Politics of Ethnicity – Pashtuns in Sindh
By Anmol Shiraz
Once again ethnic disturbance emerged in Sindh over the alleged murder of a young boy by Afghani restauranteurs which led to a huge conflict between Sindhis and Pashtuns. The murdered Bilal Kaka was associated with Pak Sarzameen Party; hence many political parties are trying to associate his killing with an ethnic or nationality conflict. Whereas Sindhi nationalist workers and the party itself strongly condemned the brutal killing and objected not mould the incident towards any ethnic complex.
Ethnic polarisation in Sindh has been deep-rooted in history which first embarked in 1952 during the procession of Youm-Ashura between Urdu and Sindhi-speaking natives which led to an inferno at the police station. Another massive incident from the chapters of history occurred between Sindhi and Urdu-speaking residents when the bill passed in 1972 mentioned the promotion of the Sindhi language. A newspaper baffled the situation with goading headlines towards marginalising Urdu, which acclaimed many innocent lives throughout Hyderabad and Karachi. Experts also trace the set pattern of ethnic violence in Sindh to the plan of settling Pashtuns in Karachi by General Ayub Khan, which led to the sense of insecurity and deprivation amongst the locals of Sindh. In 1985 again a colossal event occurred when a college student Bushra Zaidi got assassinated in a traffic accident in Karachi. This unfortunate incident ignited one of the lethal waves of ethnic violence ever as the bus driver was a Pashtun. It sparked the sense of a riot of Muhajir nationalism, the situation was terrible until the army was called in. Throughout this span, ethnic conflicts continued but from 1989 – 1990 clashes occurred between the PPP and MQM aligned student federation, People Student Federation and All Pakistan Muhajir Student Organisation which was a planned political strategy, to cope with the ongoing riots once the armed forces were called in to reinstate the peace.
Whereas, Pashtuns make up to 25% of Karachi’s population and are said to be the second largest ethnicity after the Muhajirs. Pashtuns have played a major role in all walks of the socio-political structure of Sindh. While flipping the pages of history, the immense acquaintance between Saeen G.M. Syed and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan also known as Bacha Khan can be seen. Karachi is the economic hub of the country and a rock stone in the national political sphere for the last seven decades. Critics of current affairs have observed the recent ethnic violation has been fuelled more by political parties and greater advantages have been targeted. The cacophony has been created by the workers of national political parties, in an urge to grab Pashtun votes.
It is paramount to mention here that Karachi possesses the highest ethnic and religious pluralism in the country. The political parties should reconsider their opinion-making positions and avoid political divides on basis of ethnic differences, especially between PPP, MQM and PTI. In reality, Sindh is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-sectarian domain above ethno-political polarization. And to debunk all the claims and accusations it is time for prominent leaders of Pashtuns and Sindhis to call together a conference or a jirga to settle the ethnic clashes through a dialogue. Sufficient people on both sides are there to find a solution but if their workers and supporters unilaterally flame up the issue and start attacking each other will further push Pakistan and both ethnicities into a black hole.
