Daily Times

It is painful to see the second largest federating constituent of the federation of Pakistan – Sindh to be at loggerheads with the Government of Pakistan. The past two consecutive PPP administrations in the province have been unhappy with the central authority irrespective of its political complexion. Its differences with the PTI federal regime have been more tendentious. The pertinent question that comes to mind is whether the displeasure of Sindh with the Federation has persistently self perpetuating political and economic reasons or it is politically motivated controversy skillfully crafted by the wily politicians to refurbish their dwindling political fortunes. To redress this muddle, one has to delve a bit in the history of Pakistan and the administrative and political steps taken to build a nation out of the historically, culturally, linguistically and ethnically heterogeneous national as well as political entities that came to constitute the territorial bounds of the new country.

We had a geographically unique country and culturally a unique nation. We had the East Bengal, effectively separated from the western part of Pakistan by 1000 miles. What formed the western part of the country were the four politically, culturally and ethnically diverse national entities known as NWFP, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. These national entities, in the pursuit of shared political aspirations, joined hands in the struggle for independence both from the colonial power and the perpetual political and economic domination of the majority community in the united India. These shared political aspirations should have formed the bedrock of the Pakistani nation seeking unity in diversity with sufficient autonomy to the components of the federation to develop their territories, cultures and languages and, in the process, create a rainbow of Pakistani culture.

We, unfortunately, failed to understand the formidable challenges inherent in the task of nation building. The perspective of the leadership who took over the country after independence was at odds with the local political leadership. They came with preconceived suppositions about the lands that were giving birth to Pakistan. The new leadership fell to the temptation of an easy and quick solution of the problems facing the Federation in nation building by force or legal and political chicanery than the long process of political consultations, elections, constitution making and economic integration. Sindh was far distant from the communal frenzy that gripped both the nations across the divide resulting in the unprecedented plunder of property and loss of human life particularly across the borders of Punjab. However, the angry immigrants pouring in Karachi rioted and attacked the religious precincts of the Hindus in the city in early 1948 that triggered the exodus of Hindus.

The intensification of the tendentious differences between Sindh and the Central Authority in this critical war against the killer virus is not only disturbing; it is going to weaken our national endeavour to successfully contain the devastation by the covid-19

The provincial government of Ayub Khuhro was dismissed when he dared to resist the massive induction of immigrants in the Metropolis and the separation of Karachi from Sindh. The next blow to the autonomy of Sindh was its forcible merger in the One-Unit. Though disqualified for any public office under EBDO, Ayub Khuhro was brought as the henchman of the Federation at the helm of the province to bulldoze the resolution for merger of Sindh into One-Unit. He did so earning the permanent sobriquet of ‘traitor of Sindh’ for the rest of his political life. The provinces regained their erstwhile position after the abolition of the One-Unit Scheme by the Yahya regime in 1969. We lost the bigger wing of the Jinnah’s Pakistan in December 1971.

The Constitution of the new Pakistan adopted the formula of the distribution of resources from the central pool among the federating constituents on the basis of population – and not on the basis of territory as it was in vogue in the erstwhile Pakistan to maintain parity with the majority Bengalis. The Constitution provided the forum of the Council of Common Interests to safeguard the rights of the smaller provinces. However, the decisions taken in the Council of Common Interests were followed only until Z.A. Bhutto was in power. In the subsequent decades, the bigger province never followed the decisions taken in the Council of Common Interests. The water accords between Punjab and Sindh signed prior to the partition or later were never acted upon to ensure the genuine share of Sindh in the Indus waters. Even the formation of IRSA and the installation of telemeters did not alleviate the situation. Similarly, there have been question marks on Sindh’s share in jobs in the federal ministries, corporations and auxiliary departments, gas and oil, and federally funded development schemes. The nationalist Sindhis protesting against such injustice have been facing the brunt of the coercive power of the state

The intensification of the tendentious differences between Sindh and the Central Authority in this critical war against the killer virus is not only disturbing; it is going to weaken our national endeavour to successfully contain the devastation by the covid-19. The PPP administration is giving the impression that the central authority has been neglecting the province in the distribution of aid and assistance received in kind and cash from friendly countries and international institutions, and in the federal poverty alleviation Schemes including the cash support under Ehsas Program. It seems the Sindh Government is also not getting along well with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

Though the provincial authorities received consignments of N-95 masks and covid-19 testing kits from the federal authority weeks ago, they returned the consignment of 22,000 testing kits claiming these were defective. The same testing kits, as claimed by a Federal Minister, were being efficiently used by the other provinces. Though the PPP administration in Sindh has been on loggerheads with the previous federal regime of PML (N), the differences between the Government of Sindh and the PTI regime on various issues have been more pronounced particularly in this trying hour of national tribulation. Come on, Mr. Prime Minister; do not allow petty political considerations to hamper your resolve for national salvation. You will look taller by holding the hands of your friends and political foes while waving to your jubilant nation.

The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books