Re: Pashtuns in Karachi Unite
True Ayub Khan claimed Pashtun ancestory but had adopted Punjabi Culture and language and thus had greater affinity with Punjab. His support-base was Punjabi-Muhajir civil/military bureaucracy, politicians, commercial classes, and administrative machinary and his personal ambitions could have been served only by an alliance with these ruling structures. There is nothing to prove that he did anything substantial for Pashtuns.
Ok so if Ayub Khan is not Pashtun, then why do you guys claim Abdul Qadir Khan as one of your own? His family was from Bhopal, India, he is an urdu speaker. I see how selective it gets.
The ascendance of Muhajir community to the privelged status was not just due to its more-developed human-resource although it must be accepted that Muhajirs were comparatively better-educated and skilled. Responsible also were other factors, e.g.
Good to see you concede that point.
1. Qaud-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jannah and in particular Liaqat Ali Khan had left their political constituencies in Hindustan and had been re-elected to the constitution-making assembly of Pakistan on the provincial quota of Bangal (East Pakistan). Liaqat Ali Khan in particualr was very ambitious and wanted to play a bigger role in the newly established country. For this purpose, he wanted to have his own political constituency. He settled a lot of Muhajirs in Karachi to build a constituency for himself. He even reserved a speial 15% quota for "azimeen-i-Hijrat" (Muslims that were still in India but intended to migrate to Pakistan) in federal jobs to spur migration. It is said migration of Urdu-speakers to Pakistan had slowed down towards the end of 1948 but witnessed a sharp ascent during 1949-50 due to Liaqat's pro-Muhajir policies.
Do you think that was unfair? Muhajirs constituted the vast majority of Muslim representation in the Indian Civil Service in pre-partition India. They had the skills as bureaucrats and had the experience dealing with different groups of people.
Do you deny the role of Muhajirs in the Pakistan movement? Let us revisit pre-partition NWFP where Bacha Khan and his Khudai Khidmatgars were allied with Congress. Lets face it: NWFP voted for Pakistan because of it's people, on the basis of Islam. It is fair to say that the option of Pakistan was handed to the Pashtun populace on a platter to vote on. The grass roots Pakistan movement was amongst the lower-middle classes of India. I am not downplaying the few good Pashtun leaders but what type of grass roots support did they have compared to Bacha Khan?
The final thing I have to say is that these discussions are being framed under divisive ethnic lines, something that I am not happy about, but do not fear engaging in either. Muhajirs as a group are very different from Pakistanis because of their backgrounds, experiences etc. To downplay Muhajir success when education, comparatively liberal family structures have contributed to the success in Pakistan and abroad. The rise of Muhajir nationalism is a DIRECT result of the treatment by other Pakistani ethnicities. Look at this message board and the lies, insults thrown at Muhajirs.