No one has sincerely tried to look at the factors that fuel such movements.
JHANG: On February 21, 1952, some students in Dhaka launched a protest asking for Bengali to be made a national language of Pakistan along with Urdu, but their protest was responded to with indiscriminate firing. Some protesting students died on the spot. Immediately after this incident, Bengalis united even more and their movement went from strength to strength. They built the Shaheed Minar in memoriam. They were not only able to make Bengali their national language, they eventually formed a separate state. The UN declared February 21 the International Mother Language Day.
Many movements arose in other parts of Pakistan soon after independence. At this juncture, the insurgency in Balochistan, separatist movements in Sindh, issues of naming provinces, demand for provincial statuses, movements for the creation of new provinces and divisions on ethnic, linguistic and religious basis, instead of on administrative basis, have overpowered the very essence of our country. Every successive government has used force to crush such movements. That has added fuel to the fire.
No one has sincerely tried to look at the factors that fuel such movements. When the Muslims of India failed to get their rights, it led to the germination of the Pakistan Movement. An interesting but sad thing happened: after the general elections of 1946, the British formulated a constituent assembly, the primary aim of which was to devise a permanent constitution for India. On the parallel, a movement for separation was running. At the time of Partition, the constituent assembly was divided into two parts but its primary aims were intact. That constituent assembly worked and formulated a Constitution based on the provisions of the Act of 1935 and the British system of governance. When this Constitution came into operation, there were sections of the population that realised that the it was not a constitution which was coterminous with the sacrifices they had rendered. Thus, a clash ensued, triggering a constitutional crisis of sorts. Writers and poets wrote messages, urging the people to keep struggling, as the “morning for which the country was destined, had not yet dawned”.
Today, the country is still under dark clouds. None of its boundaries are safe. It is facing internal crises in every sphere. The need of the time is that our leaders not repeat their mistakes, but adopt rational, patriotic and logical ways to deal with such movements. They should find practical ways to overcome the deprivations of the people and fulfil their legitimate demands. This is the only way forward. By adopting this path, we can not only attain national integration, but can also progress by leaps and bounds.
Zulqarnain Sewag
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2014.
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