Partitioning Punjab
THIS is apropos of the letter ‘Partitioning Punjab’ (Feb 1) by Kunwar Idris. Mr Kunwar is not an unknown person and those who belong to civil services of Pakistan hold him in high esteem.
He has been one of the role models for CSP/DMG officers because he was a public/civil servant in its true spirit well above all biases.
However, his opinion/lamentation on the partition of Punjab needs revisiting none else but by him. Seraiki area, the core of which is the area around Multan and Bahawalpur division, has never been part of Punjab in recorded history except when it was conquered by the Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh in 1812 and put under Takht-i-Lahore.
When British ended Sikh rules in 1849, they retained the Bahawalpur state but annexed Multan and surrounding areas with Lahore. D.G. Khan was made a buffer arrangement between British and warring Baloch population.
Therefore, separating Seraiki belt from Punjab and giving it an independent identity will put right the historical wrong.
Distortions in history were made by past rulers according to their convenience and loyalty to conquering rulers. An example in the present context could be Bahawal Khan who was given undue favours and allowed more land of Sadiqabad Kot Subzal and Rojhan Mazari, etc., after defeat of Talpurs in Sindh in 1843.
While discussing present scheme of division of Punjab, the writer has made a reference to partition of Punjab in 1947. He has made a bold statement that by accepting cabinet mission plan, the Quaid-i-Azam had virtually abandoned the demand for Pakistan and accepted united India with provinces having substantial autonomy because he had known very well consequences of the partition and the people who would follow him to run the country.
It was only the historical unwise statement of Jawahar Lal Nehru that the scheme of things devised under the cabinet mission plan would be changed through an amendment in the constitution that Jinnah was alarmed, rejected the plan and accepted truncated Pakistan where Punjab was partitioned along with Bengal.
ABDUL QADIR MEMON
Former deputy commissioner, Badin
The Questions are very simple.
1. How the Saraikis, more than 10% of Pakistan’s Population should be denied a right to have a Province of their own and they should be called Punjabis, when they do not speak Punjabi?
2. How long their jobs should keep getting stolen by Punjabis through Quota System?
3. Why should they not have their own Quota?
I think Mr Kanwar Idris has answered the concern raised by you in his article. The linguistic difference in question is on a language having nominal literary worth, as stated by Mr. Idris:
“…The only justification advanced, and a feeble one at that, is the different dialects of the same spoken tongue which is hardly-ever written, much less taught in schools or used in public offices or in commerce.”
It is the motive of the perpetrators of this move that is in question, and it is hardly to correct the historical wrong as you state it.
Well, if indeed as this writer seems to imply that (indirectly) it was Nehru in fact whose views triggered the creation of Pakistan (Jinnah’s rejection of the Cabinet Mission plan etc etc) — all one can say (certainly from an Indian viewpoint) is “Thank God for Nehru!” — just imagine otherwise it would be the government in Delhi that would be responsible for the self-destructive mess that is now happening in what is now “Pakistan” — and all the money that we in India pay in taxes would have been siphoned off to pay for that mess! Thank God indeed! Long live the legacy of Nehru! Longer (as a matter of emphasis!) live the legacy of Jinnah! Thank God that India does not have a “problem-child” like Pakistan to look after…!!
Jinnah acceptance of cabinet mission plan has been systematically hidden from the Pakistan populace. it is only recently few individuals who have openly conceded Jinnah acceptance. still the large populace has been living in ignorance.
tragedy of Pakistan has been that lies have been thrown at the citizen.Truth be told and Pakistan should only be what Jinnah wanted it to be.
Long live Jinnah PAKISTAN.
Please show some respect to the king of Punjab and dont refer to him as Sikh. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Shere Punjab. Son of the soil of Punjab.(Bumiputra) not an invader. He treated everyone equally. He wrestle Peshawar from the Pathan, Ladakh from the Chinese and made Punjab what it is today. The map of Pakistan and India would be smaller without him. Punjab produced two great Kings of the soil, King Porus who fought Alexander the great and Maharaja Ranjit Singh who pushed the Afghan beyond Jamrud (Khyber Pass).