By the way, I am a muhajir and I openly say that
I don't accept Iqbal. He is no prophet.
You can rant all you want but meray bhai, mujhay pakistan say nikaalnay walay aap kon hotay hein.
Once again, Punjabi Chauvinism at work.
Such a mentality will never let this country prosper. The results are there for all of us to see.
Nobody can kick you out but you have to think about what Pakistan is, it cannot be that everyone starts off in an entirely different direction in the name of provincial autonomy...provincial autonomy is supposed to be within certain limits.
You ever heard the Americans not accepting Abraham Lincon, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington?
Do they claim "no we do not accept him because he was not a local state lad"?
Think about what you are saying with cool head.
You cannot reject Iqbal, he was not an idea but a person with many traits.
His contribution to the cause of Muslims was quite significant and is acknowledged by all...he was certainly a visionary.
He was certainly not a prophet but was an intellectual giant and at least has to be respected for his intellect if not for his role in helping Muslims of sub continent, in the way he deemed best.
Iqbal and Jinnah are to be respected by Pakistanis and not just Punjabis...if respect for Iqbal and Jinnah (at least as gifted men of towering intellect) is synonymous with Punjabi dominance then i am afraid that is the weakest argument i have ever heard.
Iqbal was kashmiri, Jinnah hailed from a Gujarati Shia family.
What is the Punjabi connection?
The so called Punjabi dominance has practically become a bogey which basically lets the provinces exert pressure over the federation ...or to be more precise, it lets political parties play dirty regional politics to garner support by shifting the blame of their poor performance on Punjabi dominance alone.
Punjab as a province is much more open to all ethnic groups because it is very diverse.
The worst areas for outsiders are Baluchistan, Interior Sindh, FATA etc.
A while back in Gwadar the Baloch government protested on the workers being from Karachi, is this how the provinces are to behave?
Which mainstream Bloch party has condemned the Target killings in Baluchistan and protested over it?
So when the many well educated families from Punjab and other areas leave Baluchistan, will it become better?
What of the many special quotas given to Baluchistan in every university and institute on top of merit based entry which is available to them?
I personally am never in favor of such quotas since they usually result in merit being negated.
Is there an anti Baloch sentiment in Punjab as far as jobs, education are concerned?
Personally, I have not seen such a thing in Punjab.
If one seat in any institute is dedicated to a person from Baluchistan then there are many more people in Punjab being affected by it rather than Baluchistan due to extreme disparity in population...so in terms of reaction, same barbaric reaction could occur in Punjab as well, if the people here were still ethnically charged.
This is not the case in Punjab which has become much more national in nature.
At the end of the day a common Pakistani man in Quetta is being killed for being a Punjabi, for no crime and reason.
There have been many development projects in Baluchistan in last decade, Gwadar alone is a major stepping stone for Baluchistan.
Unlike Gas it is something that is long term and will not run out.
Best thing for Baluchistan government and people is to focus on the road development to link Gwadar more effectively to Punjab and NWFP, this shall enable much more trade and revenue.
The current security situation in Baluchistan will only cause more suffering for the Baluch people.
For local natural resources the provinces should be given a major stake but it is not at all acceptable to let a province have all the say, Federal government has to be a partner so that there is a coherent national plan which balances out various economic parameters.
In the Army we have had most of Chiefs who were non Punjabi, same is case with Governors and even heads of the state.
I do not see such an overwhelming Punjabi dominance here either.
After creation of Pakistan, following are the key people who were in power for a long long time...Ayub, Zulfiqar Bhutto, Zia, Benazir, Nawaz Sharif, Musharraf, Zardari/Gillani....not at all a Punjabi dominated list.
The results which we are seeing are not due to well planned strategy of a Punjabi dominated cult but rather the collective failure of our nation across many areas.
The politicization of Kala Bagh dam alone serves as an example of how the Punjabi dominance bogey has resulted in halting projects of national significance, ensuring that our politicians are given less and less to do.
How easy and convenient an excuse the simple people of Pakistan gave to their politicians...who garner more votes by not doing anything...rather than doing something.
