Rajput yaar….what kinda jackass came up with the term “Urdu Speakers”, do you see the contradiction here? It is a dumbass term whereby one is associating a segment of a society based purely upon linguistic affiliation, yet one comes up with an English suffix (i.e., “Speaking”) to describe it. Do you know what I am saying?
I know what your saying, but this ethnic group-- if you choose to classify it as such, is not exactly easy to characterize, no singular culture, location, custom classifies them. Unlike the other 4 provinces of Pakistan, the urdu speakers come from a mind boggling variety of distinct places, cultures etc. Sure this anamoly is due to FORCING a creation of a group that doesn't exist. I mean this whoe issue of classifying migrants from India is more politically motivated than anything else. I have explained numerous times how the "Mohajir" term is as BS as Urdu Speakers-- which is atleast more accurate, despite being a linguistic affilation.
In my part of Punjab, Mohajirs are refereed to as “Hindustanis” (whether they speak Punjabi or not). Now that makes a lot more sense than calling them Urdu Speaking. On top of that, there still is a deep-rooted resentment (however wrong) for it being the official language while only less than 10% of the population considers it their mother tongue.
Well in my part of Punjab, the Pashtuns/Hinkians call all Punjabis and Urdu Speakers hindustanis...From their POV, Punjabis and "Hindustanis" are cousins. I don't mind the term Hindustani, in fact thats more coherent than Mohajir. I have absolutely no deep rooted resentment towards Urdu, as a fellow Punjabi you know how we have adopted Urdu quite willingly. If anything, we have neglected Punjabi specifically to promote Urdu.
Since you argued that it were an isolationists’ term (e.g. giving an impression of insularity) that’s why I said that it was not, and it indeed is a term which should be acceptable. This community is not much different from Auslanders in Germany or Outsiders in Southern England. The bottomline is that it is an issue that requires a lot of discussion and some common sense solution. I can see that some get touchy about being called a Mohajir, (and may be rightfully so, MAY BE), but that’s just the history of their ancestors. You keep talking about over 50 years of independence, I would hope that even in 5000 years from today, they should remember what their ancestry was, and how they came to Pakistan.
Ok let me describe a discussion i had with a good family friend whose background happens to be from Rajasthan. His family crossed into Pakistan in 1947, and was considered to be Mohajir. This fella was born in Larkana and considers himself Pakistani. So when he conveyed his frustration and anger over the term "Mohajir" it made sense. Although this person has never seen India or his ancestoral home, he is immediately detached from the larger Sindhi community because he is a "foreigner" not a son of the soil eventhough his Sindhi is superb and knowledge of the culture rivaling Sindhis. WHAT THE HELL is the Mohajir ancestory? There is no Mohajiristan or the like. They can and do remember their history by discussing the place their ancestors are from like UP, Hyderabad etc., When you talk about ancestory, being a Mohajir doesn't come into the picture beyond the fact that yes their grandparents migrated to pakistan in year so and so.. Ever go to Karachi? Talk to a large group of "Mohajirs" and watch the identity evaporate as the discussion gets deeper, suddenly those from South India will begin to adopt a common position while North Indians doing the same...to the extreme point the breakdown comes down to Allahbadis vs. Delhvis. Like I have said that "Mohajir" label is limited to dealing with Sindhis, Baluchis, Punjabis and Pashtuns...while the community is more fractured than the other ethnic groups of Pakistan.