The fires of ethnicity

The violent opposition in Sindh to the presence of IDPs in the province is a shocking reminder of the divisions that have effectively fractured society.

The MQM and Sindhi nationalist parties have united forces to oppose the entry of the IDPs to the province. The essential humanitarian element of their situation has been lost amidst the blinding hate inspired by ethnic factors, which has during the past few months already triggered episodes of mayhem in Karachi. The inter-connections between different parts of a country which make it one nation rather than a collection of isolated portions of territory have been lost.

There are many aspects to this issue that now confront us head on. The ethnic issue has played a part in creating a situation where only 38 per cent of NWFP and the adjacent FATA areas, according to a map put out by the BBC, are under the control of the Pakistan government. The Taliban have in many places used ethnicity almost as much as religion to establish their grip. Others too confuse the issue with notions of a 'tribal' Pakhtun culture and 'tradition', ignoring the fact that for the most part the militants of Baitullah Mehsud or Maulana Fazlullah are opposed by tribal leaders who previously held almost undisputed sway in the same areas. Neither offers a solution to the problems of people who essentially seek a greater role in the making of decisions about their own destiny.

The extent to which ethnic issues determine what happens in the state is evidenced too by the matter of the Kalabagh Dam. The minister for water and power has now re-affirmed the project has been scrapped, and says that the decision in this respect is final. This announcement will create some dissent in Punjab. The whole matter has become one of provinces pulling in opposite direction; it has also become one of pride rather than good sense. Amidst this tussle, it has become impossible to look objectively at the dam and its possible developmental benefits. It is possible that it may have brought some. But the fact is that the ethnic friction it created was so damaging, pitching groups of people against each other, that the decision to abandon the reservoir is almost certainly a wise one. A dam that resulted in so many further divides within an already weakening federation could serve no useful purpose at all.

In the IDP situation too, the ethnic realities are visible everywhere, and not just in Sindh. In NWFP, hundreds of people have opened up homes to the nearly two million people displaced from the war-hit areas. Keys to unused homes or rooms that lie empty have been handed over to IDPs in many places. In Punjab, in Sindh and indeed in Balochistan, the misery of the displaced is just as visible. The TV images beam in just as they do in the Frontier. The appeals for help are heard everywhere. But the generosity of spirit seen in the Frontier is in many ways absent. Even though relief goods have been handed over, there has been opposition in parts of Punjab to the location of IDP camps close to their residences and the provincial government itself seems somewhat confused about the issue.

Nowhere though are the ethnic tensions more visible than in Balochistan. The reports of schools which no longer play the national anthem or isolated incidents in which the Pakistan flag was reportedly burnt are the latest unpleasant indications of this. They have quite naturally created a wave of shocked anger. There is speculation that a military operation may be conducted against nationalists in Balochistan, possibly after the Taliban have been overcome. This, in the minds of some, would be a straightforward continuation of the bid to regain 'lost' territory. But there is a need, before any such action is begun, to contemplate all the angles. The events in Balochistan are extremely unfortunate; indeed tragic. But they are tied in to perceptions regarding an unjust federal policy to the province over many decades. It is this problem, which lies at the heart of the anger we now see in Balochistan, which needs in one way or the other to be addressed. Military manoeuvres will not achieve this, even if they succeed in temporarily snuffing out nationalist passions by adding to the growing list of those killed for their struggle in this cause. In time, such action will fuel only greater resentment and still more hatred. It must be avoided.

The ethnic issue then has come to dominate more and more elements of life within the state. The manner in which it is being used in the IDP issue is especially disturbing. What we need to do at this point is to step outside our state – metaphorically and not physically – and take a look at it from something of a distance. What we have is increasingly divided communities and a huge distance between people in various parts of the country. The distance is represented too by differences in culture, in language in modes of thought. It is senseless to try and eliminate these differences. That has not worked in the past; it will not work now. What we need to do is to create a greater sense of the whole, of unity – to use a cliche – by accepting differences and learning to embrace them as a source of strength and not a weakness.

It may of course take a generation, perhaps even more, for this to happen. But the attempt to build togetherness needs to start in the present, so that we indeed have a future. This can happen only by looking into the past. There are many in the country quite genuinely mystified by the war-crimes-trials process on in Bangladesh. This aims to try, after three and a half decades, those guilty of crimes committed in the then East Pakistan during its struggle for independence which culminated in 1971 in the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh. Although the proceedings, for which Bangladesh will be assisted by the UN, involves persons in Pakistan and also Bangladesh, Islamabad has feigned a kind of distant indifference, insisting this is an 'internal matter' of Bangladesh. This is not the case. The affair involves Pakistan and opens up many questions as to its past. 

These are questions we need to face up to; to confront head on. Only by doing so can meet the challenges we face today and ensure that we emerge from the process as a stronger nation rather than one in which there is a constant pull in different directions, threatening to weaken the basic structure itself.