’s tumultuous birth in 1947, much
has been said and written about the topic of ethnic nationalism(s) in the
country. This has always been a thorny and controversial subject because
elements advocating the importance of exhibiting nationalism based on the
linguistic and cultural injunctions of an ethnic community have always been
dealt with suspicion by the state of Pakistan . Pakistan
If we keep aside the fact that more than 97% of
’s population is Muslim, this same
population is then not a homogenous lot. In fact, even within its religious
homogeneity, there are sectarian, sub-sectarian and intra-sectarian divisions,
with some of the groups rather antagonistic towards one another. Pakistan
Pakistan is made up of various ethnic groups that have their own languages, historical trajectories, and cultural traditions. Picturing such a diversity as a threat (to the unity of the country), the state of Pakistan, right from the word go, has launched various projects to concoct ideas of a unified nationalism to overcome and
neutralise identities based on ethnic moorings.
Naturally, such projects have created tensions between the state and various ethno-nationalist groups who accuse the state of
of trying to whitewash their
centuries-old ethnic heritages with (what these groups believe is) an
artificial ideology invented by the state. Pakistan
What’s more, the antagonistic ethno-nationalist groups have for long maintained that the state enforces such an ideology to safeguard the political and economic interests of the ‘dominant ethnic communities’.
Forgotten in the narrative.
Till the late 1960s, the so-called dominant ethnic groups were supposed to be the Punjabis and the Urdu-speakers (Mohajirs) who had a monopolistic influence on the workings of the armed forces, the bureaucracy and large economic enterprises (and thus politics).
In this situation, ethno-nationalism in
was thus mostly the vocation of
non-Punjabi and non-Mohajir ethnic groups, mainly Bengali, Sindhi, Pakhtun and
According to the narrative woven by some prominent Sindhi and Baloch ethno-nationalists, after the separation of the Bengali-majority East Pakistan in 1971, the state began to gradually co-opt the Pakhtuns who then began to replace the Mohajirs as the other dominant ethnic elite (along with the Punjabis).
By the 1980s, Pakhtun nationalists had lost considerable appeal among the Pakhtuns but the same decade saw the emergence of "Mohajir nationalism".
Ethno-nationalists have continued to accuse the Punjabi-dominated state of usurping the economic and political interests of the non-Punjabi communities, sometimes in the name of Pakistani nationalism and sometimes in the name of religion.
Academics studying the phenomenon of ethno-nationalism in
Pakistan usually stick to tendencies such
as Sindhi, Baloch and Pakhtun nationalisms (and, in the past, Bengali
nationalism, and now even Mohajir nationalism).
Nevertheless, what gets missed in the more holistic study of the issue is a nationalism that is actually associated with what is usually decried to be a
elitist ethnic group: the Punjabi.
A recent phenomenon.
This is not due to there being not enough activism and literature available on Punjabi nationalism as there is on other ethno-nationalist tendencies in the country.
The Punjabis have for so long been seen as the dominant ethnic group, very few scholars have actually got down to studying curious occurrences such as Punjabi nationalism.
Also, compared to other
ethno-nationalisms in , Punjabi nationalism is a more
recent phenomenon. Pakistan
According to cultural historian, Alyssa Ayres (in her book, Speaking Like A State), Punjabi nationalism largely emerged in the 1980s. Part of it was a reaction to the emergence of the Saraiki language movement that looked to separate the Saraiki-speaking areas of the
Punjab from the rest of the province.
Till the late 1960s, Saraiki was considered to be a dialect of Punjabi, but Saraiki nationalists disagree and treat their language as a separate linguistic entity.
Ayres suggests that many Punjabi intellectuals considered the Saraiki movement as "yet another attack on Punjabi". They bemoan the way
Punjab as a whole has been lumped
together as a hegemonic province. They complain that a Punjabi actually has to
let go of his culture and adopt alien languages (English and Urdu), if he wants
to escape economic marginalisation.
Just as the purveyors of Sindhi, Baloch and Pakhtun nationalism of
and advocates of Punjabi nationalism too emerged from progressive backgrounds.
They did not attack the non-Punjabi ethnicities for denouncing Punjabis; instead, they turned in anger towards the elite sections made up of fellow Punjabis. They accused them of neglecting the Punjabi language and forgetting the Punjabi culture – first to appease the British, and then to the state-backed promoters of Urdu – just to maintain their personal influence and power.
Still a literary pursuit.
Though literature in this context had begun to trickle out in the 1970s, it was the publication of three books between 1985 and 1996 that finally gave Punjabi nationalism its most cohesive literary shape.
The first was Hanif Ramey’s
Punjab Ka Muqadma (The Case of Punjab). Ramay was a founding member of
the Peoples Party, and a leading
ideologue behind the party’s populist concoction called Islamic Socialism (late
In his 1985 book, Ramay suggests that the Punjabis turned against the Bengalis to safeguard the interests of those who had imposed Urdu ("a foreign language") upon them (the Punjabis).
The book was promptly banned by the intransigent Zia regime.
The ban did not deter Syed Ahmed Ferani from authoring Punjabi Zaban Marre
(The Punjabi Language Will Not Die) in 1988. This is an even more radical
expression of Punjabi nationalism. Here Ferani describes Urdu as "a
man-eating language" that made Punjabis kill fellow Punjabis and then
people of other non-Urdu ethnic groups. This book too was banned.
The third major work in this context is a novel authored by Fakhar Zaman called Bewatna (Stateless) in 1995.
Zaman, another former PPP man in Punjab, wrote an allegorical lament
about how (he thought) the Punjabis (by adopting alien languages and cultures)
have become aliens on their own soil. The novel, too, was banned.
Unlike certain more radical branches of non-Punjabi ethno-nationalisms, Punjabi nationalism (so far) has not been separatist and has remained largely a literary pursuit, only calling for the Punjabi language to be given its rightful place.
This nationalism’s scholars
constantly evoke tales associated with various Punjabi
Sufi saints and anti-colonial heroes to emphasise the point that the Punjabi
culture was spiritual (instead of orthodox) and chivalrous (instead of
hegemonic or exploitative).
In a landmark decision, the
High Court (in 1996), overturned
and lifted the ban on all three books. Lahore
Echoes of this nationalism can still be heard in the
Punjab, though. In a TV talk show about
three months ago, the current Defence Minister and a senior member of the
ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N), Khawaja Asif (who hails from the Punjab city
of Sialkot), lamented that all kinds of "alien cultures" have been
imposed on the Punjab.
He specifically mentioned the erosion of Punjab’s original culture and traditions that were being replaced by a culture imported by those (including fellow Punjabis) who have for long resided in Arab countries.
And though Khawaja Asif never called himself a Punjabi nationalist, his lament did bear the tone first set by Punjabi nationalists.
By Nadeem F. Paracha.
This article was originally published on Dawn.com.