,” she said. Her neighbour, Muhammad Kaleem, pointed out if provinces for Hazaras and Seraikis can be considered, then Altaf Hussain’s demand should also be considered. “We want a province as soon as possible. The Pakistan Party Party leaders should take this seriously.”
Meanwhile, MQM Rabita Committee’s Aminul Haque said that people living in the city have a democratic right to demand a province if they are not getting their rights. “Wanting a separate province would not make them unpatriotic,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2014.