A Perspective on Mohajir identity of Urdu-speaking citizens of Karachi and thereabout. Part 1

This post is based on my input in a discussion at www.defence.pk/forums/national-political-issues/ 
The original post in its unmodified state is at : 
http://www.defence.pk/forums/national-political-issues/228096-split-discussion-muhajir-identity-5.html#post3774961

Nothing exists without a reason. If a number of people choose to call themselves Mohajirs, then one can not simply dismiss it. There are reasons for it. 

a) When an Urdu-speaking person sees that Sindhi favors a fellow Sindhi, Pathan favors a fellow Pathan, and Punjabi favors a fellow Punjabi, then naturally the said person might wonder what ought he to do when he needs a favor? In our Pakistan one can not simply assume a moral high-ground only to find oneself stranded alone and disadvantaged. When one goes to government departments one finds that there is a need to find references and to apply some sort influence to get a favorable outcome. High on this list are the departments with which a common person often needs to interact: Police, judiciary, revenue, municipal offices and such like.

b) Quota system makes sense to the over-whelming majority of the country's population, just as has been pointed out by others. However, with many educated Urdu-speaking immigrants employed in the federal and provincial government in the early years of Pakistan, naturally their second generation expected to follow in their footsteps and aspire to a government job. Two factors then intervened. First, the shifting of Capital to Islamabad; and second, the imposition of quota system. Thus to Urdu-speaking population of Karachi there seemed to be a raw-deal for their second generation. The quota system was supposed to be temporary, but it proved so convenient that it is still alive and well. Now the situation for a number of years has been such that non-Urdu speakers predominate in the federal and provincial offices in Karachi. As I said, when people of particular ethnicities favor each other, there is natural resentment in the Urdu-speakers (I am avoiding using the term 'mohajir' purposely).

c) The resentment thus arising feeds the need to assume an identity and this is where the term 'Mohajir' finds its purpose. It is essentially a reactionary mechanism. A new 'ethnicity' is in the making because there is a perceived need for it. I have to say that in my limited understanding, the aforementioned resentment is a very important factor, perhaps the most important.

This leads me to address the narrative that MQM has popularized among Urdu-speaking community. As noted by others there is an assumption of superiority among some (or many) in Urdu-speaking community. I have noticed so much myself. This superiority is based on certain assumptions among which level of education, cultural sophistication, Urdu's pre-eminent cultural position, a feeling of having sacrificed more than others, presumed victim-hood etc.. all figure. Elements from this list figure prominently in the narrative used by MQM. The presumption of victim-hood, the idea of having sacrificed disproportionately, the assumption that Pakistan was created by Urdu-speakers, and the assumption that this new country could not have survived without their sacrifices, is deeply ingrained in MQM workers and supporters. These assumptions assume a mythological significance and it is very difficult to shake them. These are the pillars upon which the edifice of 'Mohajir' identity is built. 

That this narrative is not quite the whole truth and that many people find these assumptions offensive does not quite sink in the committed MQM mind-set. I do not wish to provide counter arguments in the interest of brevity and can come back to this if asked.

The formation of APMSO, the rise of Muhajir Qaumi Movement, and its factured evolution to Mutahidda Qaumi Movement has been well noted. The rhetoric, methods, and tactics used along the way are also well-known. Today MQM can not claim moral high ground, flaunt its self-assumed victim-hood, or make a valid claim to espouse the cause of the dispossessed. Nobody trusts them outside of their core support areas, no matter what they say. There was some willingness among the educated classes among various ethnicities to give them a chance, forget their earlier rhetoric, set aside the bias arising out of their methods; just to see how MQM goes about fulfilling its stated goals. I have seen all this support evaporate in the last decade or so. They had their chance and they blew it. They are condemned to the status of a small regional party. The best MQM can hope for is to sustain itself until it goes through a generational change. With new people unburdened with soiled reputations there would be another chance after a decade or two. But to avail that chance, MQM genuinely needs to jettison its parochial agenda. When an MQM supporter says emphatically that Karachi belongs to Muhajirs, they are perpetuating all that is wrong with MQM.

I am deeply cynical of MQM and can not bring myself to support them now. Pakistan needs much more than the middle-class ethos that MQM purports to represent. We are a nation. We need an inclusive vision. One that shows that each and everyone of us, even the much-hated waderas and sardars, has a stake in this country and its success. If ANP can be made to come around, then so can others.

5 Jan 2013