Almost all the serious and research-oriented writings on the political or military history of Pakistan, I studied, called General Mohammad Ayub Khan a Punjabi. The reason for this is obvious. First Ayub Khan was a Hindku-speaker. And Hindku is a dialect of Punjabi, so considered by almost all the linguists.
Second, ethnicity doesn’t neccessarily imply race. It may imply any thing, from religion to race and language to culture, that may define the group allegiances of a person in a given context. That is why we hear such terms as ethnic Muslim (here religion being the basis for ethnicity) or ethnic Asian (here geography and physiogymy are the determinents). In Pakistani context, we would take the territorial, linguistic, and cultural affiliations together with one’s thrust of interests to define one’s ethnicity. I’ll rather say that political loyalties should also be taken into account. A Baluchi who has been subservient to the center against the interests of Baluchis would not be a proper Baluchi.
Those people of Peshawar, Sawabi, Nowshera, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu, etc. who spoke hindku few generations back are now either bilingual or Pashto-speakers and as such are part and parcel of Pashtun body-sociale by culture and language, type of social institutions, norms and values, and commanlity of interests. They are not distinguishable from Pashtuns.
The situation of Haripur ( birth place of Ayub Khan ) unlike upper Hazara, where Pashtun-Kashmiri cultural influences pre-dominate, is different. Due to its geographical proximity with Punjab, its inhabitants have preferred linguistic and cultural affinities with Punjabis rather than Pashtuns.
Anyhow, I wonder, why don’t you accept Nawaz Sharif to be a Punjabi? Where was the center of his political loyalties?
Here is something for you.
Ayub Khan…an ethnic Punjabi (if you are not willing to accept him Punjabi then accept him as an ethnic Hindku-speaker)
General Musa Khan…an etnic Hazara, Shia, and Persian
General Yahya Khan…an ethnic Qazlabash Persian that also spoke Hindku
General Gul Hassan…ethnic Pashtun
General Tikka Khan…ethnic Punjabi (the general who massacred Bangalis)
General Ziaul Haq…ethnic Punjabi (migrated from Punjab to whom a house was alloted from the Hindu-evacue property in Peshawar)
General Mirza Aslam Baig…a Muhajir
General Asif Nawaz Janjua…an ethnic Punjabi
General Kakar…ethnic Pashtun
General Gehangir Karamat…ethnic Punjabi
General Musharaf…ethnic Muhajir
But all this statistic on ethincities of various chiefs is very misleading. It is not the question of one invidual. An individual is nothing. It is the question of the whole hierarchy that extends down from him. It is the question of the whole institutional structure, set-up, and composition. It is the question of the set-up of the entire politico-adminstrative and economic system. Even the ostensibly powerful Musharaf has to toe Punjab’s line and has to rely on the military and political power of Punjab to survive. The day he ignored Punjab he will be sent back home. The guy is so cautious about this point that he has settled in Gujranwala and is reluctant to strike a deal with Benazir.
Anyhow, we should look to things in totality. (What about other forces? What about core commanders formation? what about the whole military-and-civil bureaucratic hierarchy? what about the industrial and finacial elite? what about the fuedals power? what about share in industrail-economic development? what about constitution? what about power of senate and national assembly? what about share in media…etc.).
Moreover, I will find about this Jang group soon. However, I am sure it is Punjab-based.
