Pakistan has recently been featured in the international press for various reasons; first there was the visit of US President Bush to Islamabad and then it was Pakistan’s desire to sign a gas pipeline deal with Iran despite intense US pressure not to do so. A lot of things will impact the survival of Pakistan and directly affect its people. As an overview we see that the effects of 911 terror attacks were like an eruption of a major volcano, and although the incident has become part of history now, the geo-political power balance has still not achieved its balance. The incident provided US a reason to enter Afghanistan and overthrow the Taliban government. It also became a major reason to attack Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussain. In the latter case, the occupation resulted in the destruction of the social and ethnic balance of Iraq, and now, the country might break-up in three pieces. In this article we will try to sketch the history of Iraq as an example from which Pakistan can learn and chalk out a course of action to survive as a country.
The Ottoman Empire’s decision to side with imperialist Germany in the First World War became the final straw in its weak edifice and it fell into pieces. The Ottoman Empire controlled a large part of the Arab Muslim regions including present day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Saudi Arabia. During the war, allied forces occupied much of the Ottoman territory including Turkey. This gave rise to a Turkish liberation movement under the leadership of Mustapha Kamal Attaturk. The latter was a nationalist and wanted to get rid of impoverished Arab regions to focus more on the development of the Turkish people. If he had knowledge of the hidden treasures under those sun dunes he might have decided otherwise. Since the English, who were leading the allied forces, were also not aware of the oil wealth under these lands, they decided to rule these regions through proxy rulers and carved out countries that still exist on the world map.
Iraq, formerly known as Mesopotamia, consists of an Arab majority as well as a large population of Kurds in its border regions with Turkey and Iran. The US occupation of Iraq disturbed the precarious balance between these communities and created a dynamo that is slowing moving towards full-fledged civil war. In these pages we predicted in August 2004 that Iraq would be divided into three separate regions with Southern Shiite majority, Northern Kurdish region and a small landlocked Sunni region. And, also that most of the oil riches would go to Shiite and Kurdish control regions, which would create a constant security issue which would become a reason for the US military to extend its stay in Iraq. On the other hand, this would also become a first step in the polarization of Turkey and Iran, countries that have struggled with Kurdish separatist movements. Iraqi Kurds with financial resources derived from oil wealth could start financing the Kurds’ separatist movements in these two countries.
The example of Iraq should open the eyes of Pakistani politicians and policy makers where ethnic divisions were played in favor of western interest to divide the country to make it easier to control. In the Muslim world, Pakistan is the third largest country behind Indonesia and Bangladesh. But in terms of military strength Pakistan is the leading Muslim country with nuclear capability. The movement of Pakistan was based on religious definition of a nation where religious practices were considered culturally unique to create a common bond between the people. But the reality is that once the objective of liberation from English power was achieved, the ethnic divisions became prominent. External forces that do not consider a strong Pakistan in their favor as well as our military rulers who wanted to keep the nation divided to ensure their control further fueled these ethnic divisions.
Recently a group of Sindhi and Balochi protestors waged a rally in front of the Pakistan Consulate in Houston to protest against the Kala Bagh dam. I had a chance to speak to some of the leaders present on that occasion. I asked them why are they agitating in a foreign country when their issue was a domestic one? Their reply was that they consider themselves a separate nation and the current policies of the military government borders a situation that is similar to genocide. I also asked them if they don’t want big dams to be built on rivers then what is the alternate solution? They said they didn’t need any dams on their rivers. They held placards highlighting issues like, rights for women, employment for youth and improvement in law and order. Why they considered these issues relevant to Sindh and Balochistan and not of the whole of Pakistan? To this I didn’t get a single reply worth mentioning here.
The current situation in Pakistan is, in part, due to the creation of its provinces on ethnic grounds. In many smaller countries, like France, Germany, Belgium, the provinces formed on the basis of population. We should create more provinces to better manage the needs of the people rather than give rise to ethnic definition of a province. Leaders of separatist/ethnic movements like ANP, Jiya Sindh and MQM should realize that division of Pakistan would also jeopardize the interests of their own ethnic group as it will be very difficult for these states to be economically viable. It is in our common interest, and imperative to our survival as a nation, to remain banded together and create our own unique Pakistani identity.
We also need to give up the national policy of recognizing four different linguistic and cultural presences of communities. Each individual can identify himself/herself with a particular ethnic group or a caste but it should not be a national policy. We should also create a think tank to define what does being a Pakistani mean and how we should define ourselves among the global community of nations.
Dr. Manzoor Ahmed, during my recent meeting with him, mentioned that many leaders in Balochistan and NWFP are his old students and they are sensible, educated people. The Government should initiate a dialogue with them and understand the root cause of their grievances instead of handling it with a bayonet. It is obvious from our last 65 years of history that military rulers have failed the nation miserably. It is also creating a slow dissent between the nation and military establishment, which could result in a civil war. General Musharraf, instead of considering himself the savior of the nation should do his national duty of holding a fair and free elections and pass on the responsibility of the government to elected representatives of the people. In the first few elections the corrupt and self-interested individuals might get elected but as people understand the power of the vote they will start electing qualified and sincere leaders as has happened in other democracies. Pakistan is facing a period of turmoil in the region squashed between two large regional players India and China. We need to take hold of our destiny and create an internal harmony as a stepping-stone for political and economic stability. If we fail to do so, we will face the same destiny Iraq is facing today where it is on the brink of being broken into parts because of its ethnic divisions.
Survival of Pakistan Pakistan has recently been f…
March 22, 2006 at 4:25 pm · Filed under Political Commentary
Survival of Pakistan
Pakistan has recently been featured in the international press for various reasons; first there was the visit of US President Bush to Islamabad and then it was Pakistan’s desire to sign a gas pipeline deal with Iran despite intense US pressure not to do so.
A lot of things will impact the survival of Pakistan and directly affect its people. As an overview we see that the effects of 911 terror attacks were like an eruption of a major volcano, and although the incident has become part of history now, the geo-political power balance has still not achieved its balance. The incident provided US a reason to enter Afghanistan and overthrow the Taliban government. It also became a major reason to attack Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussain. In the latter case, the occupation resulted in the destruction of the social and ethnic balance of Iraq, and now, the country might break-up in three pieces.
In this article we will try to sketch the history of Iraq as an example from which Pakistan can learn and chalk out a course of action to survive as a country.
The Ottoman Empire’s decision to side with imperialist Germany in the First World War became the final straw in its weak edifice and it fell into pieces. The Ottoman Empire controlled a large part of the Arab Muslim regions including present day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Saudi Arabia. During the war, allied forces occupied much of the Ottoman territory including Turkey. This gave rise to a Turkish liberation movement under the leadership of Mustapha Kamal Attaturk. The latter was a nationalist and wanted to get rid of impoverished Arab regions to focus more on the development of the Turkish people. If he had knowledge of the hidden treasures under those sun dunes he might have decided otherwise. Since the English, who were leading the allied forces, were also not aware of the oil wealth under these lands, they decided to rule these regions through proxy rulers and carved out countries that still exist on the world map.
Iraq, formerly known as Mesopotamia, consists of an Arab majority as well as a large population of Kurds in its border regions with Turkey and Iran. The US occupation of Iraq disturbed the precarious balance between these communities and created a dynamo that is slowing moving towards full-fledged civil war. In these pages we predicted in August 2004 that Iraq would be divided into three separate regions with Southern Shiite majority, Northern Kurdish region and a small landlocked Sunni region. And, also that most of the oil riches would go to Shiite and Kurdish control regions, which would create a constant security issue which would become a reason for the US military to extend its stay in Iraq. On the other hand, this would also become a first step in the polarization of Turkey and Iran, countries that have struggled with Kurdish separatist movements. Iraqi Kurds with financial resources derived from oil wealth could start financing the Kurds’ separatist movements in these two countries.
The example of Iraq should open the eyes of Pakistani politicians and policy makers where ethnic divisions were played in favor of western interest to divide the country to make it easier to control. In the Muslim world, Pakistan is the third largest country behind Indonesia and Bangladesh. But in terms of military strength Pakistan is the leading Muslim country with nuclear capability. The movement of Pakistan was based on religious definition of a nation where religious practices were considered culturally unique to create a common bond between the people. But the reality is that once the objective of liberation from English power was achieved, the ethnic divisions became prominent. External forces that do not consider a strong Pakistan in their favor as well as our military rulers who wanted to keep the nation divided to ensure their control further fueled these ethnic divisions.
Recently a group of Sindhi and Balochi protestors waged a rally in front of the Pakistan Consulate in Houston to protest against the Kala Bagh dam. I had a chance to speak to some of the leaders present on that occasion. I asked them why are they agitating in a foreign country when their issue was a domestic one? Their reply was that they consider themselves a separate nation and the current policies of the military government borders a situation that is similar to genocide. I also asked them if they don’t want big dams to be built on rivers then what is the alternate solution? They said they didn’t need any dams on their rivers. They held placards highlighting issues like, rights for women, employment for youth and improvement in law and order. Why they considered these issues relevant to Sindh and Balochistan and not of the whole of Pakistan? To this I didn’t get a single reply worth mentioning here.
The current situation in Pakistan is, in part, due to the creation of its provinces on ethnic grounds. In many smaller countries, like France, Germany, Belgium, the provinces formed on the basis of population. We should create more provinces to better manage the needs of the people rather than give rise to ethnic definition of a province. Leaders of separatist/ethnic movements like ANP, Jiya Sindh and MQM should realize that division of Pakistan would also jeopardize the interests of their own ethnic group as it will be very difficult for these states to be economically viable. It is in our common interest, and imperative to our survival as a nation, to remain banded together and create our own unique Pakistani identity.
We also need to give up the national policy of recognizing four different linguistic and cultural presences of communities. Each individual can identify himself/herself with a particular ethnic group or a caste but it should not be a national policy. We should also create a think tank to define what does being a Pakistani mean and how we should define ourselves among the global community of nations.
Dr. Manzoor Ahmed, during my recent meeting with him, mentioned that many leaders in Balochistan and NWFP are his old students and they are sensible, educated people. The Government should initiate a dialogue with them and understand the root cause of their grievances instead of handling it with a bayonet. It is obvious from our last 65 years of history that military rulers have failed the nation miserably. It is also creating a slow dissent between the nation and military establishment, which could result in a civil war. General Musharraf, instead of considering himself the savior of the nation should do his national duty of holding a fair and free elections and pass on the responsibility of the government to elected representatives of the people. In the first few elections the corrupt and self-interested individuals might get elected but as people understand the power of the vote they will start electing qualified and sincere leaders as has happened in other democracies.
Pakistan is facing a period of turmoil in the region squashed between two large regional players India and China. We need to take hold of our destiny and create an internal harmony as a stepping-stone for political and economic stability. If we fail to do so, we will face the same destiny Iraq is facing today where it is on the brink of being broken into parts because of its ethnic divisions.
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