Causes of Democratic Downslide

Author(s): Mohammad Waseem

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , Nov. 2-15, 2002, Vol. 37, No. 44/45 (Nov. 2-15,
2002), pp. 4532-4538
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

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 Causes of Democratic Downslide
The dominance of the Punjabi and mohajir communities and the perceived bellicosity of
India have played a deterministic role in the shaping of Pakistan. The elevation of national
security as a topmost state concern and the growing centralisation of powers by a federal
government has however led to a growing subordination of parliamentary procedures and the
alienation of the smaller provinces. The latest constitutional reforms and a new government
only heighten the inherent conflicts that democracy in Pakistan faces.

MOHAMMAD WASEEM

In 2002, Pakistan passed through a 7.2 million Muslims migrated from India its own role in domestic, regional and
number of political developments,to Pakistan while only 4.4 million Hindusinternational contexts. Pakistan was created
which were both complimentary and and Sikhs migrated from Pakistan to India.amidst communal riots, which cost at least
In West Pakistan, migrants constituted 20half a million lives. The partition of the
contradictory in nature as far as their con-
tribution to the establishment of a func- per cent of the population as opposed toprovince of Punjab particularly involved
tioning democracy in the country is con-India where migrants were only 1 percent.la high level of organised violence per-
cerned. One needs to understand the impact While politics in India was characterisedpetrated by the three communities on each
of these developments on the structures ofby structural continuity, politics in Paki-other. Punjab had experienced three
the state, as the latter continued to hold stan suffered from structural discontinu- revivalist movements among the Muslims,
initiative in its own hands in this regardity. India was the successor state of British Hindus and Sikhs in the first half of the
at the cost of the political stakeholders. ItIndia while Pakistan emerged as a seced- 20th century, which led to the reification
was clear that the government in Islamabading state inasmuch as its ruling elite had of competing religious identities and en-
sought to shape the political system ofmigrated from India and started ruling the hanced Islamic fervour in large parts of
Pakistan along its own preferences and areas and provinces, which were now West Punjab.2 Muslim migrants from East
priorities. Therefore, an enquiry into theincluded in Pakistan. This brought about Punjab and further east in India shaped the
problems and prospects of democracy ina dichotomy based on a migrant-dominated psyche of the new nation on feelings of
the country needs to focus on the contri-centre and the local-dominated provinces. insecurity at the hands of India, commit-
bution of the major political currents,The disjuncture between the centre and the ment to Islamic ideology and the need to
ideologies and institutions as well as theprovinces cast its shadow on the relations unite against all odds. Ethnic and linguistic
regional scenario, which together broughtbetween the executive and legislature in identities were denied legitimacy by the
about a situation of the breakdown of the the centre itself. It was reflected through migrant-dominated central government at
participatory models of government. In thethe asymmetrical distribution of power Karachi. Instead, the political imagination
following section, we plan to concentratebetween the migrant-led executive on the of the migrant community was charac-
on the four major political inputs in the one hand and the constituent assembly, terised by an all-Pakistan approach to public
patterns of authority in Pakistan. which had been indirectly elected before life and a relative intolerance of the
First, is the phenomenon of migration independence by the legislative assem- sub-national identities.
of nearly eight million Muslims from Indiablies of the future Pakistan provinces and Second, we need to discuss the indirect
after partition, which was responsible forwas thus dominated by the 'locals', on the but enormously significant role of India as
shaping the polity of the new nation along other hand. Obviously, the government a factor in shaping the civil-military rela-
a path different from India. While thesought to bypass the parliament whenever tions in Pakistan in favour of the latter,
country was established on the territorypossible and rule through the higher bu- despite the express wishes of the political
that was relatively underdeveloped in socialreaucracy. This dichotomy resulted in the leadership in New Delhi. The state elite
and political terms, the ruling elite of thedomineering role of the executive domi- felt insecure against the perceived Indian
new state, which had led the Pakistan nated by the migrants. The latter increas- threat in the backdrop of the ongoing
movement, came from the politically ingly realised that elections would lead to conflict in Kashmir. It sought to keep the
developed areas in northern and western its exit from power. The migrant political disparate political elements all over Paki-
India, especially the provinces of UP andleadership shaped the country's politics stan united in the face of challenges to
Bombay. This elite from the Muslimalong non-representative lines. It drew upon internal and external security. The ideal of
minority provinces dominated the umbrellathe support of the large refugee popula- unity was operationalised through the
national party Muslim League that estab-tion, which functioned as its natural con- bureaucracy, which was reorganised on an
lished Pakistan in the Muslim majoritystituency. all-Pakistan basis in 1948 and recruited on
areas in north-west and north-east of India.The contribution of the migrants to state the basis of merit through competitive
Both the first governor-general Jinnah andformation in the new state cannot be examinations. The bureaucracy controlled,
administered and regulated the financial
the first prime minister Liaqat Ali Khan underestimated. Even apart from entering
were migrants from India. When Pakistanthe state pnachinery in big numbers, and
the institutional resources in the provinces
came into being after the partition of India,migrants shaped the way the state evaluated
much to the chagrin of the local leaderships.

4532 Economic and Political Weekly November 2-9, 2002

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Some bureaucrats, such as Ghularn of Sharia (Islamic law). The Ideology government
of remained sensitive to the
Mohammad, Iskandar Mirza and Pakistan emerged as a popular idiom for welfare of its soldiery. When canal irriga-
Chaudhary Mohammad All, occupied the
expressing tion lands were colonised in the first two
not only the idea of the new
positions of governor-general/president
state but also the worldview of the ruling
decades of the 20th century, the grants to
elite. Pakistan operated as a part of the
and prime minister in the federal govern- the soldiers, pensioners and ex-soldiers
chain of the politically conservative
ment. Various provinces, i e, East Bengal, amounted to half a million acres. A tra-
Sindh, North-West Frontier Province and
pro-western Islamic states in south-west
dition of allocating state resources, such
later Baluchistan, demanded autonomyAsia in
in the emerging context of as land, as rewards for military service
the face of the perceived hegemony pan-Islamism.
of the Islam provided the ideo- started, which continued into the 21st
centre, especially in its bureaucratic
logical undercurrent of Pakistan's foreign century. The civil and military structures
policy deliberations from that time on- worked closely together, whereby Punjab
re-incarnation.3 By 1958, the decade-long
process of state formation had led wards.
to theIntellectual discourses and diplo- became a quasi-military state. Special
emergence of an establishment thatmatic
man- parleys carried the profile of Islam provisions were made to give vote to
aged to wrest the initiative from thefor
hands
consumption at home and abroad. After soldiers. In due course, the military vote
of the politicians. Through a.bureaucratic the 1974 Islamic summit, Pakistan made comprised 31.6 per cent of the entire
coup in 1954, governor-general Ghularn an entry into the west Asia in economic provincial electorate; in military recruit-
Mohammad dissolved the national assem- political and strategic fields and contrib- ment districts the voters relating to the
bly and formed a so-called 'government uted to the formation of the Organisation soldiery in one way or the other accounted
of talents' as a consociation arrangement of Islamic Countries (OIC). It also pro- for more than 70 per cent of the electorate.7
between the various ethno-regional, in- vided the first secretary general of OIC. The Unionist Party in Punjab amply rep-
dustrial, landed, bureaucratic and military Being geographically located at the meet- resented the emerging rural-military elite.
interests.4 An enhanced sense of dissatis- ing point of the three regions of south Asia,
faction with the functioning of the politi- west Asia and central Asia, Pakistan sought Overweening Influence
cal system, in the backdrop of perceived to play a dynamic role in the region. of the Army
Indian bellicosity, kept Bonapartist ten- Fourthly, the army is at the'heart of the
dencies alive and even thriving as India power structure in Pakistan. We have After partition, the army shaped the
and Pakistan went to war in 1965 and already described how the migrants of both politics of Pakistan in several ways. It did
1971, and had small-scale hostilities in Punjabi and Mohajir extraction dominated so largely through its agenda of institu-
1984 (Siachin) and 1998 (Kargil). Each the power structure of the new state. These tional and constitutional engineering.
war intensified the feelings of insecurity migrants lent a new ethos to the bureau- Politically, it has followed a unitarian
in establishment circles, leading to the cracy, based on the suspicion of the people's approach to state building. Its political
transfer of further resources to the armed capability to rule themselves and the fu- vision focused on the leadership factor on
forces and to a greater commitment to tility of holding elections in a sea of il- the top not on the participation factor
national security. Hostility between India literacy, factionalism and intolerance. In from below. It believed that an executive
and Pakistan worsened the institutional addition to migrants in general andbureau- president was ideally equipped with the
imbalance in the country. Also, it tookcracy in particular, the third major com- authority and vision to lead the nation to
social issues and public policies out of theponent of the power elite, the Pakistani its destiny. For half a century, the army
national agenda in favour of an overwhelm-army, played a covert role in helping the favoured a presidential system for Pakistan.
ing concern with the perceived Indian threat civil government in such matters as law In its view, a parliamentary system meant
to national security. and order, distribution of foodstuff and an the dispersion and dilution of the state
Thirdly, Islam has been a major pointanti-smuggling drive. General Ayub played authority because the leader of the house
of reference in the political discourse in a significant role in the ascendancy of would be typically committed to keeping
Pakistan for over half a century. By this,Ghulam Mohammad to the position of his majority. In this process, he would be
we do not necessarily mean the opiniongovernor-general as opposed to the can- obliged to accommodate the members of
and power of the Islamic establishment.didature of Chaudhary Mohammad Ali.5 minority communities, lesser parties and
The state elite in Pakistan operated alongHe was also instrumental in forging close others who were suspect in the eyes of the
certain lines of public policy, which weremilitary and strategic links with the US, state for one reason or the other. Ayub's
shared by the major elite groups, includingsometimes bypassing his civilian bosses. military government served the function
politicians, industrialists, landlords, bure-Over time, the army moved to the centre of the transition from a parliamentary to
aucrats and army. Considering how theof the constellation of powers ruling a presidential system. Later, when Yahya's
bureaucracy is socially embedded at thePakistan. government was bogged down in the
core of the establishment, the urban middle The central point of the military politics military operation in East Pakistan in 1971,
class can be ascribed the role of a strategic is its major catchment area in Punjab. By he prepared a draft constitution that was
elite. It lent morality, political conserva-the firstworld war, Punjab alone accounted reportedly presidential despite the fact that
tism, Islamic identity and developmentalfor 66 per cent cavalry, 87 per cent artillery this system was comprehensively rejected
vision to the evolving national ethos. Afterand 45 per cent infantry of the Indian during the 1968-69 anti-Ayub movement.
partition, the western-educated Muslimarmy.6 Within Punjab, certain 'martial Similarly, the military had its reservations
League leadership continued to espousecastes' were considered fit for recruitment, about the parliamentary system as enshrined
the cause of Islam even as the ulema among the Muslims mainly Gakkhars, in the 1973 constitution. Zia's military
constantly prodded them for turning their Janjuas, Awans and some Rajputs tribes government again served the function of
back on their promises to establish the rule
from the Pothohar region. The Punjab the transition from a parliamentary to

Economic and Political Weekly November 2-9, 2002 4533

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semi-presidential system by changing Argentina where the army sponsored a legal institutional structure of the state by
the constitution from within. Successive grand project of mass mobilisation in thethe government.
Presidents dismissed four governments, in context of elections, the military's vision We have seen that the respective roles
1988, 1990, 1993 and 1996 under Article in Pakistan has been characterised by of the migration phenomenon, India, Islam
58(2) (b) of the 8th Amendment, osten- anti-populism and status quo-orientation. and army in shaping the power structure
sibly on behalf of the army. The army On the other hand, the military govern- and delineating the self-statement of the
leadership was visibly upset when the ments usually assumed a reformist posture ruling elite have exercised a deterministic
Nawaz Sharif government took away the by instituting reform commissions, vari-influence over the way the several attempts
presidential powers to dissolve the national ous commissions of enquiry as well as at democratisation failed to deliver. Is it
and provincial assemblies by passing the accountability councils and bureaux. possible that another attempt of this kind
13th Amendment on April 1, 1997. Each military government cultivated a in 2002 would not fail to bring about an
In June 2002, president Musharraf's source of legitimacy for itself in defence end to the civil-military conflict and es-
government issued a package of constitu- of its extra constitutional intervention in tablish a stable democracy? We can look
tional reforms, which proposed to revive politics. Normally, generals looked forat the pivotal role of the legislature in this
the president's discretionary power to these sources in the symbols comprising regard. Pakistan generally fulfils the re-
remove the prime minister and his cabinet. the country's value systems, ideological quirements of a democratic polity when-
The president could now dismiss an compliments or felt needs of the people. ever there is an elected government in
elected government under such spurious The army's rule has been justified to serve office. Myron Weiner spelled out four
grounds as failure to check corruption. grand public causes. Ayub sold the mes- basic credentials of a democratic system:
Also, it sought to revive the controversial sage of development for a decade. Yahyacompetitive elections, operational freedom
Article 58(2) (b), whereby the president implemented reforms in various sectors of for contenders for power, acceptance of
would be empowered to dissolve the public life and sacked 303 bureaucrats for results by the defeated side and exercise
parliament. Not surprisingly, the whole corruption. Zia opted for Islam as the of supreme power by the elected govern-
gamut of the political leadership found supreme source of legitimacy. He took the ment.10 Pakistan has conducted many
these proposals totally unacceptable. cue from the Pakistan National Alliance elections, which can be considered com-
Current approaches to the praetorian (PNA) movement against Bhutto in 1977petitive. Additionally, the contestants typi-
phenomenon dwell on a dichotomy be- that had espoused the cause of Islam and, cally depended on corner meetings, pam-
tween the constitutional and military condemned Bhutto as an infidel and his phlets, rallies and door-to-door canvassing
politics.8 After all, a military coup dis- Islamic Socialism as fraudulent. Zia issued for their campaigns. While the opposition
places a constitutional government through the 'Hadood' Ordinance, instituted a Fed- did not always endorse the election results,
extra-constitutional means. However, this eral 'Shariat' Court, formed 'Zakat' and it normally decided to sit in the assemblies
dichotomy does not expihin the situation 'Ushr' Committees and pursued 'jihad' 'under protest' and thus accepted the results
on the ground. It is argued here that a against the Soviet-backed communist re- in practice if not in principle. However,
military government is in some respects a gime in Afghanistan. Accountability for the only problematic area in Pakistan for
constitutional government. This may sound corruption was cultivated as a leading meeting the requirements of competitive
alarmist and paradoxical but it ought not. source of legitimacy by the Musharraf elections is the exercise of supreme power
In Pakistan, all the four military govern- government. by an elected government. In order to fulfil
ments sought to keep the prevalent con- While the army occupies a central place the requirement of an elected government
stitutional set-up intact, with the exception in the political system, it essentially and for exercising supreme power, the parlia-
of those articles and clauses which related most typically represents the priorities and ment must be sovereign so that no
to the elective principle in one way orpolicies as well as the ideological orien- extra-parliamentary force can overrule the
another. When president Iskandar Mirzatations of several elite groups, including writ of a government based on a parlia-
launched his coup on October 7, 1958, he the bureaucracy, urban middle class, in- mentary majority.
declared that the country would be governed dustrial elite and certain sections of the
as nearly as possible 'in accordance with Islamic lobby. Whenever army took over, Subordinate Role
the late constitution'.9 Courts were to these elite groups, along with their large of the Legislature
continue their functions as before. Succes- constituencies in the society, welcomed
sive military government resolved to rulethe army chief as a messiah. And yet, underPakistan is a net defaulter on the issue
according to the abrogated or suspendedthe army rule as much as under the civilian of parliamentary sovereignty. The terms of
constitutions, till they took up the task of rule, the public at large continues to op-transfer of power to Pakistan in 1947 denied
reshaping the supreme law itself. erate according to the established party the principle of parliamentary sovereignty
Indeed, the military in Pakistan has been lines. The constitution - suspended or put in principle, even though constitutionally
traditionally engaged in constitutionalin abeyance - continues to define theand formally the power was transferred to
engineering. It has a set of priorities inpolitical aspirations of activist groups. Thethe constituent assembly of Pakistan. The
legal, institutional and political terms,restoration of democracy remains the
Congress in India managed to do away
with the powers of the governor general
which are often put together in the pursuitdeclared policy objective of the Musharraf
of 'national reconstruction'. Such engi- government. Similarly, the political forces,
to dissolve provincial assemblies in the
neering projects are taken up to put an endsuch as party coalitions like the Alliance
process of the transfer of power. But in
to what the army criticises as the politicsfor Restoration of Democracy (ARD) led Pakistan, these powers were reinserted in
of the mob. As opposed to certain coun-by Nawabzada Nasrullah, have projected
the post-independence constitutional set-up.
The centre dismissed 10 governments in
tries of Latin America, for example Peronistdemands based on non-interference in the

4534 Economic and Political Weekly November 2-9, 2002

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11 years in various provinces. However, which increasingly operates as a state federation could be established. Punjab's
the fate of the constituent assembly itself unto itself. populist majority in the national assembly
was at stake. It generally operated on the Among the more irritating features of needed to be balanced out by the over-
pleasure of the governor-general, later the 1956 constitution for the state elite was representation of the smaller provinces in
president. The famous Tamizuddin case the provision for party-based elections. the parliament. This led to a bicameral
about the 1954 dissolution of the assembly This would have put a government in power constitution where the upper house would
pointed to a subordinate position of the that would enjoy a vast network of act as a territorial chamber. Over the years,
legislature in the state structure. organisational links in the society. It would the senate grew into a house of 87 mem-
The parliament's loss of sovereignty in have challenged the government's mo- bers, whereby each province elected 19
Pakistan has been the rule rather than the nopoly over organisations and would members, the federally administered tribal
exception. The parliament was legally have created problems for Karachi in terms areas (FATA) elected eight members and
sovereign only from 1973 to 1977 and of the smooth and unhindered acceptance the federal capital elected three members.
again from 1997 to 1999, in the sense that of the writ of the state. Given this scenario, The senate embodied the principle of
no extra-parl iamentary force had the power the state elite could hardly afford to hold constraining the brute majority of the
to dissolve it during these periods. Other- elections as scheduled. The Ayub coup in province of Punjab, with its nearly 60 per
wise, Pakistan had a non-sovereign par- 1958 saved the situation for it. cent share in the national population. The
liament under the 1962 constitution, when The 1962 constitution transferred the three smaller provinces and FATA, which
the president could prevail over the par- supreme executive authority from the together constitute nearly 40 per cent of
liament effectively or under the 8th con- parliament to the president, who was elected
the population, carried nearly 75 per cent
stitutional amendment of 1985, when the for five years. The idea was that the presi- of the seats in the senate.
president was empowered to dissolve dent would be secure in office for a fixed However, the over-representation of
the parliament. From 1985 to 1999, tenure and would not depend on the sup- smaller provinces in the senate did not
democratisation moved ahead by fits and port of a majority on the floor of the help, considering the asymmetrical policy
starts, and finally collapsed. The parlia- national assembly to keep him in office, scope of the two houses. For example,
ment was able to keep its sovereignty only unlike a prime minister in a parliamentary money bills could only be introduced in
for two and half years at the end of this system. Given the centralisation of powers the national assembly and, without being
period. General Musharraf was clearly in the hands of the federal government, the sent to the senate, could be presented to
determined to subordinate the parliament president would not be obliged to respond the president for his assent. Additionally,
to the writ of the extra parliamentary forces to the demands for provincial autonomy the senate in Pakistan was elected on the
led by fiimself as the president, especially emanating from the legislators of East basis of the Proportional Representation
as he planned to take the initiative away Bengal and the erstwhile smaller pro- Single Transferable Vote (PR-STV) sys-
from parliamentarians even before the vinces of West Pakistan. The same pattern tem, restricted franchise and indirect elec-
elections. prevailed at the provincial level where tions. It is argued that indirect elections
While the parliamentary tradition legislators had no relevance for the forma- are less representative than direct elections
struggled to remain active on the political tion of the government. The governors in because the winners at the end of the
scene of Pakistan, the political parties have the provinces, unlike the president in the second round may or may not be the choice
been engaged to remain afloat in the murky centre, were not even elected. They were of the first round voters. Often, a time lag
waters of electoral politics in their own mere nominees of the president. In this between elections for the provincial as-
ways. The party as a public organisation way, the political parties throughout the semblies and half the senate, sometimes
has suffered through a low institutional country found it extremely hard to enter more than two years with or without a
level from 1947 onwards. The state elite the Ayub system at both federal and pro- change of government in this period, can
has often criticised the party leaders, cadresvincial levels.1 1 The 1962 constitution was adversely affect the results. This happened
and workers for the lack of inner party based on the mistrust of the capacity ofunder both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir
democracy, corruption and factionalism. the common people to elect good people. Bhutto, when the composition of the senate
However, it is also true that this elite always Restricted franchise replaced adult fran- changed drastically. Here, PR became an
considered the role of the party dysfunc-chise. This reoriented politics along instrument of extension for the number of
tional for the existing power structure.non-issue and non-policy lines, and thus legislators commanded by each party pro-
This is so because parties are policy-bear-effectively depoliticised the electoral dy- portionate to its strength in the provincial
ing institutions. In that capacity, they seeknamics. assemblies. Thus, the real 'election' took
to reorient long-held policies and profiles The 1970 elections brought forth a new place inside the party forums, manipulated
and thus challenge the status quo throughalignment of political forces.12 No na- regularly by the party bosses led by the
collective action. Secondly, parties are tional level elections were ever held on the party presidents, be it the Pakistan Muslim
public mobilisers par excellence. In abasis of adult franchise for a quarter of a League (PML), Pakistan People's Paity
situation where the state does not want to century. The two constitutions of 1956 and (PPP), Awami Naional Party (ANP) or
open its doors to the public at large, parties 1962 sought to contain; co-opt or cajole Muttahida Qaumi Mahaz (MQM). In other
provide a platform to build street power various ethnic, leftist and Islamic forces. words, the elections for the senate tended
All of these forces bounced back with full
and thus put pressure on the elite structure. to nullify the function of a mass exercise
Elections, parties and elected assemblies strength in 1970. In the post-Bangladesh in vote.
operate along a dynamics that runs counter scenario, the 1973 constitution was based In June 2002, the Musharraf government
to the dynamics of the permanent non- on the realisation that ethnic pluralism was proposed to hold direct elections for the
elected machinery of the government, the only sound footing on which the senate through the PR-list system, based

Economic and Political Weekly November 2-9, 2002 4535

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on each province operating as a multiple respectively. In 1986, the former had gone commissions of inquiry, the Planning
member constituency, and increase the up to 55.3 and 57.7 per cent, while the Commission as well as the departments of
number of senators to 100, with 17 per centmohajirs from urban Sindh had declined the federal government and public corpo-
seats for women. Political stakeholders to 18.2 and 18.3 per cent respectively.14 rations under Ayub, the share of the
questioned the wisdom of the open By list1993, the share of Punjab had further Bengalis remained less than one-third.19
system because that would lead to contes- gone up to 62.36 per cent, while Sindh, Foreign aid was disproportionately allo-
tants belonging to a party fighting againstNWFP and Baluchistan trailed behind at cated, 77 per cent to West Pakistan and
each other. However, many found these 17.14, 12.41 and 3.01 per cent respec- only 23 per cent to East Pakistan.20 It was
arguments unconvincing. tively, along with a mere 4.98 per cent forclaimed that the discriminatory pattern of
Constitutional frameworks in Pakistan the northern areas, FATA and Azad Jammu the inter-wing trade, combined with the
direly influenced the way the electorate and Kashmir (AJK).15 In this way, the differential pattern of the aid flow, led to
was offered the opportunity to elect theirprocess of centralisation of power and a net transfer of resources worth US $ 2.6
representatives as well as the shape of theidentification of the state with Punjab billion
led from East to West Pakistan in the
elected assemblies thus elected. The Eighthto the emergence of ethno-nationalist move-two decades after independence.21
Amendment provided for a strong presi- ments in all other provinces other than From the language riots of 1952 and the
dent as opposed to a weak prime minister. Punjab. various dismissals of elected governments
This system effected an attitudinal change Earlier, we outlined the profile of the in Dhaka in the 1950s to the worsening
in the electorate by way of dispensing withestablishment in Pakistan, essentially in pattern of regional disparity in the 1960s,
the law-making function of its represen-terms of the over-lapping roles of the the Bengali nationalism led to the
tatives. Instead, the elected assemblies migratory elite, urban middle class and breakaway of East Pakistan in 1971. Simi-
operated as pumping stations for localbureaucracy on the one hand and the army's larly, the two flash points of Pakhtun
interests from 1985 to 1999. This patronage-officer cadre on the other hand. These nationalism were rooted in the dismissal
seeking attitude of the voters has sup- patterns of authority bore a heavy printor ofresignation-in-protest of governments
in Peshawar in 1947 and 1973 respec-
ported influential people at the constitu- the centralisation of power and the mono-
ency level and boosted the role of moneyethnic tendency. This gave birth to the tively. The establishment never reconciled
in the elections. In this context, patronage demand for provincial autonomy, whichwith the Congress background of Ghaffar
disbursed through networks based on has steadfastly acted as the anchor of Khan and his movement. Similarly, the
Baluch nationalists opposed the allegedly
primary relations, and not policies based interests and aspirations of various ethnic
forced annexation of Baluchistan with
on public issues, emerged as the stuff of communities. The cult of unity led to such
which elections were made. On the other Pakistan in 1947. The dismissal of the
unpopular policy measures as the establish-
hand, the exercise of state power under ment of the One Unit in West Pakistan, elected government of the National Awami
military rule helped those who were rep-which alienated the three smaller provinces Party in Quetta in 1973 led to the most
resented in the privileged structures of thein that wing. Finally, the establishment severe and sustained militant movement
army and the bureaucracy. Punjab and, to continuously failed to recognise the factamong the Baluch from 1973 to 1977.
a lesser extent, the mohajir community that the masses had comprehensivelyThe Pakhtun and Baluch movements
belonged to this category. Sindhis and the internalised the constitutional norms of have subsided in recent years, at least in
Baluch were clearly disadvantaged in thispublic behaviour and the populist mode terms of of mass agitation and worker mili-
sense. Pathans increased their presence inelectoral dynamics. The centre's dismissal tancy. Not so with the two rival move
the state apparatuses over the years. Notof elected governments in various provinces ments of the Sindhis and the mohajirs in
surprisingly, politics in Pakistan has been from the 1950s to 1990s often ignited thean province of Sindh, which share their
increasingly defined in ethnic idiom. grievances with the other ethnic move-
already existing situation of ethnic alien-
ments in terms of the dismissal of elected
ation and enormously contributed to mili-
Politics of Ethnic Identity governments, the issue of language, and
tancy in the ranks of the ethnic nationalists.
East Pakistan presented a classic sce-the loss of political space to Punjab. These
Identification of the state in Pakistannario of representing a mode of politicalmovements draw essentially on the most
with the Punjabis, to the exclusion of all
and ideological activity, which ran counter
significant determinant of politics in the
others, has contributed to the intensifica-
to the thinking of the establishment. Theimmediate post-independence years,
tion and even militarisation of ethnic latter criticised the Muslims in East Paki- namely, the phenomenon of migration.
stan for being too closely integrated withThe Sindhi nationalism was a direct reac-
conflicts in the country. The rise of the
Punjab-based army to power in Pakistan their Hindu compatriots.16 As opposed totion to the arrival of millions of refugees
in 1958 and the emergence of Punjab the as exodus of the non-Muslims from West from India. A breakaway faction of the
a majority province in 1971, after the Punjab, which left no Hindus or Sikhs Muslim League, led by G M Syed, es-
emergence of Bangladesh, led to the per- there, the Hindus in East Bengal numbered poused the cause of an independent
12 million.17 East Bengali politicians 'Sindhudesh' after the refugees came and
ceived Punjabisation of the state in bureau-
cratic and military terms. This gradually maintained a steady stance on the issue ofdominated Sindh, and after Karachi was
led to the emergence of politics of ethnicprovincial autonomy and rejected plans separated from the province in 1948 as the
identity in all non-Punjabi communities.13for a centralised form of government. capital of Pakistan. Nearly half of the newly
In 1973, the Punjabis accounted for 49.3 Despite its share in population at 55 perirrigated land, i e, 1.32 million acres of
per cent of the army officers and 53.5 percent, East Bengal had a share of only 10agricultural land that was brought under
cent of the senior bureaucrats, while the per cent and 13 per cent in the army and cultivation by various barrages, was allot-
mohajirs were 30.1 and 33.5 per cent the bureaucracy respectively.18 In various ted to bureaucrats and military officers,

4536 Economic and Political Weekly November 2-9, 2002

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both Punjabis and Mohajirs.22 Similarly, services, business and law enforcing agen- people, 2 million Punjabis, 1.5 million
the cultural and linguistic aspirations of cies and the prospect of repatriation of thePathans (including Afghans), two million
the Sindhis were thwarted by what was Biharis from Bangladesh, which is fearedforeigners (including Iranians, Iraqis, Sri
condemned as Punjabi imperialism.23 The to contribute to the demographic imba-Lankans, Thais, Bangladeshis, Burmese,
Sindhi language was discouraged as a lance still further, has kept the pot ofSindhi Filipinos and others) and less than a
language of literacy and higher education nationalism boiling in the year 2002. The million Sindhis and Baluch.27 The perva-
in favour of Urdu. The One-Unit (1955-70) Sindhi Association of North America sive ethnic idiom defined this competition.
threatened to wipe out the separate cultural (SANA) and the World Sindhi Congress
The mohajirs developed sentiments of
identity of the Sindhis. After the provided platforms for Sindhi nationalism
nativeness vis-a-vis the later migrants and
in-migration of the mainly Urdu-speaking abroad. At home, the mainstream party, started a movement in pursuit of their
Muslims from India, who generally settled the PPP, had its largest votebank amongseparate rights and distinct identity.
in the cities, the educational institutions, the Sindhis, largely because it provided From
a the mid- 1980s onwards, the MQM
press and cultural activities became window of opportunity for the Sindhiscommanded
to a large and committed elec-
Urdu-based. The first flurry of reaction articulate their interests in, what they
torate. It cultivated a blind faith in its
among the Sindhis to the perceived mohajir perceived to be, the Punjabi-dominated leader Altaf Hussain and followed an
domination was based on a defensive state. Under General Pervez Musharraf s almost text-book approach to party
strategy of cultural preservation.24 government, the Sindhi nationalists con- organisation, largely based on the classical
tinue to be alienated due to a lack of
The demand for restoring the Sindhi Communist Party model. The MQM has
language to its rightful place became the
effective representation in the military a commissarial structure with a rigid
rallying ground for Sindhi nationalism,bureaucratic establishment. The issue of hierarchy and discipline. Some of its work-
an equitable share of Indus waters forers adopted militant means of settling scores
resulting in the Sindhi Language Bill of
1972. The bill declared Sindhi to be the Sindh brought all the major forces togetherwith political opponents in the streets and
official language of Sindh. The subse-in 2000-2001. extorting money from the public. The party
quent language riots fuelled Sindhi nation- The mohajir movement is unique in many
struggled against the implementation of
alism still further. Politically, the Sindhiways. The Pakhtun, Bengalis, Sindhi and
the perceived discriminatory aspects of the
nationalist forces, led by G M Syed,Baluch movements emerged in communi- quota system for jobs and admissions in
opposed the centralisation of power in the educational institutions. It demanded re-
ties that were never part of the dominant
hands of the federal government and theelite. But the mohajrs were initially patriation of the Biharis (the mohajirs from
mergerof Sindh into One-Unit. It demandeddominant in the state system and only the province of Bihar in India), who were
full provincial autonomy and proportion-progressively lost their grip over power.stranded in Bangladesh after 1971. The
ate representation of the Sindhis in the MQM won the 1987 local bodies elections
During the first quarter of a century after
bureaucracy, where they accounted for onlyindependence, they were 3 per cent and
of the 1988, 1990, 1993 and 1997 elec-
2.7 per cent as opposed to the mohajirs atthe population of the united Pakistan, tions at higher levels.
33.5 per cent.25 Successive waves ofbut had 21 per cent of the jobs.26 TheIn 1992, the army cracked down on the
migratiorn into Sindh sent shock waves Gujarati-speaking mohajirs from Bombay MQM. It claimed that it had unearthed the
among the Sindhis, who feared the pros-in India controlled seven of the 12 biggest party's torture cells, camps for training of
pects of becoming a minority in their ownindustrial houses. As a privileged minor- terrorists and plans for the formation of
homeland. According to the 1981 census,ity, the mohajirs operated at the national a separate state Jinnahpur. The army en-
they were 55.7 per cent in Sindh, 36.3 perlevel and abhorred sub-national identitiescouraged the formation of a breakaway
cent in urban Sindh and only 3.8 per centbased on language, region and culture.
faction of the MQM called Hakiki, which
in Karachi city. The controversial 1998However, the 1970 elections opened never up took off. After the army operation
census largely kept that ratio intact. How-the state to mass participation in many (1992-94), followed by a brief police and
ever, the Sindhis fear that the last decadeareas. This led to the politicisation of ethno-
rangers operation (1995-96) that created
.and half may have worsened their positionlinguistic identities in all provinces other as much hostility -as it contained, the
still further in demographic terms. The than Punjab. The Sindhi-led PPP's ruleMQM's political activity was somewhat
1979 execution of Z A Bhutto, who hailed(1971-77) triggered the assertion of the
reduced. However, the mohajirs continue
from Sindh, worked as a catalyst among to be agitated due the state's failure to
mohajir identity, which found expression
the Sindhis, who led the 1983 agitation inin the formation of the MQM, which wasprovide good civic amenities and urban
the country from the platform of the Move-called 'Mohajir Qaumi Mahaz' before planning
it as well as their declining social,
ment for Restoration of Democracy (MRD).changed its name to 'Muttahida Qaumi
cultural and political representation in
At one end, the movement included Mahaz'. Successive waves of migration public life.28 In 2002, the military dispen-
the PPP, with its core area of support into Karachi from India, from the sation led by General Musharraf includes
lying in Sindh but its federalist politicsupcountry, from the interior of Sindh and several mohajirs in command positions,
identified with the whole of Pakistan. At from the neighbouring countries in theincluding the president himself. This might
the other end, there were parties, such as 1940s and 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s serve, to some extent, to mitigate the
the self-proclaimed Marxist-Leninist Party respectively led to the competition forjobs alienation of the mohajirs from the politi-
'Sindhi Awami Tehrik', with aclear nation- and access to civic amenities. In Karachi,cal system of Pakistan. Altaf Hussain's
alist agenda. Various factions of the 'Jiye a number of linguistic groups competedleadership, through remote control from
Sindh Mohaz' occupied the political spacefor businesses, jobs and social amenities.his position in exile in London, has suf-
between the two ends. The continuing In this city, there were approximately 5.5fered in terms of direct contact with the
under-representation of the Sindhis in million Urdu (and Gujarati) speakingreality on the ground. The relatively high

Economic and Political Weekly November 2-9, 2002 4537

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cost of agitation politics for party workers 5 Col Mohammad Ahmed, My Chief, Lahore, and Politics in Pakistan, Progresive , Lahore,
1960, p 74. 1986, p 265.
in terms of human life has also dampened
6 Tan Tai Yong, 'Punjab and the Making of 17 Gyanesh Kudaisya, 'Demographic Upheaval
the spirit of revolt. One can safely observe Pakistan', South Asia, vol xviii, 1995, p 178. of Partition: Refugees and Agricultural
that the mohajir movement has passed 7 Ibid, pp 180-87. Resettlement in India: 1947-67', South Asia,
beyond the first phase. It is looking for a 8 For this approach, see Hasan Askari Rizvi, Special issue xviii, 1995, p 86.
new idiom, which can reconcile the MQM's Military, State and Society in Pakistan, 18 M Anisurrehman, East and West Pakistan: A
Macmillan, 2000, Prologue, pp xiv-xix. Problem in the Political Econolmy of Regional
organisational interests with the reality of
9 The Pakistan Times, October 11, 1958. Planning, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1968,
a multi-ethnic community in urban Sindh. 10 Myron Weiner, 'Empirical Democratic Theory' p 15.
in Myron Weiner and Ergun Ozbudun (eds), 19 Rounaq Jehan, Pakistan: Failure in National
Conclusion Competitive Elections in Developing Countries, Integration, New York, 1972, 360. p 98.
Duke University Press, 1987, pp 4-5. 20 'Why Bangladesh'? in Bangladesh Documents
It is clear from these observations that 11 Mohammad Waseem, Politics and the State, (BP)_Lahore, nd, p 17.
pp 157-58. 21 'Report of the Planning Commission on Fourth
partition and migration played a determin- 12 For a detailed analysis of the realigning nature Five-Year Plan 1970' in BP, Appendix 3, p 266
istic role in shaping the politics of Paki- ofthe 1970 elections, see Mohammad Waseem, 22 Shahid Kardar, 'Polarisation in the Regions
stan. On the one hand, it created what was 'Dynamics of Electoral Politics in Pakistan' and Prospects for Integration' in S Akbar Zaidi
often described as a Punjabi-mohajir state, in Subho Basu and Suranjan Das (eds), (ed), Regional Imbalances and the National
Electoral Politics in South Asia, Calcutta, Question in Pakistan, Vanguard, Lahore, 1992,
inasmuch as the army, bureaucracy as well
2000, pp 140-41. p311.
as the commercial and professional elites 13 See Yunus Samad, A Nation in Turmoil, Sage
23 G M Syed, A Nation in Chains, Bombay, 1976,
drew heavily on these communities. The Publications, New Delhi, 1995, pp 124-35. p 24.
perceived bellicosity of India contributed
14 Charles Kennedy, 'Managing Ethnic Conflict: 24 Tahir Amin, Ethnonational Movements of
to pushing the economic, political, educa- The Case of Pakistan', Regional Politics and Pakistan, Islamabad, 1988, p 92.
Policy, Frank Cass, no 1, vol 3, Spring 1993, 25 Charles Kennedy, Managing Ethnic Conflicts,
tional and welfare policies to a secondary
p 138. p 138.
status in favour of national security as the15 Source, Establishment Division, Federal 26 Mohammad Waseem, Politics and the State,
top priority. Constitutional engineering, Secretariat, Government of Pakistan, p 109.
led by successive military governments, Islamabad, 1995. 27 See Iqbal Yusuf(ed), Karachi Papers, Karachi,
16 Mohammad Ayub Khan, 'A Short Appreciation 1995.
contributed to the centralisation of power
of Present and Future Problems of Pakistan',
28 Arif Hasan, ' What is Karachi Really Fighting
in the hands of the federal government.
Appendix A-1, in Hasan Askari Rizvi, Military For', Herald, September 1995, pp 59-60.
Parliamentary sovereignty was the greatest
casualty in thisprocess. Political parties
and electoral dynamics suffered accord-
ingly as power was publicly identified with REVIEW OF WOMEN STUDIES
the political executive and bureaucracy
while the legislators were given a second- April 27, 2002
ary role, if at all. The continuing domina-
tion of Punjab in the state apparatuses and The New Segregation: Reflections on Gender and
reflected through its majority in the na- Equity in Primary Education - Vimala Ramaclhandran,
tional assembly, thereby neutralising the Aarti Saihjee
equal representation of provinces in the Literacy, Power and Feminism - Malini Ghose
senate, remains a source of alienation for
Enrolment, Dropout and Grade Completion
the smaller provinces. The latest consti-
of Girl Children in West Bengal - Piyali Sengulpta, Jaba Guha
tutional reforms proposed by the Musharraf
government not only avoid addressing the Gender and Curriculum - Dipta Bhog
problems facing democracy in Pakistan Pre-adolescent Girls in Municipal Schools
but may also destabilise the federalist in Mumbai - Vacha Kishori Project Team
framework of the state still further. [3
Missing Indigenous Bodies: Educational Enterprise
and Victorian Morality in Mid-19th Century
Address for correspondence:
waseem 1007 @hotmail.com
Bombay Presidency - Veronique Benei

The Review of Women Studies appears twice year

Notes issues of April and October. Women and Philosoph
and Women's Movement (October 2000); Women, C
1 For detai s see Census of Pakistan 1951: Report
2000); Earlier issues have focused on: Women and
and Tables, Karachi, nd, pp 19-23.
2 Mohammad Waseem, 'Partition, Migration and
Inequities: Focus on Tamil Nadu (April 1999); N
Assimilation: A Comparative Study of Culture (October 1998); Women and Independenc
Pakistani Punjab' in Ian Talbot and Gurharpal
For copies write to
Singh (eds), Region and Partition, Oxford
University Press, 1999, p 209. Circulation Manager
3 See Ayesha Jalal, The State of Martial Rule, Economic and Political Weekly
Cambridge, 1990, pp 110-11. Hitkari House, 284, Shahid Bhagatsingh Road,
4 For details, see Mohammad Waseem, Politics
Mumbai 400 001
and lte State il Pakistan, Islamabad, 1994,
pp 128-29.

4538 Economic and Political Weekly November 2-9. 2002

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