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| pristina fonts graffiti |
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Osama: Dead or brought to life?
The covert operation to kill Bin Laden in the idyllic hill station and military town Abbotabad exposes the double-standards of both USA and the Pakistani military
“A middle-aged nonentity, a political failure outstripped by history – by the millions of Arabs demanding freedom and democracy in the Middle East – died in Pakistan yesterday. And then the world went mad.”
– Robert Fisk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bin Laden was dead. And then an attack in Abbotabad gave him life.
The last time they announced he had died there was nothing thrilling about his death. And nothing mysterious, nothing bizarre either. It was, as it were, a rather anti-climactic end to the man’s life. It was a death that no one was going to remember.
This death, however, is something different. It has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood movie – or, indeed, a grand conspiracy. In fact it is likely both shall be made out of it. Rather – both versions are already in the pipeline.
‘Justice has been done,’ Obama said.
‘Justice was not done,’ we must bravely stand up and remind him.
The world’s biggest superpower has a beautiful way of doing away with due process and we must not let it flaunt its power. But – with what force shall we be able to resist?
But what if Osama was amongst us:
And what are we to think if Osama was indeed in our midst? What if Osama was indeed housed up in a compound a 10-minute walk away from the PMA Kakul?
And what of the inability of the much-vaunted Pakistani military being unable to trace four unknown helicopters entering such high security territory and able to pull off a 45 minute operation?
It is not absolutely inconceivable that Osama was lodged at the compound in question. The compound features as an anomaly on the landscape of Bilal Town and its residents were said to be rather quiet and distant in their ways.
Let us be more frank about the role of our intelligence agencies: that they did not know is not excusable.
Moreover, it is clear that the CIA did not share information with the ISI fearing a tip off and therefore did not inform them of the operation.
Only lately did reports surface that there were suggestions in the American officialdom that the ISI be categorized as a terrorist organization. One thing is certain, throughout Pakistan’s much maligned history the role of the ISI has been ambivalent. Under the guise of a convoluted ‘doctrine of national security,’ intelligence agencies through political interventions have blocked progressive, democratic movements amongst the Pakistani people.
What we do know is that the military and the intelligence agencies crackdown on their own people more soundly and effectively that it does on external elements. This must come to a STOP. But that said, what is not understandable is why Pakistani leaders and army officials have not asked for public proof of Osama’s death. This is not a conspiracy theorists question, for sure. It is the valid response of an accused: I shall agree I was hiding a wanted man if you show me proof.
The relevant proof of Osama’s death, at this moment, is missing. A ghost has been constructed and found in our living room. No one ever saw him there and, as far as we understand, he shall never be seen again.
But he was there. And our leaders have quietly surrendered to this position.
This is again not to suggest Osama was not the one nabbed in the compound. The statements being attributed to his wife and daughter, now in the custody of the agencies, do appear sound enough and appear to confirm Bin Laden was indeed present in the compound.
And why are they picking up locals now:
And while we do speak of those in military custody it is, again, damning and deeply unacceptable that after Osama was purportedly killed and it was revealed that the Pakistani intelligence agencies were unaware of his being at the compound, locals of Bilal Town have begun to be picked up.
The neighbour, the milkman, the lady health workers, the house contractor are amongst those brought in for questioning. Amongst these the neighbour went missing on Monday night and till the filling of this article remains missing.
This is rather strange that for the intelligence failures of the country’s ‘esteemed’ agencies, locals are being made to suffer.
The matter of Osama’s existence or non-existence in Abbotabad has come to a close. His house was in an area that fell within the Cantonment. Post the event if anyone must be taken to task it is the local SHO and the intelligence officials supposed to maintain intelligence over the region.
Question the military, question the police, question the government. And after you are done, question locals. Locals knew as much, if not less, that what the rest did. Some knew the men in the compound, some did not. It was like any other community. From conversations there, they shared suspicions, but who would have thought, in the middle of Abbotabad, would be hiding the world’s most wanted fugitive.
In any case, this should neither have been the priority of either the neighbour or the milkman when those whose priority it was were sound asleep only a couple of blocks away.
And terrorism is not just confined to Osama:
America was arguably the biggest killer in the 20th century. However, America is definitely the biggest killer in the 21st century. It is a fact that it must be brought to bear the burden for.
And the Pakistani army has its own questions to answer.
Enough is enough, should be our message to both.
We, the people, shall again begin to bear the burden for the double games and failures of the brass. No explanation is enough to explain how, when each of us is inconvenienced every day through ID card checks while entering a cantonment, Osama could be hiding only a 15- minute walk away. And remember: there have been no official denials. No one half-credible has come up to say, ‘no, it was not Osama who died.’
So let us take it as that: Osama was killed, residing comfortably in Abbotabad, and our brass either knew nothing or was protecting him.
The truth of the event is confined to the set of options we have available in those present in the above short sentence. And none of them is acceptable.
The Pakistani response however again steeps in conspiracy theories. Without questioning the military’s role, Imran Khan has splattered onto the scene, asking for an American withdrawal and appears to have found resonance. These are not objective assessments. Criticism today needs to be much more widespread. Right now is the time to end these tamashas.
Let us be brave enough to condemn all three: the Pakistan military, its intelligence agencies and the American government.
And yes let’s speak of ‘real’ things now. The struggles of everyday Pakistanis which are caught up and intermeshed into matters unrelated to their everyday.
And let us be sure this is not the end of terrorism. That requires the end of our agencies’ relationship with militant outfits. As citizens, we are ready. The question is: whether the military is finally ready?
- The article was printed with the Review in Pakistan Today on 7 May 2011.
“A middle-aged nonentity, a political failure outstripped by history – by the millions of Arabs demanding freedom and democracy in the Middle East – died in Pakistan yesterday. And then the world went mad.”
– Robert Fisk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bin Laden was dead. And then an attack in Abbotabad gave him life.
The last time they announced he had died there was nothing thrilling about his death. And nothing mysterious, nothing bizarre either. It was, as it were, a rather anti-climactic end to the man’s life. It was a death that no one was going to remember.
This death, however, is something different. It has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood movie – or, indeed, a grand conspiracy. In fact it is likely both shall be made out of it. Rather – both versions are already in the pipeline.
‘Justice has been done,’ Obama said.
‘Justice was not done,’ we must bravely stand up and remind him.
The world’s biggest superpower has a beautiful way of doing away with due process and we must not let it flaunt its power. But – with what force shall we be able to resist?
But what if Osama was amongst us:
And what are we to think if Osama was indeed in our midst? What if Osama was indeed housed up in a compound a 10-minute walk away from the PMA Kakul?
And what of the inability of the much-vaunted Pakistani military being unable to trace four unknown helicopters entering such high security territory and able to pull off a 45 minute operation?
It is not absolutely inconceivable that Osama was lodged at the compound in question. The compound features as an anomaly on the landscape of Bilal Town and its residents were said to be rather quiet and distant in their ways.
Let us be more frank about the role of our intelligence agencies: that they did not know is not excusable.
Moreover, it is clear that the CIA did not share information with the ISI fearing a tip off and therefore did not inform them of the operation.
Only lately did reports surface that there were suggestions in the American officialdom that the ISI be categorized as a terrorist organization. One thing is certain, throughout Pakistan’s much maligned history the role of the ISI has been ambivalent. Under the guise of a convoluted ‘doctrine of national security,’ intelligence agencies through political interventions have blocked progressive, democratic movements amongst the Pakistani people.
What we do know is that the military and the intelligence agencies crackdown on their own people more soundly and effectively that it does on external elements. This must come to a STOP. But that said, what is not understandable is why Pakistani leaders and army officials have not asked for public proof of Osama’s death. This is not a conspiracy theorists question, for sure. It is the valid response of an accused: I shall agree I was hiding a wanted man if you show me proof.
The relevant proof of Osama’s death, at this moment, is missing. A ghost has been constructed and found in our living room. No one ever saw him there and, as far as we understand, he shall never be seen again.
But he was there. And our leaders have quietly surrendered to this position.
This is again not to suggest Osama was not the one nabbed in the compound. The statements being attributed to his wife and daughter, now in the custody of the agencies, do appear sound enough and appear to confirm Bin Laden was indeed present in the compound.
And why are they picking up locals now:
And while we do speak of those in military custody it is, again, damning and deeply unacceptable that after Osama was purportedly killed and it was revealed that the Pakistani intelligence agencies were unaware of his being at the compound, locals of Bilal Town have begun to be picked up.
The neighbour, the milkman, the lady health workers, the house contractor are amongst those brought in for questioning. Amongst these the neighbour went missing on Monday night and till the filling of this article remains missing.
This is rather strange that for the intelligence failures of the country’s ‘esteemed’ agencies, locals are being made to suffer.
The matter of Osama’s existence or non-existence in Abbotabad has come to a close. His house was in an area that fell within the Cantonment. Post the event if anyone must be taken to task it is the local SHO and the intelligence officials supposed to maintain intelligence over the region.
Question the military, question the police, question the government. And after you are done, question locals. Locals knew as much, if not less, that what the rest did. Some knew the men in the compound, some did not. It was like any other community. From conversations there, they shared suspicions, but who would have thought, in the middle of Abbotabad, would be hiding the world’s most wanted fugitive.
In any case, this should neither have been the priority of either the neighbour or the milkman when those whose priority it was were sound asleep only a couple of blocks away.
And terrorism is not just confined to Osama:
America was arguably the biggest killer in the 20th century. However, America is definitely the biggest killer in the 21st century. It is a fact that it must be brought to bear the burden for.
And the Pakistani army has its own questions to answer.
Enough is enough, should be our message to both.
We, the people, shall again begin to bear the burden for the double games and failures of the brass. No explanation is enough to explain how, when each of us is inconvenienced every day through ID card checks while entering a cantonment, Osama could be hiding only a 15- minute walk away. And remember: there have been no official denials. No one half-credible has come up to say, ‘no, it was not Osama who died.’
So let us take it as that: Osama was killed, residing comfortably in Abbotabad, and our brass either knew nothing or was protecting him.
The truth of the event is confined to the set of options we have available in those present in the above short sentence. And none of them is acceptable.
The Pakistani response however again steeps in conspiracy theories. Without questioning the military’s role, Imran Khan has splattered onto the scene, asking for an American withdrawal and appears to have found resonance. These are not objective assessments. Criticism today needs to be much more widespread. Right now is the time to end these tamashas.
Let us be brave enough to condemn all three: the Pakistan military, its intelligence agencies and the American government.
And yes let’s speak of ‘real’ things now. The struggles of everyday Pakistanis which are caught up and intermeshed into matters unrelated to their everyday.
And let us be sure this is not the end of terrorism. That requires the end of our agencies’ relationship with militant outfits. As citizens, we are ready. The question is: whether the military is finally ready?
- The article was printed with the Review in Pakistan Today on 7 May 2011.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Graphic graffiti design & alphabet letter A-Z
Graphic graffiti design & alphabet letter A-Z.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Graffiti wallpaper 3D kingdom
in my blog is provided by several kinds of patterns in graffiti art. You will feel interested in art and in love with the picture? You can see and visit websites Graffiti alphabet to see this kind of sharing photographs as art Graffiti Alphabet, 3D Digital Arrow Graffiti Alphabet, 3D Digital Graffiti Alphabet, Alphabet Digital Graffiti, Graffiti Sketches, Tags Alphabet Graffiti, Graffiti Art, Graffiti Mural, Graffiti, Graffiti Alphabet Letters, Alphabet Arrow Graffiti, 3D Graffiti, Graffiti Letters, Graffiti Fonts, Graffiti 3D Alphabet, Alphabet in Bubble Letters, Alphabet stencil printing, Letter Graffiti Fonts, Graffiti 3D Wallpaper, Graffiti Alphabet stencils.
Graphic Graffiti.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Simple Tips To draw Graffiti .........?
The first time the art of drawing graffiti letters began in the 60s, during the period between 1971-1974 graffiti art is considered as the era when most of the pioneering work of graffiti, because it is a form of art began to spread and get publicity in the community. but for some young people who like to time it with the world of graffiti, this is a container and the medium used for the through which they can vent their worries in the world they find oppressive, and this is used as a way to rebel against the society that they think is unfair and corrupt.
Technically, the art of graffiti is the work of every kind of art that was made on a building & wall, street, graffiti pictures first began to appear very drastic, who was in New York City, a tool used to create graffiti artwork they usually spray paint or wide tip marker, which is used basically to wake up 'tags', or the name of graffiti writers, and not any art like that. This is done to make themselves known throughout the city. The larger and more colorful they could make their tag, the more attention they get. This gave rise to graffiti 'war' appear, with the artist trying to beat each other in making their tags bolder and bigger. However, after the artists who think graffiti can spray large letters, the style began to make his appearance.
Tagging: graffiti art style used to display some handwriting, and is regarded as lacking in artistic form.
Blockbuster: As the name implies this style, large letter-sized blocks are used.
Wildstyle: graffiti letters weave design.
Throw-Ups: Graffiti images done very quickly using multiple colors.
Bubble Letters: uppercase graffiti written in a style round.
Each style of graffiti can be used to create different types of graffiti:
Hip-Hop Graffiti: Reflecting the African-American culture, this is considered as the most traditional type of graffiti.
Graffiti Challenge: The purpose of this type of graffiti is simply to declare that a person 'here. "
Poster Graffiti: Graffiti is made on a poster that has pictures of people on them.
Aircraft Graffiti: tags Drawing on an airplane, usually on dirt on it.
Tree Graffiti: As is apparent from its name, the graffiti painted or carved on trees.
Invisible Graffiti: Pure graffiti symbolic, such as a logo created on a computer microchip, that although there are, can not be viewed by anyone.
Various media are used to create each type of graffiti. Although graffiti is legitimate and some may go to more established forms of art displays, such as studio and art gallery, purists of this art form argue that the only people who appear on the carriage and the right of public graffiti wall.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Graffiti writing 3D alphabet arrow
Saturday, April 30, 2011
The case for a Seraiki province
The demand of ethno-lingual provinces carries weight – but this shall be where the people’s struggle shall begin
A favourite move amongst novice chess players is, in a moderately dangerous situation, put one’s queen in the firing line of the opposition’s queen, in the hope that they shall shy away. Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif tried to play the move by conceding the Seraiki province but demanding that Karachi be declared a province too.
Little did he realise, in pulling the Karachi ploy, he had no chess piece backing his piece. He conceded, Southern Punjab, his piece without really threatening the other piece. He pulled a poor dummy. And this has accelerated the path towards the creation of a Seraiki province.
But it is not the present political chessboard that we wish to locate our analysis on. We wish to situate it in terms of the history and present of the people’s that inhabit the Seraiki region. It is through such an analysis that we hope to assess the merits and de-merits of the Seraiki province proposal – a proposal that this article, at the outset, concedes that it supports.
But intelligence is to be critically cautious of what one supports – and to be aware of the principles upon which the support is constituted. Thus – this shall be a cautious article geared at arguing for a Seraiki province.
Why divide Punjab?
The Punjab, in terms of both its present and colonial history, has been signified by Lahore and its Northern regions. The past, however, belonged to Multan, Bahawalpur and Uch Sharif. At different nodes in sub-continental history, each of the three was an important cultural and economic centre and a centre of power. With the British re-demarcation of the province of the Punjab, the centrality of these three cities was lost.
In a similar vein, rural South Punjab was subjected to similar neglect. More than neglect, the greatest running grievance has been that development has come but for the migrant only. The local has been neglected. The creation of barrages (Taunsa and Chasma barrage fall in the area) and the carving of canals has displaced locals from their farmland and destroyed lifestyles in harmony with the geography of the region.
During travels in the Seraiki lands after the floods, the idea that the Takht-e-Lahore (throne of Lahore) had been siphoning upto Rs 60 crore per year in revenue generated the region was found articulated. Once when asked to speak at a public forum, this writer had to pun upon himself as a representative of the oppressor to break communicative ground with the audience. Once that ground had been broken, this writer was thrown into the dilemma of what language to speak: Urdu? Punjabi? a mixture of both came out and the stage had to be ceded to a laughing audience.
Why do I narrate this light-hearted story? It is to point out two things. One, that the language spoken is Seraiki. Even though it takes from both Punjabi and Sindhi (Sindhi more dominantly), it constitutes a separate language form. Two, that the idea that Lahore is the oppressor and the Seraiki waseb is the marginalised in widely prevalent and founded upon reality.
The region faces a three-tiered marginalization: economic, political and cultural.
And its oppressor is (northern) Punjab.
A political turn towards the South:
The marginalization of South Punjab exists at a psychological level: when we think about Punjab we think of the Northern parts and Lahore. Multan constitutes our Southern limit.
This limitation on our thought reflects how the region has fared.
However, in recent history, a rising Seraiki nationalism has meant a shift of focus and a political circus in South Punjab.
The PPP (Gilani’s Multan linkage), the PML-Q (Durrani and the electoral loss of Northern Punjab) and the PML-N (with Danish Schools and other hoolahoops) have turned to battle it out for Southern Punjab. This has meant the last six years and more have seen a diversion of funds towards the ‘development’ of Southern Punjab. But, again, it is important to recognize that this diversion only became possible due to the increased disillusionment of the Seraiki people’s from the centre.
However, the PML-N’s true interests lie in Northern Punjab. Only this year did Shahbaz Sharif move a Neuroscience Institute planned for South Punjab to Lahore. It was a matter over which Pervaiz Elahi raised great hue and cry.
Powerful resentment against Lahore brewing in the South meant this other Lahore-based politician had to speak up about the marginalization of the Seraiki peoples for votes.
Restore Bahawalpur or create Seraikistan?
The debate between the restoration of the Bahawalpur province and the creation of a Seraiki province is a debate between the restoration of an administrative (and political) monopoly versus the creation of a cultural unit.
The idea that there is no difference within the Seraiki area is, of course, false – but there is sufficient homogeniety to argue that a united sense of culture does exist. The 1998 census revealed 14 million Seraiki speakers in Pakistan. However, in 2002, Seraiki nationalists claimed 30 million Seraiki speakers.
What we have been arguing for is to offer support to the ethno-lingual province.
And, more than the nostalgic reminiscing which causes Bahawalpuris (including the old Nawab) to crave the restoration of the Bahawalpur province, the case for a Seraiki province lies in the existence of a coherent cultural unit in the present. The demand for a Seraiki province carries little nostalgia – and therefore there is scope for cultural, political and economic and social regeneration.
It is, in fact, due to the potential for social re-generation that ethno-lingual provinces offer a path for the future.
A separate province as a first step:
The creation of a province is not a solution to the economic ills faced by the average inhabitant of South Punjab. What must be realized is that the creation of a province is not a panacea – but a first step.
What it is ensures, however, is surplus previously siphoned off is spent within the Seraiki region. But - will it solve the woes of the common Seraiki worker?
This is a question that I have repeatedly put to my Seraiki activist friends. Their response is to say, “you help us end your oppression, and, we shall wage a struggle against those amongst us who oppress us.” Again, admittedly it is overtly hopeful to suggest that the structural violence within embodied social structures shall be done away with any time soon, but it is hoped that more focused struggles shall become possible with the granting of provincial status.
Impoverishment, it must be understood, operates at a number of levels. In the argument for a Seraiki province, the hope is to get rid of the impoverishment caused by the province and the federation. What Seraiki activists must remember is to wage the next battle against locals causing impoverishment.
This is essential to overturning the transformations in social structure that accentuate everyday oppression.
Thus to give a province to the Seraiki-speaking people shall constitute the removal of the top-tier of marginalization. The struggle against impoverishment of lower classes we must trust them to conduct themselves.
The case for other ethno-lingual provinces:
One of the apprehensions a number of people have is the fear that the federation shall break. The more centralisation, they argue, the more unity and the more likely it is that ‘Pakistan’ shall survive.
This form of thinking is founds itself upon the idea that being Pakistani means that only one identity configuration can be allowed.
This is a flawed rationale.
The history of the Pakistani state, 64 years now for those who have goldfish memories, offers a different lesson. If a State has been unable to take-over indigenous cultures in such a long period of attempting to manipulate society into its own shape, then, it shall not be able to do so in the medium-term future.
That ethno-lingual movements are rife in the Gilgitis and the Hazaras is a fact we must come to terms with. These are movements we must show respect to. Most certainly each movement is mired in specific political interests; but if nothing else these do take origin from a genuine grievance: people feel disrespected by a State that claims to be their own.
There are, however, genuine questions that one may ask of movements demanding ethno-lingual provinces. The most important of these questions is: what about migrants?
Migration to and from the regions demanding ethno-lingual province status has been continuous. In the Seraiki region, Baloch migrants (100-150 years ago) have broadly assimilated. A similar assimilation has been experienced for the early migrants after partition. But similar processes of assimilation have not taken place for later Punjabi and Pakthun migrants. And the question of their place in the Seraiki provinces future remains.
These are valid questions. And while we must concede the demand of ethno-lingual provinces – and the Seraiki province – we must continue to ask these questions from those who shall take the reins of these new provinces.
- The article was printed in The Review with Pakistan Today on May 01, 2011.
A favourite move amongst novice chess players is, in a moderately dangerous situation, put one’s queen in the firing line of the opposition’s queen, in the hope that they shall shy away. Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif tried to play the move by conceding the Seraiki province but demanding that Karachi be declared a province too.
Little did he realise, in pulling the Karachi ploy, he had no chess piece backing his piece. He conceded, Southern Punjab, his piece without really threatening the other piece. He pulled a poor dummy. And this has accelerated the path towards the creation of a Seraiki province.
But it is not the present political chessboard that we wish to locate our analysis on. We wish to situate it in terms of the history and present of the people’s that inhabit the Seraiki region. It is through such an analysis that we hope to assess the merits and de-merits of the Seraiki province proposal – a proposal that this article, at the outset, concedes that it supports.
But intelligence is to be critically cautious of what one supports – and to be aware of the principles upon which the support is constituted. Thus – this shall be a cautious article geared at arguing for a Seraiki province.
Why divide Punjab?
The Punjab, in terms of both its present and colonial history, has been signified by Lahore and its Northern regions. The past, however, belonged to Multan, Bahawalpur and Uch Sharif. At different nodes in sub-continental history, each of the three was an important cultural and economic centre and a centre of power. With the British re-demarcation of the province of the Punjab, the centrality of these three cities was lost.
In a similar vein, rural South Punjab was subjected to similar neglect. More than neglect, the greatest running grievance has been that development has come but for the migrant only. The local has been neglected. The creation of barrages (Taunsa and Chasma barrage fall in the area) and the carving of canals has displaced locals from their farmland and destroyed lifestyles in harmony with the geography of the region.
During travels in the Seraiki lands after the floods, the idea that the Takht-e-Lahore (throne of Lahore) had been siphoning upto Rs 60 crore per year in revenue generated the region was found articulated. Once when asked to speak at a public forum, this writer had to pun upon himself as a representative of the oppressor to break communicative ground with the audience. Once that ground had been broken, this writer was thrown into the dilemma of what language to speak: Urdu? Punjabi? a mixture of both came out and the stage had to be ceded to a laughing audience.
Why do I narrate this light-hearted story? It is to point out two things. One, that the language spoken is Seraiki. Even though it takes from both Punjabi and Sindhi (Sindhi more dominantly), it constitutes a separate language form. Two, that the idea that Lahore is the oppressor and the Seraiki waseb is the marginalised in widely prevalent and founded upon reality.
The region faces a three-tiered marginalization: economic, political and cultural.
And its oppressor is (northern) Punjab.
A political turn towards the South:
The marginalization of South Punjab exists at a psychological level: when we think about Punjab we think of the Northern parts and Lahore. Multan constitutes our Southern limit.
This limitation on our thought reflects how the region has fared.
However, in recent history, a rising Seraiki nationalism has meant a shift of focus and a political circus in South Punjab.
The PPP (Gilani’s Multan linkage), the PML-Q (Durrani and the electoral loss of Northern Punjab) and the PML-N (with Danish Schools and other hoolahoops) have turned to battle it out for Southern Punjab. This has meant the last six years and more have seen a diversion of funds towards the ‘development’ of Southern Punjab. But, again, it is important to recognize that this diversion only became possible due to the increased disillusionment of the Seraiki people’s from the centre.
However, the PML-N’s true interests lie in Northern Punjab. Only this year did Shahbaz Sharif move a Neuroscience Institute planned for South Punjab to Lahore. It was a matter over which Pervaiz Elahi raised great hue and cry.
Powerful resentment against Lahore brewing in the South meant this other Lahore-based politician had to speak up about the marginalization of the Seraiki peoples for votes.
Restore Bahawalpur or create Seraikistan?
The debate between the restoration of the Bahawalpur province and the creation of a Seraiki province is a debate between the restoration of an administrative (and political) monopoly versus the creation of a cultural unit.
The idea that there is no difference within the Seraiki area is, of course, false – but there is sufficient homogeniety to argue that a united sense of culture does exist. The 1998 census revealed 14 million Seraiki speakers in Pakistan. However, in 2002, Seraiki nationalists claimed 30 million Seraiki speakers.
What we have been arguing for is to offer support to the ethno-lingual province.
And, more than the nostalgic reminiscing which causes Bahawalpuris (including the old Nawab) to crave the restoration of the Bahawalpur province, the case for a Seraiki province lies in the existence of a coherent cultural unit in the present. The demand for a Seraiki province carries little nostalgia – and therefore there is scope for cultural, political and economic and social regeneration.
It is, in fact, due to the potential for social re-generation that ethno-lingual provinces offer a path for the future.
A separate province as a first step:
The creation of a province is not a solution to the economic ills faced by the average inhabitant of South Punjab. What must be realized is that the creation of a province is not a panacea – but a first step.
What it is ensures, however, is surplus previously siphoned off is spent within the Seraiki region. But - will it solve the woes of the common Seraiki worker?
This is a question that I have repeatedly put to my Seraiki activist friends. Their response is to say, “you help us end your oppression, and, we shall wage a struggle against those amongst us who oppress us.” Again, admittedly it is overtly hopeful to suggest that the structural violence within embodied social structures shall be done away with any time soon, but it is hoped that more focused struggles shall become possible with the granting of provincial status.
Impoverishment, it must be understood, operates at a number of levels. In the argument for a Seraiki province, the hope is to get rid of the impoverishment caused by the province and the federation. What Seraiki activists must remember is to wage the next battle against locals causing impoverishment.
This is essential to overturning the transformations in social structure that accentuate everyday oppression.
Thus to give a province to the Seraiki-speaking people shall constitute the removal of the top-tier of marginalization. The struggle against impoverishment of lower classes we must trust them to conduct themselves.
The case for other ethno-lingual provinces:
One of the apprehensions a number of people have is the fear that the federation shall break. The more centralisation, they argue, the more unity and the more likely it is that ‘Pakistan’ shall survive.
This form of thinking is founds itself upon the idea that being Pakistani means that only one identity configuration can be allowed.
This is a flawed rationale.
The history of the Pakistani state, 64 years now for those who have goldfish memories, offers a different lesson. If a State has been unable to take-over indigenous cultures in such a long period of attempting to manipulate society into its own shape, then, it shall not be able to do so in the medium-term future.
That ethno-lingual movements are rife in the Gilgitis and the Hazaras is a fact we must come to terms with. These are movements we must show respect to. Most certainly each movement is mired in specific political interests; but if nothing else these do take origin from a genuine grievance: people feel disrespected by a State that claims to be their own.
There are, however, genuine questions that one may ask of movements demanding ethno-lingual provinces. The most important of these questions is: what about migrants?
Migration to and from the regions demanding ethno-lingual province status has been continuous. In the Seraiki region, Baloch migrants (100-150 years ago) have broadly assimilated. A similar assimilation has been experienced for the early migrants after partition. But similar processes of assimilation have not taken place for later Punjabi and Pakthun migrants. And the question of their place in the Seraiki provinces future remains.
These are valid questions. And while we must concede the demand of ethno-lingual provinces – and the Seraiki province – we must continue to ask these questions from those who shall take the reins of these new provinces.
- The article was printed in The Review with Pakistan Today on May 01, 2011.
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