Pakistan Quarters

I was raised a Pakistani first. Grandson of the so-call mohajirs, I feel offended by this article. It started off ok but ended with mindless encomium of MQM.

I should not be saying this but if this Muhajir is having difficulty fitting in, I think he should do what the leader of MQM did whose pictures have appeared naturally on betel leaves, tree trunks etc. As followers of MQM blindly chanted, `Hamein manzil nahin rahnuma chahiyay`; i think you should follow your leader because he surely has found his `manzil`.

In its heydey, Pir Altaf Bhai commanded blind following like Malcolm X. He could have asked the community to setup industries, universities, colleges etc and mohajirs including myself would have poured their hearts out. But what he did was destroy a generation, make themselves a terrorist organization and mercenaries, forced employers to hire incompetent employees who just went there to collect salaries, propounded the bhatta `extortion` culture etc.

It goes to credit of Mustafa `Kudaal` Kamal and his predecessor Naimatullah Khan that they started development projects in this ignored city of Karachi. If it was not for Naimatullah`s legacy and MQM`s fear of permanently losing Karachi to Jamatis, they would not have worked on development and would have done what they do best: thrive in lawlessness.

I agree with #1, particularly the last para. The MQM part is a bit incoungrous here, and the author would have done well by dispensing with it in favour of highlighting some prominent personalities who became prominent later. Besides, MQM had its origins in Liaquatabad and not Pakistan Quarters which was home to some very educated and eminent families.

Mohajirs were/are the establishment....!! Period.


80-85% of them are/were in the Govt Jobs.



the Rizvis, jafris, siddiques,Nomanis, ...quereshis....etc..etc..etc...etc..and...etc.

in every Govt Department.


and with 70% concentrated in Sind , especially karachi, created a Unique Urban/Rural Divde.....which is no where else in Pakisstan.

the remaining 30% , have well assimilated and integrated themselves in the core Pakisani Life....without any problem.

with so much concentration in One City, and along with dying punjabi beaurucray , ZA Bhutto tried to bring a sembelance of Balance , viz-a viz representation in the Govt, hence
the dreaded and notorious Quota System....

which Cut deep in their traditional occupations of Govt Jobs, created resentment.....hence the sense of vicimhood.... hence resentiment which took militant form under Altaf.


Result.... 2 generations of Youth of Karachi, has been crimnalized.

Anyone has knowledge of how india and its incoming refugees( from newly formed Pakistan) experienced and by now adjusted ....

After all pakistan is not the only country in History to have had mass movement of people across borders ..more recently Bosnia and i guess palestenians come to mind

Muhajirs have literally made Pakistan possible. The Urdu speaking Ethnic group is the real creator of Pakistan. What they have got in return??? Total discrimination in Jobs, Educational Institutions, Politics, Armed and Police forces and Other areas. Thousands have perished in the brutal and barbarian Army and Police Actions and also by their own fellows i.e MQM. This so called political group has done the greatest harm to the Muhajirs.

I m afraid that if Pakistan remains intact then there will be no Muhajir representation in the Pakistani establishment and civil bereaucracy by the next 20 years. They will also be a neglected and poor ethnic group. I would request the Muhajir intelligentsia to get rid of that old selfishness and fight for rights. Every Muhajir who gains some position just totally forgets his fellows while the people of other ethnic group shower blessings on their lingual groups. That`s a fact in Pakistan.

Re: # 1
Sorry for offending you, but who said anything about Altaf being my leader. You see too much in my article. About your suggestion about following somebody abroad, the thought never occured to me. Anyway, I have been there, and found out that there is no place like your home, and no better people to live with than those with whom you have been living with since your childhood. Your suggestion anyway smacks of worst form of chauvinism. Some people have taken up the burden of deciding who can live in this beautiful country, and who cannot without truly understanding the dynamics of nation building, and the crucial role immigrants can play, in making a nation great. Just look at U.S.A. which was made great by immigrants, and the journey goes on.
Author

Re: # 4
Yes you are right, but why do the immigrants to India keep on asserting how well they have been assimilated, and how nationalists they are?. Perhaps you can enlighten me aout that.
tariqz

#7Tariqji

I do not have any personal experience or testimony of hardship faced by `refugees` from both east and west pakistan
neither did i mean to suggest they were well adjusted compared to `muhajirs` of pakistan....
The saga of Partition has been discussed many times so i will spare the trauma and dislocation of people on both sides....
India has even more problem because of its dozen of languages and refugees from B desh can only survive in West bengal similarly Punjabis are confined to north and western india if i am correct...
In the end the whole scenerio can only be explained by destiny and will of god...it was meant to be

#8 by Shah2

India has even more problem because of its dozen of languages and refugees from B desh can only survive in West bengal similarly Punjabis are confined to north and western india if i am correct...

Wrong! You can find thousands of Punjabis and Bengalis in Hyderabad Deccan. I heard there is a vibrant Punjabi community (and met quite a few of them) in Chennai too. I have a huge circle of friends, many of them Punjabi, in Hyderabad, and they`re doing very well thanks to their enterprise and emphasis on education. Gulbarga and Bidar in Karnataka have a huge Punjabi (mostly Sikh) populations.

If there aren`t more Punjabis at many places in South India, it is purely because they haven`t ventured into those places, not due to any discrimination/language issues per se.

I agree with Harish.

of course the majority population of every region comprises of the people of that regiion, but almost all regions in india have vibrant communities of people from different regions.

I, being a marwari, have found marwari communities all over india. even in the smallest of towns or cities have a small marwari community that live happily along with the people of that region.

similarly, in my home state of rajasthan, i have found vibrant communities of punjabis, bengalis, maharashtrians, south indians, etc.

rgds,

devkant.

Whatever world say Karachi ab Karachi na ha, in couple of dacades MQM ke Leadership nay middle class ke Strength misuse kiya jis ka Benefit Jamati nay utaya.
Without proper marketing there is no polilic.
Now Karachi is full of Sindh,Punjab,Afgan,Sahad,Bangadesh Immigrants.
American histroy deja vu in karachi.

Re: Shah2 # 8
Just to add to what devkant and harish have said, Delhi has a large population of prople from all Indian states and they have schools that teach their native language.

There is a large areas where refugees were settled in Delhi. A large part of south Delhi was settled after 1947. Chitranjan Park was settled by Begalis from East Bengal. There is no discrimination against any community based on ethnicity.

Muslims who migrated from what is now Pakistan settled around okhla close to Jamia Millia Islamia and a well integrated, infact they are doing better than the local population.

Regards,

Faruk

Urdu speaking Ethnic group of Pakistan has to join hands together for its rights. MQM is a complete failure. It has done nothing good but all evil for Muhajirs. So now Muhajirs have to get rid of MQM and set out a strategy for their future. Otherwise it will be too late.......

Re: # 11
When the politicians from Karachi declare that Karachi will overtake Dubai, it may be political rhetoric, but political rhetorics are based on people`s aspirations and expectations, and lot of people from Karachi do feel that Karachi like Dubai has become a multicultural, multi ethnic society composed of immigrants of all backgrounds, whose sense of insecurity, and drive to succeed, because they have nothing to fall back to, will sooner or later make Karachi an economic success story, in spite of its rising crime rates, and all the problems of a mushrooming population.
tariqz

#7 by tariqz on March 5, 2007 11:13am PT
Re: # 4
Yes you are right, but why do the immigrants to India keep on asserting how well they have been assimilated, and how nationalists they are?. Perhaps you can enlighten me aout that.
tariqz
.......................................
Tarqji i can
b/c unfortunately jJnnah did not realise the cement of lingual division as was reaffirmed in 1971 by formationof Bdesh...

Most of refugees from East Bengal are at home b/c they qare ligually accepted in West Bengal.....
Similarly east Punjab migrants have feeling at home with east punjab.....may be b/c of language

#9 Harish i am talking abour %

the majority of brunt of `refugees` is inCalcutta and its adjoining areas
There might be token punjabi and bengalis in delhi & hyderabad and even further south....but stream of poor refugees from east bengal are now given benami land of railways on either side in the sealdah area...i am talking of really poor and `real` refugees ..not migrants who moved across border more for reason of jobs and more oppertunity

#10 by devkant on March 5, 2007 10:55pm PT
I agree with Harish.

Dev i did not know u r Marwar..Muslims have there own marwaris and they ae called Bohras ,
Khoja ,memons etc.They never fight for language or even for religion ..they go where they can make money by business....These muslim Marwaris are all over in India as well as in Pakistan without trouble

#11 by Ahadaustin on March 6, 2007 8:15am PT
Whatever world say Karachi ab Karachi na ha, in couple of dacades MQM ke Leadership nay middle class ke Strength misuse kiya jis ka Benefit Jamati nay utaya.
Without proper marketing there is no polilic.
Now Karachi is full of Sindh,Punjab,Afgan,Sahad,Bangadesh Immigrants.
American histroy deja vu in karachi
...............................................
Muslims are not aligned to one leader ( neither are hindus)There is centralise authority in some ethnic groups like bohras ,agha khani who are always touted as ideal and `no truble muslims`...the rest of muslims rely on Politics to look after there welbeing and not agha khan or Burhanuddin...

#12 Faruk

Those who have reached and established themselves in Delhi are in muticultural muti everything ...

.but its the capital of Billion people... india is Asian giant after China...

discrimination or tussle is more seen in central govt. not business
be it Military ,central heath, tax &revenuedept.Railways etc etc departments when evaluation and promotion is the issues

How many mionreties can afford house in Kailash and Lajput nagar or Chanakyapuri

``#17 by Shah2 on March 6, 2007 12:02pm PT
Dev i did not know u r Marwar..Muslims have there own marwaris and they ae called Bohras , Khoja ,memons etc.They never fight for language or even for religion ..they go where they can make money by business....These muslim Marwaris are all over in India as well as in Pakistan without trouble``

shah....i think the bohras, khojas and memons are from gujrat. they speak also gujrati and as you rightly say, they are not the fighting kind of muslims. they keep to them selves, are courteous to others and mind their own business. infact i think bombay city owes a lot to this community. the areas where these people have their shops are the most popular shopping areas for bombay ladies.

rgds,

devkant.

Re: # 5
Now let us not be this crude. Urban areas in Pakistan are just islands in which people can feel that they are living in the twenty first century. Beyond lies just small villages and towns with little or no civic amenities. People who come from these rural areas and succeed in cities feel a sense of obligation for their near and dear ones, and rightly or wrongly try to help them out by adjusting them in jobs in the cities, mostly government jobs. I don`t think they do this out of ethnic loyalty or lingual bias. Muhajirs, due to their past experience have unfortunately developed this mindset of us and them which ultimately may prove to be self-destroying.
tariqz

Re: # 21
Well that can be true for the elite class that they r living in 21st century with all the amenities. I m talking about common Urdu speaking people. They don`t avail any such facilities although they live in a cosmopolitan city and this is the case of 99 pc of Muhajirs.
As far as ur second assertion is concerned I don`t think they do it to help each other of their own village etc. I have extensive experience when a Punjabi helps his lingual brother by all means, mostly illegal of course, although their villages r hundreds of mile away from each other in Punjab. Same is the case with Sindhis and Pashtuns.

I m not crude by the way but am stating the facts. Urdu speakers (huge majority of them)are in great agony and poverty. There must be now concerted efforts by their well-off fellows for social and economic uplift. In this world of ever changing geo-political scenarios, first think of Karachi and Hyderabad rather then whole of Pakistan.

Re: # 22
I totally agree that the well off Muhajirs must do somethig for the social and economic uplift of the Muhajirs. However, you must clearly state your suggestions in this regard. One way is to canvass for their rights, which certainly have been denied to them. Another is to motivate them to get the eucation, skills, and knowledge, to help most of them struggle to achieve their rightful place in the mainstream of life in Pakistan. I think that most of the problems are not because of parochialism, but because too few are siphoning too much of the resources.
tariqz

Re: # 23
Following are some suggestions in this regard. After doing some research on lower and middle class Urdu speakers, I have these ideas in mind.........

* Karachi n Hyderabad shud be made a separate province.
* Huge inflow of people from other parts into Karachi be checked n controlled.
* Muhajirs shud have the courage to reject MQM and find a new party which is truly representative of them and which actually fights for their rights in a peaceful manner.
* Rich Muhajirs shud initiate massive economic and social uplift program for their fellow poor Muhajirs.