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The Karachi issue is a deep wound in the body politic of Pakistan and if not healed might become a cancer. This issue has the potential of becoming a cause for the ultimate demise of Pakistan which is already on the verge of collapse. The Karachi issue has political dimension which is ethnic in nature too in addition to being fundamentally a politico-economic issue.
It is proposed therefore that the Mahajir and Pashtun communities should get into an alliance both at political as well as socio-economic levels for the restoration of perpetual peace and progress in Karachi. Following are the points which might ring the bells in the minds of those who are the decision makers in both the communities and their representative political parties.
1. The intelligentsia of both these ethnicities and their representative parties should realize that in the bigger picture both the ethnicities in their separate capacities have no or less importance by virtue of belonging to a third world country and a nearly failed state so their alliance is what is in the interest of both.
2. Both the ethnicities have already left their original abodes for a better life with no or rare intention to return back. Whether Karachi becomes a separate city state or continues to be the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, neither could the five million Pashtuns go back to Pakhtunkhwa due to lack of opportunities nor could the ten million Mahajirs afford to go back to India which they have left for good due to the political situation prevalent at that time.
3. The only thing which both the communities can do is to share a mutual economic interest for a better life by exploiting each other’s potential.
4. Both can get close to each other by having joint business ventures in areas of their strength.
5. On the political level, Pakhtuns as well as Mahajirs have been victims of anti popular policies of Pakistani establishment in the name of operations both in Karachi as well as in Pakhtunkhwa.
6. Both the parties have been fighting for their rights for a reasonably long time and have points of intersections in their struggle like provincial autonomy, anti-Kalabagh struggle, anti- terrorism stance, belief in the segregation of state and religion etc.
7. Both have been flaying extremism and have been victims of Taliban contrary to military establishment’s policy of demonizing Taliban in Pakistan but helping their anti state and terrorist activities in Afghanistan.
8. Both started their struggle for their communities and are slowly entering Pakistani national level politics for which a basic pre requisite is to recognize and show tolerance towards other ethnic communities, cultures, languages and groups living in Pakistan.
9. Both ethnicities and their respective political parties can achieve their political goals in the national politics by binding themselves in an alliance to become a power to reckon with in national politics.
10. The hegemony of civil and military elite of Pakistani state the majority of which belongs to Punjab makes it compulsory for both the ethnicities and their representative political parties to enter into the proposed alliance.
11. The dangerous and extremist thoughts and ideologies supported and propagated by the Pakistani state will also ultimately compel both these communities to think for their much required alliance.
12. Pashtuns are followers of towering historical personalities like Bacha Khan and Samad Khan Achakzai while the Mahajirs belong to the land of father of non violence - Gandhi and champion of constitutional struggle – M.A.Jinnah. All of these political leaders believed in peaceful and constitutional struggle instead of violence.
The violence in Karachi is not in the interest of anyone. The innocent and the poor from both the sides are used for the interest of others and that too by the conscious decisions of their leaders but the real executor and benefiter is behind the veil and gets direct benefit from the mutual antagonism between these two communities and their representative parties.
It is proposed therefore that the Mahajir and Pashtun communities should get into an alliance both at political as well as socio-economic levels for the restoration of perpetual peace and progress in Karachi. Following are the points which might ring the bells in the minds of those who are the decision makers in both the communities and their representative political parties.
1. The intelligentsia of both these ethnicities and their representative parties should realize that in the bigger picture both the ethnicities in their separate capacities have no or less importance by virtue of belonging to a third world country and a nearly failed state so their alliance is what is in the interest of both.
2. Both the ethnicities have already left their original abodes for a better life with no or rare intention to return back. Whether Karachi becomes a separate city state or continues to be the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, neither could the five million Pashtuns go back to Pakhtunkhwa due to lack of opportunities nor could the ten million Mahajirs afford to go back to India which they have left for good due to the political situation prevalent at that time.
3. The only thing which both the communities can do is to share a mutual economic interest for a better life by exploiting each other’s potential.
4. Both can get close to each other by having joint business ventures in areas of their strength.
5. On the political level, Pakhtuns as well as Mahajirs have been victims of anti popular policies of Pakistani establishment in the name of operations both in Karachi as well as in Pakhtunkhwa.
6. Both the parties have been fighting for their rights for a reasonably long time and have points of intersections in their struggle like provincial autonomy, anti-Kalabagh struggle, anti- terrorism stance, belief in the segregation of state and religion etc.
7. Both have been flaying extremism and have been victims of Taliban contrary to military establishment’s policy of demonizing Taliban in Pakistan but helping their anti state and terrorist activities in Afghanistan.
8. Both started their struggle for their communities and are slowly entering Pakistani national level politics for which a basic pre requisite is to recognize and show tolerance towards other ethnic communities, cultures, languages and groups living in Pakistan.
9. Both ethnicities and their respective political parties can achieve their political goals in the national politics by binding themselves in an alliance to become a power to reckon with in national politics.
10. The hegemony of civil and military elite of Pakistani state the majority of which belongs to Punjab makes it compulsory for both the ethnicities and their representative political parties to enter into the proposed alliance.
11. The dangerous and extremist thoughts and ideologies supported and propagated by the Pakistani state will also ultimately compel both these communities to think for their much required alliance.
12. Pashtuns are followers of towering historical personalities like Bacha Khan and Samad Khan Achakzai while the Mahajirs belong to the land of father of non violence - Gandhi and champion of constitutional struggle – M.A.Jinnah. All of these political leaders believed in peaceful and constitutional struggle instead of violence.
The violence in Karachi is not in the interest of anyone. The innocent and the poor from both the sides are used for the interest of others and that too by the conscious decisions of their leaders but the real executor and benefiter is behind the veil and gets direct benefit from the mutual antagonism between these two communities and their representative parties.
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