Refugee for Life?

`` I was then informed that as a member of the Urdu Speaking community whose great grandparents migrated from India, I will for the rest of my natural life, even whilst being born in Pakistan, raised in Pakistan and thoroughly a Pakistani, will be referred to as a Muhajir.``

Punjabis in Delhi still call themselves Refugees. It is a matter of pride and honor to be a Refugee in Delhi.

Very well written piece

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[I was then informed that as a member of the Urdu Speaking community whose great grandparents migrated from India, I will for the rest of my natural life, even whilst being born in Pakistan, raised in Pakistan and thoroughly a Pakistani, will be referred to as a Muhajir]

That is a chip u guys carry on ur shoulders, there were more Punjabi mohajirs then there ever be UP CP wallahs, and they are still called mohajirs, but that does not inhibits their desire to be a mainstream Pakistani..u need to resolve that issue as a `nation` as u put it

[I have analysed this problem to an extent for myself. I am indeed proud of my heritage and the legacy of the Hindustani Muslim identity]

What identity are you talking about, Sir. We as a community lost the largest number of ppl on both sides of the fence, we lost in terms of money, land, pride, and most of all identity, yet you speak of identity, you had none, most of you claim to be the decendants of Turks, Arabs, Afghans and so on and so forth, yet for argument`s sake you unite under one umbrella provided to you by Pir Sahib to rally around the mohajir cause, not knowing that most of you who finally settled in Karachi, were our guests in Lahore for over two years before Liaquat Ali Khan, discovered Karachi as your natural habitat.

[whilst thousands of his Muhajir recruits to the APMSO and the MQM, were murdered by the Pak Army]

Sir, with all due respect, can you seriously mean what you said, after all what we know?

[In any case, no failure will stop me to state that I am not a Muhajir or a refugee]

The only sensible thing you said in your article-Amen!

I do not think that our miseries are because of our identities but only because of the social injustice. And cause for the injustice is a total disrespect for the rights and feelings of your fellow human being. In the context of Pakistan, there is a social class, the upper class, whose corruption and antipathy towards fellow human beings has reached to a mind boggling level. As in any society, the burden of responsibility for a system of social justice and a system of law and justice always lies with the powerful class in the society because they have the resources, power, and opportunity. Whereas the lower classes in society are powerless and look towards the upper class. But the antipathy of upper class can only go on far and so long and then the Bastille Day comes along with guillotines. In Pakistan, the biggest perpetrator of social injustice is the military which considers itself above every law and enforces its will through guns, gallowes, and jails. As military rapes the constitution, the very hope of the lower classes for social justice dies with it - constitution was not just a peice of paper for them, it was an instrument of hope and it was an acknowledgement by the powerful that weak also had a stake in the system. Does oppression has an identity? Sometimes, yes. But most of the time there is not. Take for example, Indian oppressed Kashmir where identity of oppressor is very well defined but what about people like shiekh abdullah and his progeny who has benefitted immensely by siding with oppressors. What about Iyad Allawis, Parvez Musharafs, Hamid karzais what is their identity? They have an identity too. They have an identity of an oppressor. Is it in their power to establish a system of social justice and give rights to the dispossessed and disenfranchaised. Of course they have the power - because they are the one who forfieted it in the first place.

#5 kkkandk

Thanks for you views, but I hope you meant ``true feelings of all Pakistanis, who have been ethnically labeled as Muhajirs`` . Just an observation :)

#4 & #3

I guess no Interact board is complete without some Indian`s ridiculing the actual meaning of the article. Whatever your interpretations of this piece is, you have to remember that in writing what I write, I keep reminding the readers that I am a Pakistani. I dont want to return to anywhere, I dont know anything else than Pakistan. I am not one of those Post Psuedo intellectuals debating about why Pakistan was created, I dont carry such delusions.

For me Pakistan is my home, my reality...and thats it.

I appreciate the historic bitterness that some Indians may feel around this statement, but thats the beauty of living in the present and not in the past.

Hellbound



Again, it is amazing how people miss the point one is trying to make. The very thing that I am trying to counter in this article, hellbound is arguing about. Throughout this article, I never for a moment refered to any anti Punjabi rhetoric. Infact the very point I am trying to defeat is the point hellbound wants to have a debate on. Sorry mate, I dont recognise your vitriolic views on history. Everyone who migrated to Pakistan and those who migrated to India had a terrible time.



Operation Clean Up, killed a lot of innocent people along with culprits, we lived through it where as you read it in the paper, so please save your breath.

U mention Operation Clean Up Wajahat, remember a odd dozen of laborers form Manshera, or a brother of an army officer, or a number of other ppl who were killed once it was established that they were either Punjabis or establishmentwallahs... so don`t give me that crap about innocent ppl getting killed. Period.

You tell me of your school days in the eighties when you first discovered that you were not mainstream Paki...imagine, I an adult of 23 years old being told in US that I am not welcome in Pakistani Students Community simply because I was a Punjabi...so go figure, who is right and who is wrong!

hellbound

according to government issued report, that was published sometimes in late 1996 the number of people who died in urban sindh carnage since 1986 was placed at 18,000. These are the total number of people who died in different ethnic cleansing episode by different ethnicities living in Karachi; it includes those who died while clashing with police, and also the law enforcement officials. In my opinion, the way I have witnessed the civil war in Karachi, this number should be somewhere near 40,000. Several mass exodus happened during that time where thousands of people migrated to north (of country) for their safety. Through my appartments balcony in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, I had seen hundereds of trucks everyday carrying peoples houshold stuff, passing through Rashid Minhas Road, whenever there was relaxation in curfew in troubled areas like Drigh Colony, Model Colony, Malir, Landhi and Korangi, going to safer areas or just getting out of the city through Sohrab Goth. It was the worst of times in Pakistan`s history when Pakistan Army was again playing East Pakistan with us. During the Benazir operation against Mohajirs in 1991-92 an estimated 1200-1600 people died at the hands of state machinery. This was the worst violation of constitutional protection that people of Paksitan have from the state machinery. Unfortunately, it occured during the time of a politically ellected government. Pkaistan Army has started playing its third East Pakistan now in baluchistan and NWFP simultaneously. A common Paksitani is still anti-pathic towards his fellow citizen. What does he care as long as ``they`` is dying. Tommorrow, when army will start playing its east paksitan with you, then ``they`` will be antipathic as well. What goes around comes around.

I am afraid this is nothing more than a childish rant. Urdu speaking have lived in Sindh only 57 years and it will take them time to assimilate in the local culture. Like in the US, we still have Black or African American, Italian American or Polish American and what not. The irony is that the original owners of this land are called “Indian American”.

One main reason that mohajirs have not been assimilated in the Sindhi society is their sheer numbers. Most of them also settled in cities where local Sindhi population dwindled considerably after Sindhi Hindu left.

In Sindh, the Hindus were always called “Vanias” knowing fully well that nothing can be more Sindhi than the Sindhi Hindus themselves. After all they were in Sindh before Mohd Bin Qasim got there. Baloch are still Baloch in Sindh and to some extent they are as many in numbers as the so called Dravidian Sindhi are. African Sindhis are still known as Shedi in Sindh. The Pathans in Shikarpur are still known as Afgahns, and they probably don`t know a word of pushto or farsi anymore.

The Urdu Speaking or Mohajir unfortunately suffer from narcissism. They have assumed that Mohajir is some sort of a derogatory term. It is not. They are also not better than the Sindhis or any other ethnic group that lives in Sindh and there are plenty.

Sindhi despite many provocations and being looked down upon by the “more civilized” in “Lalo Khet” and “Golimar” by and large have maintained a very civilized attitude towards Urdu speaking barring a few incidents in the cities.


Sindh is the most ethnically diverse province in Pakistan. You can be proud of your ethnicity without being arrogant or continue to complain about unsubstantiated hints and allegations.

Every Pakistani is equal and Mohajir or Punjabis have no monopoly over Pakistan.

More Muhajir cry babies feeling sorry for their precious and delicate little selves. Punjabis who migrated from villages 1 yard on the other side of border are still known to other Punjabis as `Muhajirs`. So what?


Good grief, you people are pathetic!

HP:Amen! ( it seems that I am hooked on Amen today, but some of you guys have brought this about)

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whine whine whine - please stop