Saving the Seraiki Underdog
The sense of neglect must be urgently ameliorated so that these peace-loving people can be saved from chaos.
The writer is an independent social scientist and author of Military Inc.
Prior to the 2013 elections, many experts had visualised the failure of the PPP in the country except for South Punjab. It was believed that this was due to the party raising the slogan for creating a new province of South Punjab, an idea that later turned into that of two provinces — South Punjab and Bahawalpur. The election results were a total shock as the PML-N seemed to have almost swept the PPP off its feet in southern Punjab. Notwithstanding allegations of election rigging, the voters did disappoint those like former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was in the forefront of raising the slogan. Does the election result mean people are no longer interested in a Seraiki province and the idea is basically a hoax?
The idea of an independent Seraiki province made out of a division of Punjab currently appears like melodrama. The idea lacks leadership. While the PPP did an amazing job of passing a resolution in the Senate for the creation of one or more provinces, it needed a solid grassroots movement to get people out of their houses to protest for this idea. I recently bumped into a new party protesting for a Seraiki province. Although arguing that the new place will be secure for the non-Seraiki speakers and that the idea is to promote the cultural identity of a region, the stakeholders present there sounded very confused. Surely, to argue that a new province will ensure that 700,000 jobs will become vacant as a result of people from upper Punjab, who hold these positions in South Punjab, leaving for their region and these jobs then becoming available for Seraikis will not impress anyone. Like any other region in the country, South Punjab is not ethnically pure. There are other nationalities as well for whom this region is also home. Hence, the idea has to be broader and all-encompassing. Convince people of a sense of ownership under the flag of Seraikistan and things will work.
But a major factor due to which the idea of a new province couldn’t sell is because the sociopolitical dynamics of the region have changed as well. The new elite in South Punjab is no longer purely Seraiki. It now includes other ethnicities, like Punjabi, Urdu speaking Mohajir and Pashtun. A glance at election results will show that besides Rajanpur and DG Khan, all other South Punjab districts lack purity in terms of a Seraiki ethnic political control. Every other district has one or two non-Seraiki National Assembly or provincial assembly members. The economy, on the other hand, has almost slipped out of the hands of the Seraikis and gone to other ethnicities. The major small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs are mostly Punjabi or Mohajir from Rohtak-Hisar and Haryana. Certain parts of South Punjab have a rapid and consistent migration from Karachi. Furthermore, a glance at patterns of violence will show that some of the urban centres in South Punjab are now connected with Karachi.
In recent years, especially in the last couple of decades, migration to South Punjab has increased from other parts as well, such as the Pashtun population from Karachi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the tribal areas and even Balochistan. In Multan, for instance, there are more than a couple of neighbourhoods that are entirely from Waziristan. In fact, after Karachi, it is the urban centres in South Punjab that have received the maximum number of new Pashtun settlers. The war in the tribal areas and Afghanistan has certainly displaced people from their homeland and taken them to other places.
Surely, no one should grudge those who have worked hard and earned their place in society. However, it is also important to confront the reality that the Seraiki population fast finds itself boxed between two realities — the old Punjabi and Mohajir settlers with economic strength and increasing political power, and the new but hardworking Pashtun immigrant who has taken small jobs and businesses and is also making inroads into politics. Increasingly, the ethnic Seraiki finds lesser space as jobs are lost at the higher and now, the lower end.
Lest someone thinks I am suggesting some conspiracy, this is not the case. The Seraiki ethnic population is also caught in the middle of the popular myth that Seraikis are lazy by nature, which is not factual. Most of the hard work and labour in urban Karachi or many other places is done by these people. Nevertheless, since these areas were rural and dependent on agriculture for a long time, there is a lesser tendency to adapt to a fast urban pace. They change whenever they get a chance to.
However, be it the fault of leaders, individuals or institutions, the fact is that the Seraiki currently faces the same fate in its region as perhaps the Baloch. The Seraiki may be the new Baloch, with an additional problem of not even being able to claim an independent political identity within the federation. A few years from now, this will be an exploitable issue. It is easy for many to blame the poor and dispossessed for their laziness or relative lack of intelligence. The fact is that people often suffer when the state system does not distribute economic and political resources almost equally. We cannot blame the Seraiki or the Baloch or the Sindhi for not meeting the merit if the state has not invested for years in their education or overall well-being.
What Seraikis actually want in the name of recognition of their identity is upholding of their national pride and using that to gain opportunities to excel. The hope is that a new province will bring greater job and development opportunities. The PML-N victory in South Punjab in 2013 election, hence, is just a minor chapter in the history of this region that must be saved from any future chaos. The sense of neglect must be urgently ameliorated so that these peace-loving people can be saved from chaos. It is mainly the conspiracy of the state and its decision-making elite, which drives people towards conflict.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2014.
The idea of an independent Seraiki province made out of a division of Punjab currently appears like melodrama. The idea lacks leadership. While the PPP did an amazing job of passing a resolution in the Senate for the creation of one or more provinces, it needed a solid grassroots movement to get people out of their houses to protest for this idea. I recently bumped into a new party protesting for a Seraiki province. Although arguing that the new place will be secure for the non-Seraiki speakers and that the idea is to promote the cultural identity of a region, the stakeholders present there sounded very confused. Surely, to argue that a new province will ensure that 700,000 jobs will become vacant as a result of people from upper Punjab, who hold these positions in South Punjab, leaving for their region and these jobs then becoming available for Seraikis will not impress anyone. Like any other region in the country, South Punjab is not ethnically pure. There are other nationalities as well for whom this region is also home. Hence, the idea has to be broader and all-encompassing. Convince people of a sense of ownership under the flag of Seraikistan and things will work.
But a major factor due to which the idea of a new province couldn’t sell is because the sociopolitical dynamics of the region have changed as well. The new elite in South Punjab is no longer purely Seraiki. It now includes other ethnicities, like Punjabi, Urdu speaking Mohajir and Pashtun. A glance at election results will show that besides Rajanpur and DG Khan, all other South Punjab districts lack purity in terms of a Seraiki ethnic political control. Every other district has one or two non-Seraiki National Assembly or provincial assembly members. The economy, on the other hand, has almost slipped out of the hands of the Seraikis and gone to other ethnicities. The major small- and medium-sized business entrepreneurs are mostly Punjabi or Mohajir from Rohtak-Hisar and Haryana. Certain parts of South Punjab have a rapid and consistent migration from Karachi. Furthermore, a glance at patterns of violence will show that some of the urban centres in South Punjab are now connected with Karachi.
In recent years, especially in the last couple of decades, migration to South Punjab has increased from other parts as well, such as the Pashtun population from Karachi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the tribal areas and even Balochistan. In Multan, for instance, there are more than a couple of neighbourhoods that are entirely from Waziristan. In fact, after Karachi, it is the urban centres in South Punjab that have received the maximum number of new Pashtun settlers. The war in the tribal areas and Afghanistan has certainly displaced people from their homeland and taken them to other places.
Surely, no one should grudge those who have worked hard and earned their place in society. However, it is also important to confront the reality that the Seraiki population fast finds itself boxed between two realities — the old Punjabi and Mohajir settlers with economic strength and increasing political power, and the new but hardworking Pashtun immigrant who has taken small jobs and businesses and is also making inroads into politics. Increasingly, the ethnic Seraiki finds lesser space as jobs are lost at the higher and now, the lower end.
Lest someone thinks I am suggesting some conspiracy, this is not the case. The Seraiki ethnic population is also caught in the middle of the popular myth that Seraikis are lazy by nature, which is not factual. Most of the hard work and labour in urban Karachi or many other places is done by these people. Nevertheless, since these areas were rural and dependent on agriculture for a long time, there is a lesser tendency to adapt to a fast urban pace. They change whenever they get a chance to.
However, be it the fault of leaders, individuals or institutions, the fact is that the Seraiki currently faces the same fate in its region as perhaps the Baloch. The Seraiki may be the new Baloch, with an additional problem of not even being able to claim an independent political identity within the federation. A few years from now, this will be an exploitable issue. It is easy for many to blame the poor and dispossessed for their laziness or relative lack of intelligence. The fact is that people often suffer when the state system does not distribute economic and political resources almost equally. We cannot blame the Seraiki or the Baloch or the Sindhi for not meeting the merit if the state has not invested for years in their education or overall well-being.
What Seraikis actually want in the name of recognition of their identity is upholding of their national pride and using that to gain opportunities to excel. The hope is that a new province will bring greater job and development opportunities. The PML-N victory in South Punjab in 2013 election, hence, is just a minor chapter in the history of this region that must be saved from any future chaos. The sense of neglect must be urgently ameliorated so that these peace-loving people can be saved from chaos. It is mainly the conspiracy of the state and its decision-making elite, which drives people towards conflict.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2014.