A passionate and sane plea to Atif to use his logic and understand

You can call me a B***C*** or my fictitious bhabhijaan a W****, then I can accuse all Punjoos of honor killings, rampant obesity, and so on. Our altercation is not personal. I have had and still have a measure of respect for your thoughts and opinions. On a personal basis, what happened was that I was objecting to rolling out the red carpet in Lahore to high-tipping Indian tourists without consultation with the rest of Pakistanis. A certain Punjaban lady shouted SHUT UP - insinuating that we Mohajirs (and others) have no business telling Lahoris who they can invite to their city. You jumped in the conversation and supported the "Lahori" point of view. My argument was that, being Pakistanis, the rest of the country needs to participate in this decision making. The rest is history.

Looking at the matter calmly, I offer the following for your consideration:

1. Mohajirs and others perceive Punjabi domination and high-handedness almost in the same light as the Bengalis did 34 years ago. Bengalis were patriotic Pakistanis from ’47 to ’71, in fact, they were the impetus for Pakistan’s creation. In the ’65 war, the Punjabi-dominated army was almost exclusively in the West, leaving the East totally unprotected. India did not attack East Pak - for very good reason. They did not want to alienate the Bengalis and that was a shrewd decision that paid off six years later.
2. Punjabis form the bulk of the army. It is the premier career in Pakistan for a good life and a political career. Considerable fortunes have been made in corruption, bribery, land allotments, and "investment’ in defense "society" scams against the civilian masses. Why can’t the Paki army be more representative of Pakistan’s demographics?
3. The Punjabi dominated army has engaged in horrible and violent acts against every province of Pakistan, except Punjab! The list is almost comprehensive - First East Pakistan (Bengal), then Karachi in Sind, then Baluchistan, then Karachi and Hyderabad in Sind again, then NWFP, and finally Baluchistan again. Do you see a pattern?
4. It appears that, since the cricket series of last year, Punjabis have discovered that Indians don’t have horns and should be welcomed as visitors. Well, we Mohajirs have known this for over 57 years - many Indians happen to be our own relatives. The Punjabi-dominated Paki government placed all kinds of restrictions that discouraged our relatives (and other Indians) from visiting Pakistan. These include difficult processes for obtaining visas, the need to travel from remote parts of India to a handful of consular offices just to wait (sometimes for days!) for a stupid visa, and having to travel all the way to Wagah just to enter Pakistan, when Khokrapar would be a far easier and faster crossing. Then the demeaning requirement to register at every police station upon arrival provides ample fuel for resentment against Gestapo-like tactics.
5. If Lahore can decide to welcome Indians, Karachi (and other cities of Pakistan) should have the same right. If Karachi wants to foster trade and better relations with relatively-nearby Mumbai, why impose barriers against such aspirations?
6. If Karachi wants to import legal Indian movies, why should Punjabi-dominated governments prohibit this type of entertainment? I understand that before the ban was imposed in the ’60s, Karachi had thriving cinemas and watching Indian flicks in the numerous theaters late at night was the life of the city. Ladies would dress up for the occasion and couples would enjoy a wonderful evening of drama, music, good acting, and follow that with eating out in Karachi’s famous sea-side restaurants. Since the ban, the cinema industry has died, the night life has disappeared, and Karachi has lost much of its luster. Karachiites want to watch Urdu/Hindi movies and listen to songs they understand and appreciate. They are not interested in watching obese, hairy, and untalented "actresses" screaming at them as they frolic across the streams and valleys.

It is not a matter of who is more Pakistani or who has lived longer in Pakistan, or who is a "son of the soil." You live in Boston and it is possible that your future children could be born in Woooosta! Will you deny them a voice about Pakistan just because of the location for your urge to merge?

I live in the US as do you and, thank God, we are not confronted with Pakistan’s issues on a daily basis. No occupying "American" army searches our homes, no "American" fighter jets from our own air force bomb us, and as far as I know, our collective children do not mysteriously disappear in the night - escorted by uniformed members of our own police forces.

How can we complain to Indians about what the Indian army may be doing in Kashmir if Pakistan’s army does the same or worse in every province of Pakistan - except Punjab? Please engage that sharp logic of yours and recognize the ticking bomb that will surely split Pakistan yet again, if the majority province does not relinquish its stranglehold on the entire nation.

Thanks for listening.