April 15, 2010

What's In A Name?


There used to be a time when Punjabis lived in Punjab, Sindhis lived in Sindh, Baluchis lived in Baluchistan, Kashmiris lived in Kashmir, and Pashtun and Hazarawal lived in Afhania (NWFP, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, or whatever you wanna call it). THOSE TIMES ARE LONG GONE. This is what the majority of the Pakistani population fails to understand. Ever since the partition, people of different ethnicities have moved across ethnic borders to test their luck and improve their standards of living in the newly formed Pakistan. They thus created a new identity for themselves; Pakistani. There is not a single province today which is home only a single ethnicity; All are mixed. More than 62 years ago, The Muslims of south asia promised to come together and unite under a new Muslim nation, they have yet to fulfill their promise. Today, They are fighting over renaming and creating new provinces to represent themselves, but they fail to realize the only representation they actually need is Pakistani. The name of a province does not mean squat these days and neither will it in the future. It has no benefit yet only negative effects. It will make the smaller ethnicities within the province seem suppressed and overpowered, which will eventually cause chaos in the streets. The whole idea of renaming/creating a province on ethnic bounds really does not make sense in today's Pakistan. For example, the most populated province is Punjab. That doesn't mean every one living in Punjab is Punjabi. There are vast amount of Kashmiris in the north, and as a result of the ongoing war; vast amount of Pashtuns located all over the province. We have to recognize ourselves as Pakistani and not as anything else. Actions like renaming provinces will only divide us amongst ourselves. If you don't believe me then look around and see all the unnecessary violence that is going on. Damage of public property, hundreds injured, as well as some lives have been lost because of protests. Is it really worth it? What i don't get in the first place is why do the Pashtuns need Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and why is there a need for a Hazara or Seraiki province? Why can't all these groups live as Pakistani? Renaming or creating a province isn't going to bring even a slight change in their daily lives. It's not like the anyone of those groups are going to live in the proposed provinces they are fighting each other for anyway. My bet is that each and everyone of them are going to either going to stay in Punjab or Sindh. The renaming of the province is not even in the benefit of the people. How do i know? Because it is all political. Political parties love to fight for a cause with no meaning in it. Political groups within the nation are fighting to extend their power within other ranks. Renaming the province is their tactic but it was as worthless to the common man as the 18th amendment. For them the average man's life is a joke. If you think they actually care about you then ask yourself; where is my electricity? Where is my atta (flour)? Where is my gas? When you get the answers then ask yourself: Why in the world am i supporting them (the political parties) in these pointless moves?

[Image: © dawn.com]

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