Ethnic Groups in Pakistan

Since its birth, Pakistan has been home to various multi-ethnic societies and groups in all its provinces. The activities of these groups have had varying impact on the political history of Pakistan. This paper analyses the impact of the Sindhi ethnic society (also known as the "Jeeya Sindh movement") on the political history of Pakistan during the 1970s. I then provide a critique of the government's response to the demands of these movements and then suggest my opinion as to how the government should have reacted so as to have a better outcome.

At the creation of Pakistan, a large number Mohajirs migrated from India and settled in to Sindh. From 1947 to 1951 nearly 1 million Mohajirs settled into Sindh (Rais, Rasul Buksh). They had also gained majorities in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas and Nawabshah(Kardar,1992). As time passed Mohajirs dominated the business and bureaucracy in the region. According to the 1981 census, the Sindhis made up 55% of the total population of Sindh and mohajirs were second with a share of 24% (Pakistan,1981). In 1973 more than 30% of the top bureaucracy belonged to the mohajir origin in pakistan (Government Of Pakistan,1973). The above information shows that the Mohajirs were very much taking over the province of Sindh, in natural reaction to that, the Sindhis worked as a strong ethnic group to safeguard their rights and very much their existence in their own province.

Though there are many reasons for the Sindhi ethno nationalist movements, the Sindhi clash with the Mohajirs was one of the main causes for activity during the 1970s. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came into power in 1971. Due to extreme pressure from the Sindhi people (Bhutto who himself was Sindhi) he adopted a very pro Sindhi style for the initial period of his rule. One major political impact of the Sindhi ethno-nationalist movement was the introduction of quota system in Sindh. According to this system, the government created urban and rural categories and allocated jobs according to their numbers. This was meant to obviously mean to protect the interests of the Sindhis and was not only confined to the government jobs but was also extended to admissions to professional institutions like engineering and medical colleges (Rais, Rasul Buksh).

To please the Sindhi's further, Bhutto made Sindhi the national language of the province and made it compulsory from fourth to twelfth grade in all schools (Rais, Rasul Buksh). All the se steps were a result of growing Sindhi nationalism and as a result of these steps Sindh saw a drastic political impact when the PPP was overwhelmingly favored by the rural Sindhis and all candidates of the Sindhu Awami Mahaz were defeated who previously dominated the politics of Sindh (Rais, Rasul Buksh).

The Sindhi nationalist movement also had considerable indirect impacts that are of great importance to the history of Pakistan. The rise of Sindhi nationalism also gave the initiative for other ethnic groups to rise in order to safeguard their interests. One main area where this impact can be seen is the rise of the Mohajirs (who were the main group being affected by the Sindhi nationalist movements during the 1970) who eventually ended up making MQM which is the main driving force behind the Mohajir ethnicity and has been dominating elections in Hyderabad and Karachi for many years (Rais, Rasul Buksh).

As the Sindhi nationalist movement triggered other ethnic groups in the country, the entire population got divided into smaller groups, all working towards the safeguard of their own interests, which left the so called nation broken into pieces. This later resulted in the creation of PONAM( Pakistans Oppressed Nationals Movement) (K. Singh. Sukhbir ). Once these ethnic movements took shape, it took very less time for them to transform into political parties. This had to different outcomes, groups with similar interests joined together to become stronger parties. During this process they also learned to co operate with each other and settle differences within themselves. The other outcome of formation of groups was that due to difference