The historic Resolution of March 1940 leaves no ambiguity whatsoever about the structural foundation of the state of Pakistan determining clearly that it would be a federation comprising all the north-western Muslim majority states. Although Bengali Muslims were in the lead in the movement for Pakistan, Sindh in this part of the Subcontinent was the first Muslim majority state which passed a resolution in its Legislative Assembly on March 3, 1943 to join the new Federation. Thus, Sindh was the first state to lay the foundation of Pakistan. The other federating units just followed as the date for independence drew closer. Our litmus test then lied in the task of nation building which we, as a nation, miserably failed. The Partition of British India did not envisage transfer of population. The massive migration was the consequence of the communal animosity between the two major communities of the Sub continent. The people of Sindh displayed greater humanity, hospitality and generosity to welcome the displaced Muslims from all the corners of India. Their spirit of sacrifice was exemplary in the recent human history and reminded us of the brotherhood displayed by the Ansars of Medina. However, their feelings of brotherhood were not reciprocated. The leaders taking power in the new country did not listen to the sound counsel of the local leadership to settle a reasonable number of migrants that the meager resources of the province could sustain or which should not cause a population imbalance. To keep their vote base intact, the MQM leadership promoted a discourse that a new province might be carved out of Sindh to accommodate the sons of the so called makers of Pakistan. What a frivolous argument On this issue, four provincial governments from 1947-to 1955 were arbitrarily dismissed. Karachi, the capital of Sindh, was declared as a Federal city just after the independence. Later, the province was merged into the One-Unit in 1954. We committed repeated blunders in nation building. To compensate the migrants for the loss of property in their native towns in India, an evacuee trust property scheme was introduced declaring the properties – both urban dwellings and agricultural lands left behind by the migrating Hindus as evacuee trust property for allotment to the migrants. Within no time, the scheme acquired notoriety in deceit, fraud, forgery and corruption. These allotments continued from 1948 well through the One-Unit years. Besides, 15% quota in all the federal and provincial jobs, postings and promotions was fixed for the migrants. When Karachi was made a federal city, a separate quota of 2% of jobs was allocated to it which actually went to the migrants from 1947 to 1954. The Sindhis put up a heroic resistance to the declaration of Karachi as a federal city to chagrin of the federal authority. Later, they carried out a sustained movement against the One-Unit and the relegation of their well developed language to the status of a regional dialect dispossessing it of all official transactions of the provincial and divisional administrations and local governments. Their struggle is part of the short history of Pakistan. The provinces were restored before the general elections of 1970. The migrants, in majority, supported the religious parties which took most of the National Assembly seats from Karachi and Hyderabad. These parties supported the unanimous adoption of the 1973 Constitution. Frankly speaking, the migrants felt, for the first time after 25 years of independence, the disadvantages of their conscious decision of remaining aloof from the majority population in the province. Before they were just busy in enjoying perks of power as they occupied the majority of the powerful posts in the provincial administrative structure. The data of the postings against powerful positions from 1948-to 1954, and 1955-1969 in Sindh bears testimony to this reality. The fact is they insulated themselves from the emerging political trends aligning their political future with the not-so-relevant parties. Notwithstanding their past mistakes, they preferred to live in political isolation instead of accepting the new political and demographic realities. Their political frustration was exploited by dictator Zia ul Haq. He sowed the seeds of ethnic division in the province to neutralize the Bhutto’s support base in Sindh by generously abetting the establishment of the MQM in the urban centres of the province. The MQM played havoc with the peace and tranquility of Karachi and Hyderabad. They remained active partners in power in different periods – 1988, 1991, 2002 to 2008. They ruled Karachi and Hyderabad like an absolute King during the Musharraf regime shutting it down frequently on frivolous grounds and blatantly indulging in bloodshed, extortion, targeted killings, arson and torture. To keep their vote base intact, the MQM leadership promoted a discourse that a new province might be carved out of Sindh to accommodate the sons of the so called makers of Pakistan. What a frivolous argument. The makers of Pakistan made it in the lands of Bengalis, Sindhis, Punjabis, Pathans and Balochs instead of their native towns in India. One more ridiculous argument they prefer is that the new province may comprise the ‘abandoned or evacueed Sindh’. Which abandoned or evacueed Sindh, gentlemen? You took all the evacuee properties of migrating Hindus from 1948-1969. This is an extreme of political frustration – or irrational political behaviour. Now this ridiculous chorus has been joined by a Karachite trader. Maybe, this gentleman was happy with the frequency of mayhems perpetrated in the Metropolis just a few years ago subjecting its residents to untold miseries. We cannot figure out a Sindh without Karachi – a body with its head chopped off, a land dispossessed of its historical heritage, of its centuries-old links with the Arabian Sea, of its economic, financial and industrial hub, of its literary and intellectual epitome. Sindhis will not accept this nor do they want to reincarnate the bloodletting of 1988, 1990s and 2007. Sindhis have given immense sacrifices in their evolutionary history to preserve the territorial integrity of their land, and their struggles of the past two centuries are witness to it. We must keep this in mind before causing another grave setback to the national harmony out of any political selfishness. To be concluded] The writer was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books