Kamila Hyat
The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor
The violent opposition in Sindh to the presence of IDPs in the province is a shocking reminder of the divisions that have effectively fractured society.
The MQM and Sindhi nationalist parties have united forces to oppose the entry of the IDPs to the province. The essential humanitarian element of their situation has been lost amidst the blinding hate inspired by ethnic factors, which has during the past few months already triggered episodes of mayhem in Karachi. The inter-connections between different parts of a country which make it one nation rather than a collection of isolated portions of territory have been lost.
There are many aspects to this issue that now confront us head on. The ethnic issue has played a part in creating a situation where only 38 per cent of NWFP and the adjacent FATA areas, according to a map put out by the BBC, are under the control of the Pakistan government. The Taliban have in many places used ethnicity almost as much as religion to establish their grip. Others too confuse the issue with notions of a ‘tribal’ Pakhtun culture and ‘tradition’, ignoring the fact that for the most part the militants of Baitullah Mehsud or Maulana Fazlullah are opposed by tribal leaders who previously held almost undisputed sway in the same areas. Neither offers a solution to the problems of people who essentially seek a greater role in the making of decisions about their own destiny.
The extent to which ethnic issues determine what happens in the state is evidenced too by the matter of the Kalabagh Dam. The minister for water and power has now re-affirmed the project has been scrapped, and says that the decision in this respect is final. This announcement will create some dissent in Punjab. The whole matter has become one of provinces pulling in opposite direction; it has also become one of pride rather than good sense. Amidst this tussle, it has become impossible to look objectively at the dam and its possible developmental benefits. It is possible that it may have brought some. But the fact is that the ethnic friction it created was so damaging, pitching groups of people against each other, that the decision to abandon the reservoir is almost certainly a wise one. A dam that resulted in so many further divides within an already weakening federation could serve no useful purpose at all.
In the IDP situation too, the ethnic realities are visible everywhere, and not just in Sindh. In NWFP, hundreds of people have opened up homes to the nearly two million people displaced from the war-hit areas. Keys to unused homes or rooms that lie empty have been handed over to IDPs in many places. In Punjab, in Sindh and indeed in Balochistan, the misery of the displaced is just as visible. The TV images beam in just as they do in the Frontier. The appeals for help are heard everywhere. But the generosity of spirit seen in the Frontier is in many ways absent. Even though relief goods have been handed over, there has been opposition in parts of Punjab to the location of IDP camps close to their residences and the provincial government itself seems somewhat confused about the issue.
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