Punjab and the Saraiki Suba

By Wajih Abbasi
Muted voices for the separation of Saraiki speaking areas of the Punjab into a separate province seem to be gaining momentum in recent months. Until now demand for Saraiki province was confined to small political groups generally referred to as Saraiki nationalist parties but now leaders of major political parties belonging from the area have joined them giving more potency to the demand. Establishment of the Saraiki province has been popular among the ethnic nationalist across the country. ANP and PKMAP as well as MQM have distinct chapters for the region while the Sindhi and Baloch ethnic ‘nationalist’ parties also distinctively treat the area and include it among ‘depressed’ nations.

In the meantime former Minister Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani has rediscovered his Bahawalnagar roots and revived demanded for the establishment of Bahawalpur province. Senator Durrani has had a long journey since his rise on the political horizon through Pasban. He served Jamaat-e-Islami contesting the 1993 elections under the slogan of “Zalmu Qazi aa raha hai’, (O oppressors Qazi is coming”) but despite his efforts the Jamaat failed to improve its historically meager share in votes and assembly seats. Later he served both former President Leghari as well as Pervez Musharraf though results remained the same.

The present day Punjab is a lopsided province and a legacy of British colonial rule. The British divided their Indian empire into provinces as they marched from their coastal linchpins of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay to the interior and then across the Indo-Gangatic plains to Himalayas and Hindukush. Ethnic, religious or linguistic considerations seldom played much of the role in demarcating the boundaries of the provinces.

Punjab, annexed by the British in 1846, was an empire in itself. Its boundaries extended from China in the north to Sindh in the south; Khyber Pass in the west to River Sutlej in the east. Later trans-Sutlej areas controlled by the Sikh chieftain were also annexed in the Punjab province, extending provincial boundaries almost into central India. Soon thereafter, the British sold Jammu and Kashmir to Maharaja Ghulab Singh. In 1901 Hazara and trans-Indus districts were put together to establish the North West Frontier Province.

Still Punjab was among the biggest provinces at the time of independence and consisted of 30 districts. Out of which 17 namely Attock, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Jehlum, Jhang, Lahore, Lyallpur, Mianwali, Montgomery, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rawalpindi, Shahpur, Sheikhupura, Sialkot and tribal tract west of River Indus were awarded to Pakistan. Ambala, Amritsar, Firozepore, Gordaspur, Gorgoan, Hissar, Hoshiyarpur, Jullandar, Kangra, Karnal, Ludiana, Rohtak and Simla were granted to India. Except for Bahawalpur and Khairpur, all of the 36 Punjab states joined India. It may be mentioned that these two states represented more than 50 percent of total area and population of all Punjab states put together. (Khairpur, though falling in Sindh had relations with the empire through resident Punjab states). After annulment of One Unit in 1969 Bahawalpur too was merged into Punjab.

After independence the areas falling within the Indian union were divided into three separate states. Simla and adjoining hilly districts were formed into Himachal Pradesh while the plains were divided into Hindu majority Haryana in the east and Sikh majority Punjab state in the west. Total areas of three succeeding states of former east Punjab is 150,725 square kilometres, far less then 205344 sq km of Pakistani Punjab and their combined population is only two-third of the same. The division of Indian Punjab was, in fact, part of to wider process to rationalise state boundaries. Indian Union now consists of 28 states excluding seven union territories and the process continues. With Uttar Pradesh alone representing 80 out of 542 seats in the lower house of Indian parliament where 11 others have less than 10 each and six large states having 56 percent seats in the Lok Sabha, disparity in size and clout among Indian states is still there but it is not as conspicuous as in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, Punjab represents 56 percent of population and seats in the National Assembly. Presently Punjab elects 148 of the 272 directly elected members of the National Assembly. It also has a quota of 35 out of the 60 women reserved seats. Punjab also get majority of 10 seats reserved for minorities and allocated to political parties on the basis of their performance in the general election. That takes the total tally for Punjab to 190 out of 342, 18 more then the absolute majority required for the formation of government. A party sweeping the province during national elections can form federal government even without a single seat from the other areas in the federation. Pakistan has already become a victim of this disparity in 1971 when Awami League winning all but two seats from then eastern part of the province but none from the western part was bent upon imposing its will in constitution making and formation of government in total disregard of the wishes of the leadership from other provinces which of several reasons for the breakup of the country. We should seek possibilities where a 1971-like situation does not arise again.

With separation of the southern districts, the Saraiki province will take away 56 out of these 148 directly elected seats from the Punjab. Women and minority seats will also be similarly divided. It will thus greatly reduce symptoms of instability from the body politic of the country and allow the succeeding units to run as normal federating units. There is a perception that government in Lahore does not do justice with the region in distribution of resources and jobs and as a consequence the region has fallen behind in socioeconomic development.

The accusations that out of Rs 175 billion earmarked for annual development programme for the year 2009-10 Punjab government has allocated only Rs 5 billion for 14 districts of southern Punjab will only exacerbate such feelings.

Linguistically, Punjab can easily be divided into three distinct parts. The districts mentioned above speak a distinct dialect and there is a prevalent sense of deprivation in the area. Till the ascendancy of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh Multan has seldom been part of government run from Lahore. It was either a separate province in a kingdom or kingdom itself but not part of any province governed from Lahore.

In north of the province Potohar region, mainly consisting of the districts of erstwhile Rawalpindi division, has more in common with the adjoining areas of Hazara and Kashmir than the Punjab plains falling south of the Salt Range.

During the Mughal period the region, called Sindh Saghar, was a separate province with headquarters at Shahpur. Depending on willingness of NWFP Hazara and Potohar can be combined to make a separate province. Potohar province without Hazara will not be feasible as creation of too small federating units will consume a lot of national resources on administration.

The size of Punjab has always been a source of instability in Pakistani politics. Every Prime Minister or President felt threatened from the Punjab and abhorred prospects of an opposition lead government in the province. Even independent minded politicians from Prime Minister’s/president’s own party are not tolerated and those exhibiting an iota of independence are removed at the first available opportunity. From Mamdot-Daultana tussle to present uneasy détente between the PPP and PML-N, the thoughts of installations of yes-man as head of Punjab administration consumed most of the energies of the federal government. Given the size of the Punjab, its rulers too do not take much time to aspire for government of their own at the federal level. Division of Punjab in two or possibly three provinces will greatly remove the basis of this power struggle too and make Pakistani federation even stronger.

The reason for not accepting Potohar without Hazara as a province stands true for Bahawalpur too. It would be a natural part of larger Saraiki province but its separation as a province will not be feasible and would lead to such demands from other areas too. Besides as we have seen in case districts, creation of mindless administrative districts only eat up financial resources in administration which otherwise can be utilised for development purposes.
(The Post, June 30, 2009)

Working on successes in Swat

Operation Rah-e-Rast launched in Malakand Division, particularly in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts last month seems to have been quite successful so far. Important populated areas, roads and strategically significant heights have been cleared from the militants. According to military estimates, most of the second and third tire leadership of the Taliban has been eliminated; those who have been forced to join the militants as well as their lower cadre have started deserting them. Taliban command and control system, supply routs and munitions dumps have been destroyed and their ability to launch concerted attacks has been eliminated.

Supply of civic amenities to the affected areas will soon be started and displaced people will soon be allowed to return. Overall the success of the operation has given confidence to the nation and the gloom that was a galore on the faces of the people after Taliban refusal to keep the promises made during the Swat peace deal and their expansion to Buner, Shangla and Lower Dir has given way to hope of a better future. Still there is a long way to go and over all success of the operation will depend a lot on how the nation works on successes achieved so far.

Militarily, elimination of the second tier of Taliban leadership will make it difficult for Taliban to immediately regroup but for permanent success against militancy it would be important to eliminate their top leadership, importantly Mullah Fazlullah. There are reports that a large number of Taliban militants have fled the fighting and have either joined the IDPs in the camps or gone other cities. They may not be planning any action now but can be called back by the Taliban leadership later on. It is important that these militants are traced in the camps and the cities and neutralized.

Taliban and other militants from Malakand to Waziristan have been successfully following the guerrilla tactics of avoiding pitched battles with the army thus saving their strength. Before the operation their total strength was estimated to be between four to five thousands. According to ISPR, so far around 1300 militants have been killed since the start of the operation. Many of those killed will be from among the new recruits who were forced to join them after the Swat peace deal or after their incursion into Buner, Dir and Shangla and may not be part of initial estimates about Taliban strength in the area.

That means the bulk of Taliban strength is intact and as we have seen in the history of other guerrilla wars they may start hit and run operations against security forces when this initial phase is over. Here the intelligence and administration as well as political and social groups will have to play their role and make sure that militants are not allowed to mix with the local population. As long as the militants are in the jungles and mountains they will be easier to locate and eliminated but it will be difficult when they mix up with the returning population.

Though action taken by people in Upper Dir against the militants recently will help in elimination of militants from the area but such tactics are always double edged weapons and may turn out to be a problem of its own later. It is important that the chapter of private armies, lashkars and forces should be discouraged and closed forever. Only force in the country should be the state force with which general public should only cooperate in arrest and punishment of the criminals.

The military action should not be confined to Malakand alone and should be extended to all those areas where the writ of the state is being challenged. The country as a whole will have to be de-weaponised and all private armies irrespective of their origin or objective will have to be disbanded and if need be eliminated.

Civil administration and police should follow the armed forces in areas cleared by the operation. During last three four years the Taliban militants have been striking at the police force with impunity and as a result they have been able to demoralize and incapacitate the police force. Before the signing of Swat peace deal the members of the police and other provincial law enforcement agencies have been declaring their disassociation from their forces through newspaper advertisement. Signing of the peace deal further eroded the police force from the area.

Now the force will have to be rebuilt. Prime Minister’s decision to recruit for the retired members of armed forces for duties in the police is right in the present circumstance. Middle ranking retired officers from armed forces especially army may also be taken in as to make for any short coming of officers in the Police and other provincial law enforcement agencies.

The civil administration will have to play its role in revitalization of state writ in the area. The Local Government regime enforced by General Musharraf in 2001 has not worked well in the country. In most of the cases the district administration under Nazims has failed to come up to the expectations of the people in especially in demanding law and order situations. A new division of power between the elected representatives headed by the Nazim and district bureaucracy headed by the District Coordination Officer will have to be found not only in Malakand but all over the country so that the district authorities could deal with any situation in a professional manner.

After police the major victim of militants in the Malakand has been the political workers. Malakand division have historically been a happy hunting ground for ANP and PPP with Jammat-e-Islami pockets here and there. With Jammat supporting the militants it was ANP and PPP, especially former, which suffered the most at the hands of the Taliban. Workers and local level leaders of these two parties have proved themselves to be true soldiers of united, liberal, democratic and prosperous Pakistan. However their work is not finished. They will have to lead the people of Malakand division inside the camps as well as in the areas of their residence when they return to their homes. The people will have to be given confidence to stand up to the remaining militants and cooperate with the administration and law enforcement agencies in nabbing the same.

The political workers and local level leadership will also play important role in reconstruction of the region and rehabilitation of the affected people. It will be important that people are given right leadership lest they fall prey to propaganda of those who were responsible for their suffering in the first place.

The fight against militancy since 2003 has proved that militants have always used talks and peace deals as a military tactic to bargain time for regrouping and restoring supplies. In future there should be no talks with these elements. However those laying down their arms and cooperating with the armed forces and government agencies in restoring the writ of the state and nabbing the extremists and militants may be granted amnesty.

After Swat the government agencies responsible for law enforcement or other rules and regulations should understand the importance of proverb which states, “A stitch in time saves nine”. The nation would not have suffered the way it has, the soldiers, policemen, political workers and hundreds others would not have lost their lives and more then three million would not have to leave their homes and hearths had the government agencies taken action when first polio vaccination team was attacked or CD or barber shop bombed or when NGOs were stop from carrying out their work. If we do not learn the lesson to nib the lawlessness and violation of state authority in the bud then we will continue to suffer in the same way as we did in Malakand.


Wajih Abbasi The Post June 12, 2009

Consensus on operation in Malakand

By Wajih Abbasi

It seems national confusion, over the threat posed by extremist tendencies and activities of militants is giving way to more clearer, rational and objective analysis of the threat. There was near consensus demand for operation against terrorists in Malakand Division in general and Swat in particular and the nation, with some understandable exceptions here and there, seems to be backing the military operation and wants the armed forces to decisively eliminate the extremists from the region and restore the writ of the state. By leaving their home and hearth in large numbers the people of Malakand have once again voted against the forces of extremism and obscurantism and in support of a democratic, liberal and prosperous Pakistan. This is third military operation in Malakand Division in less than two years. On previous two occasions the operations were stopped at some stage in exchange of promise of peace by the extremists. However, both these peace agreements resulted into strengthening the extremists and ceding of more areas and control by the state to them making the extremists more powerful. It also allowed the Taliban to re-group, re-equip and release their arrested colleagues. On the other hand, peace deals demoralised government supporters and ensuring the longevity of Taliban control in the minds of the people. It is true that during all those occasions the extremists promised to lay down arms and not to interfere in terrorist activities inside or outside the country. However, on both the occasions they failed to keep the promise, in fact they never intended to. The same was the case with other military operations launched in Waziristan and elsewhere the tribal areas. The government, political parties and society in general should keep the consequences of these peace deals with the extremists and any suggestion for fresh agreement with the militants should be rejected with contempt it deserve. Lower cadre of the extremist groups may, however, be offered amnesty if they renounce extremisms and militancy, lay down weapons and actively cooperate with the armed forces in apprehending their former accomplices. Special procedure may still be adopted to keep an eye on them and renegades should be given exemplary punishment. Operation in Malakand alone will not give the desired results until such operations are not launched in other areas, especially Waziristan and other parts of FATA where the extremists have virtually taken over the state authority. At the same time arrogant disregard of state authority and national laws in other areas of the country should be dealt without any regard for short-term political expediencies so that the due process of law and due protection under the law is ensured universally. The behaviour manifested by Sufi Muhammad and armed wing of his Tehrik e Shariat-e-Muhammadi after the parliamentary approval of Nizam-e-Adl Regulations has silenced many of their apologists, well-wishers, supporters and others who for other reasons have been backing such expediencies in the name of Islam. However, still there are people who continue to support the cause of militants and one way or the other are undermining the efforts to curb their tirade against Pakistan and everything it stands for. It must be understood that present fight going on in Malakand Division is the fight for the essence of Pakistan. It is fight to protect whatever semblance to Pakistan of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal this country still has. The armed forces, which are fighting against the terrorists and extremists, are fighting to save that semblance of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Pakistan and if they lose so will we lose the country itself. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani rightly said their defeat was not an option in this fight. If we lose here we lose the country itself.All parliamentary heads of political parties during the briefing held by Prime Minister expressed their support for the military operation. The political leadership also supported the military action during the All Parties’ Conference which was arranged recently. The same attitude has been manifested by all sections of society, including media and civil society. However, there have been some exceptions. While fighting is going on in Malakand there are banners displayed by Hizbe Tehrir, another banned organisation, in Islamabad. One of the banners say, “Democracy no, dictatorship no khilafat Yes”. Though religious parties mostly played second fiddle to all dictators but still it is good to reject dictatorship. However, Pakistan was created through a democratic process and it is present condition is because of failure to continue on democratic path. These banners were displayed about a week back in main intersections of the city and some of them are still there. One wonders how come the police and its intelligence wing as well as other intelligence agencies have not been able to detect banners displayed by a banned organisation and remove them. In ordinary cases CDA staff would come in and remove any unauthorised banner within no time but in this case the authority has failed to react despite passage a week. Lethargy by police and CDA apart one wonder how such organisations want to install khalifa sans a democratic election. It seems they are not aware of history of Muslim countries and governments. One would suggest to them to reread the history books to see that how khalifas and kings and sultans or by whatever name they were called, were installed and removed. An analysis of Muslim history would reveal that lack of an acceptable system of government change was one of the important reasons for decay of Muslim civilisation and colonisation of Muslim lands by the West. Banners by Jamaat-e-Islami calling for funds for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are calling upon the people to contribute funds for benefit of “victims” of Malakand operation. Who Jamaat thinks the transgressors are? army or the militants? Despite the intransigencies of militants and extremists the Jamaat leadership is still siding with them and does not appreciate the fact that activities of Taliban have forced the government to call in army to restore the writ of the state in the area. In last few days Jamaat has even resorted to public demonstrations against the operation. One expected Jamaat-e-Islami to change under more urbane leadership of Syed Munnawar Hassan see different issues beyond petty party interests but it seems Jamaat remains the same despite changes at the top.
Daily Post May 23, 2009