WE ARE A CROWD, AND NOT A NATION

A nation is a body of people having a shared bond that creates the feeling of belongingness but we are divided on multiple fronts. Our differences overshadow every bond of mutuality. Thus creating us a combination of different communities, a crowd, instead of a nation.

Pakistan got independence based on the two-nation theory which states that Muslims in the whole world form one nation and all non-Muslims form another nation. Thus Pakistan got divided from India. But 73 years have passed but Pakistan lacked any bond of unity among its people. People are divided through their regions, languages, sects, cultures, etc. creating Pakistan a group of people or crowd instead of a nation. East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh would never have separated from West Pakistan if there was any bonding between them. Both parts of Pakistan lacked the sense of unity and were divided by thousands of miles of India which was located between both of them thus leading to different languages, cultures, and traditions. And these differences in culture and language led to the separation of East Pakistan from West Pakistan. Similarly in the present time Pakistan is also facing problems due to federalism which has increased the differences between the provinces of Pakistan. More precisely, Pakistan is just the name of a land whose people are divided on several fronts. The most common factor which creates a sense of unity between the people of Pakistan is religion but it is too divided into different sects due to which people are divided into sects. Pakistan lacks essential elements of nationhood which include common culture, common language, common history, shared ideology, and most importantly unity. People have provincial unity instead of national unity. Nations are formed when they share a common environment and this can be achieved through our national language. For this electronic as well as print media have to play an important role in making Pakistan a nation-state.

A nation is a large group of people with a strong bond of national identity based on shared culture, history, language, religion, or ethnicity. People are connected with a shared belief which creates nationalism leading them to sacrifice for their state whenever the need arises. They show unity for their state in every matter removing all the obstacles in their way of success. The stability of the state depends upon the unity of its people. If people are divided then it is easy for foreign actors to destabilize the country to pursue their interests. If there is unity among the people and they are not divided then it doesn’t matter how strong the foreign actors are they can’t succeed in their evil goals.

Pakistan is an Islamic Republic country having Islam as its state religion. In Pakistan, the rural masses can occasionally be stirred up to furious panic by the cry of Islam in danger. It is the only means through which the people of Pakistan have a shared bond. But this too is a loose bond as Muslims are subdivided into different sects such as Sunnis, Wahabis, Shias, Deobandis, etc. Thus they have been divided due to their sects. After the seven decades of independence the questions are still unanswerable who we are? Can all the Pakistanis be equal? Can all the schools of thought of Islam can be equal without any discrimination? Every sect hates other sects and calls them Kafirs due to their beliefs. They have become enemies of each other and during the regime of General Zia- ul-Haq, there was a genocide of the Shias. A large number of Shias were killed by the Sunnis under Zia-ul-Haq to create unity among the people by forming a majority of Sunnis. Muslims of Pakistan are also divided in terms of their loyalty to other countries. Being Pakistanis they are more loyal to other countries as compared to Pakistanis. This loyalty is also affected due to the difference between the sects. The Shias are more loyal to Iran than Pakistan while the Sunnis are more loyal to Saudi Arabia than Pakistan. Shias of Pakistan have been continuously supporting the proxies of Iran in the Middle East, while Sunnis have always criticized Shias and Iran for the violence and proxies in the Middle East. Islam which was the symbol of unity for Pakistan has now divided Pakistan into different groups. There are very rare chances of Muslims being united in Pakistan. And in the present times they are only seen united on the issue of Blasphemy. This is the only point of unity between them which happens rarely. Thus religion cannot be the basis of Pakistan because of the sectarian division of the religion. Basic questions are still unanswerable such as which sect either of Sunni, Shia, Deobandi, or Wahabi will be adopted by the Shariah.

Punjab on the other hand is the most loyal province of Pakistan as compared to other provinces. But this should not ignore the fact that it is also facing some ethnic problems such as demand of new provinces by the Southern Punjab due to inequalities. The difference between Upper Punjab and Southern Punjab is too huge. Southern Punjab even lacks basic facilities of life due to the ignorance of the provincial government and using their funds in upper and central Punjab. Punjab is also divided into different casts and Biradari. People prefer their casts and Biradari over anything. They are ready to do anything for the honor of their Biradari. But when it comes to the state they prefer individual interests or their Biradri interests over state interests. As in Pakistan A Hard Country, one of Pakistani explained Anatol Lieven that,

“If I were to jump on a box and preach revolution, with the best program in the world, you know what would happen? First, people from all the other provinces would say that we can’t follow him, he is Punjabi. Then most of the Punjabis would say, we can’t follow him, he is a Jat. Then the Jats would say, we can’t follow him, he is from such-and-such a biradri. Even in my village, half the people would say something like, I can’t follow him, his grandfather beat my uncle in a fight over land. If you preach the Islamic revolution, most Pakistanis won’t follow you because they practice different kinds of Islam and worship different saints. So you see we Pakistanis can unite behind a revolution because we can unite behind anything.”

Provinces of Pakistan also form different groups based on different regions, cultures, ethnicities, languages, casts, etc. People of Gilgit Baltistan hate the whole of Pakistan for not giving official provincial status. It is true that most of the Punjabis are only loyal to Pakistan and consider themselves as Pakistani first and Punjabi second, but this is not the case with Sindhis, Balochis, or the Pathans of KPK. People of Balochistan don’t even sing Pakistani national anthem while Sindhis accuse Punjab of stealing their resources. People of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hate Punjab. People here are not willing to submit to the laws of the common government rather than those of separate ethnic or regional groups. Thus to enforce law and regulations, the state uses force which sometimes creates rebellion. The same is the case in Balochistan where Baloch Liberation Army is fighting against the government for greater regional autonomy for their province. RAW an Indian intelligence agency is also working in Balochistan for their brainwashing to make them stand against Pakistani authorities. As Muslims are divided in their loyalties towards Iran and Saudi Arabia, most Balochis and Pashtuns are more loyal to Afghanistan than Pakistan. Similarly Pathans living in KPK are also more loyal to Afghanistan and the Taliban as compared to Pakistan.

Similar to BLA, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement known as PTM is also working on the foreign agenda by manipulating the things. They also raise voices for Greater Afghanistan as they share a common identity with them of their culture, traditions, and language. People of Balochistan, Sindh, and KPK hate Punjab. They say that they are not given their deserved resources instead their part of resources are also utilized in Punjab. Only Pakistani province which is progressing is Punjab while people of Sindh, Balochistan, and KPK are fighting with poverty. The natural gas discovered in the area of Sui is utilized by the whole Punjab, Sindh, and many other parts of Pakistan but the people of Sui have no gas facility. Even Balochis didn’t bother to kill Punjabis found in Balochistan. Due to the unequal distribution of resources the differences between the provinces are increasing at an alarming rate which is very dangerous for Pakistan. RAW already is working in Balochistan in its mission to disintegrate Balochistan from Pakistan. And these differences are helping them and if they are not given required resources. It will be easier for RAW to pursue their goal.

While in Sindh there has been ethnic violence for decades between the Sindhis and Mohajirs. Mohajirs are the people who migrated from India after the independence and settled in Karachi. The majority of the population of Karachi is of Mohajirs who run Karachi on ethnic grounds without concerning the provincial government. On the other hand Sindhis hate Mohajirs for occupying the capital of Sindh i.e. Karachi and occupying almost all the jobs and facilities. The truth is that most of the population of Sindh live in backward areas and are extremely poor and they blame Mohajirs for this. Thus Sindh is subdivided into ethnicities. Karachi is the hub for the trade of Pakistan. People from all over Pakistan move to Karachi in search of jobs making Karachi the biggest ethnic city of Pakistan having almost all ethnicities. There has been constant violence between Sindhis and Mohajirs, and between Pathans and Mohajirs which have cost thousands of lives. Pathans occupied illegal occupations in Karachi in the past by threatening which created violence with the Urdu-speaking for whom houses were built. These divisions need to end. They should look for mutual interests instead of personal interests which can end the violence. As there is a famous quote of Eleanor Roosevelt,

“Pit race against race, religion against religion, prejudice against prejudice. Divide and conquer! We must not let that happen here.”

Ethnic conflicts reproduce the contest for power. It is the struggle of power that influences elite leadership to shape the ideas of racial and ethnic separation. Pakistan is divided into a number of ethnicities and is also a disorganized country. But there are also many ways by which nationalism can be created in Pakistan. As realists see ethnic identities do not change or merge even though they may share some interests in common. Urdu should be enforced throughout the country. Pakistan needs to amalgamate its cultures. The most important thing for this can be done by creating new provinces which meet the demand of people. So that provinces can create jobs for their people which can lower or end their hate for the other provinces which are benefited more. Also there should be no favoritism among the provinces by the center. Urdu can play an important role in this which is at least the only source of communication throughout the country. The importance of nationalism and state interests should be enlightened through print and electronic media. The sense of unity should be created and this is what can be helpful. Religion is a true source for the bonding of the people and it is the only source where people almost share common beliefs. The hate between the people is less as compared to their love. All they want is the progress of the country which will end unemployment and poverty. They are ready to unite but for this the inequalities need to be ended which is the only obstacle in the way of a nation-state. In the end no one is alone. Everyone is eternally connected with everyone. So we need to be united and ignore all the propaganda which is used to break our unity.

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”