The provinces that constitute the state of Pakistan have enduring cultural and linguistic identities as a result of a long historical process. Though they are distinct from one another, each shares some features of the others due to compulsions of unavoidable proximity. But if we look at the history, the administrative boundaries of the provinces have never been indisputably marked and permanently fixed. They, in fact, have rather been like shifting sands because of internal wars and external invasions which have continued to plague the region till 19th century. Karachi was once a part of Balochistan. After Muhammad Bin Qasim’s invasion and conquest of Sindh, the new rulers expanded its boundaries up to south Punjab. The rulers of erstwhile princely State of Bahawalpur were originally marauders from Sindh. As far as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is concerned, some of its major urban centres such as Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Abbottabad have not been Pashtun cities culturally and administratively. Before the Turkish invasions from the North, Hindu Shahi Kingdoms controlled what is now the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and large parts of Afghanistan from Peshawar and Lahore, the twin centres of their power. Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom held sway over a large area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was the first from the south long after the demise of Hindu Shahi kingdoms to “invade” the “invaders” in the north making the conquerors the conquered.

Maulvi Suleman, a poet and religious scholar from Chakwal, in the early 19th century says: “Peshaawar theen Jamna taain, Chamba theen taa Dera/ Samjhan janan lok Punjabi, sacha sukhan eh mera (Punjabi folks from Peshawar to river Yamuna and from princely state of Chamba to Dera Ghazi Khan understand and value the truth my verses encapsulate)”. It’s a remarkably pithy description of Punjab and its people. The description encompasses lingo-cultural and ethno-geographical dimensions. If you look at the map and spot Peshawar, the river Yamuna, Chamba and Dera Ghazi Khan, and connect the dots, you will see a huge area in the northern region of the subcontinent populated by the people of the Punjab. A process of fragmentation started a little more than last one hundred years ago. Territory in the North (present KP/erstwhile NWFP) was separated from the Punjab with Peshawar as it’s headquarter by the colonial masters in early 20th century for the colonial administrative purposes. As a result of the Partition in 1947, it was divided into East Punjab and West Punjab. East Punjab was subjected to further fragmentation and two new states/provinces of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were carved out of it. The West Punjab, truncated and trimmed, where we live, is a pale shadow of its past glory. Since it’s still a numerically dominant unit of Pakistani federation, some disgruntled politicians make noises about dividing Punjab in the name of achieving a “demographic balance” which is, in fact, a stratagem to reduce the naturally evolved politico-economic role of Punjab in the polity. If the Punjab is big in terms of number, Balochistan is big in terms of territory. Would it be sane to suggest that some areas of Baluchistan be sliced off and handed over to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the name of achieving, what one may call, “territorial balance”? If Punjab needs to be further divided on the basis of language and administrative convenience, other provinces are far riper for such a surgery. Sindh can be divided into three provinces among the Sindhis, Seraikis and Muhajirs. Baluchistan can be divided among the Baloch, Brahvis and Makranis, and Pashtuns. And at least four provinces may be carved out of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in order to accommodate the demands of Pathans, Hindko speakers, Seraikis, and Khowar speaking Chitralis. If provinces need to be redesigned at all, then the stakeholders must evolve a uniform formula born of broad consensus at the national level. Punjab stands to lose nothing as it’s culturally and linguistically the most homogeneous unit of the federation.

Last week we heard a weird demand, to say the least, from an otherwise wise sane mind, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the last Samurai of Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan. He demands that Mianwali, a district of the Punjab, “being part of Pashtun homeland” be handed over to him, and the Afghan refugees, who are generally conceived to be a burden on our economy and social life, be accorded Pakistani nationality. People of Pashtun ethnic roots settled in parts of Mianwali, even if given the chance, would flatly reject the proposal of joining the Achakzai’s utopian “Pashtun homeland” as they have assimilated into the ethos of Punjab’s society to the extent that it’s impossible to distinguish them from other ethnocultural groups. Secondly, their economic fate, for all times to come, is inexorably linked with Punjab, not with what exists in Mr Achakzai’s imagined paradise.

Challenge of garnering electoral support in elections can drive politicians crazy. Hence they think people are patsies. With one eye on the coming election, Mr Achakzai is manoeuvring to enhance his electoral strength by creating “Pakistani Afghans’ constituency” through his political shenanigans. Claiming Mianwali is another way, dubious and devious, of doing politics aimed at reducing Punjab’s clout, an outcome of a dynamic historical process. A man who tends to punch above his weight is likely to fall flat on his face. No one should be oblivious of the fact that if Punjabis are over-represented in the affairs of the country, more so are Pathans, be it military, civil service or business. Hardy but indigent Pathan working class deserves great respect because of its habit of diligence and eking out a living with dignity through hard work.

Baloch are the only people in the country who are really under-represented in all walks of national life and don’t get their legitimate share of the pie. So Mr Achakzai, you should struggle for the legitimate economic and political rights of Balochistan rather than ferrying Punjab’s Mianwali to an imagined Pashtun homeland. And if you find this problem so urgent, get all the political stakeholders together. It shouldn’t be difficult for you as you have importance in the current dispensation and hammer out formulae for creating new provinces or negotiating boundary changes in the existing ones. But let there be no doubt: people of the Punjab though leaderless and quiescent cannot be shanghaied to buy nostrums bandied about by political pundits. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2016