The recent trip and the confound surprise

Okay so I was out of the picture for quite sometime. My spring semester is going on and two weeks back, I was hell busy in my Mids but oh well they went real well, like always. but after that, I went on a trip worth more than 1000 Km's, perhaps 2000 Km's .Initially with friends and then with my folks. I needed this trip because its been such a long LONG time that nothing would have stopped me from going this time around. I seriously had fun during my trip to Islamabad. I didn't stay there for long, in fact went and came back on the same day. But soon I had to be in Arifwala in district Pakpattan in Sahiwal division since I had to attend my uncle's "Chehlum" so It was Lahore to Islamabad, then back to Lahore, then off to Arifwala, then to Khanewal further South then back to Arifwala and again back to my great Lahore. Man,this has been one long, extensive and very tiring trip.

...But this does'nt stop here, i mentioned the word 'confound surprise' in title for a reason. No, no its not because I found some long lost brother or friend or girl for myself, but because almost all of my relatives from Southern Punjab AKA Seraiki belt were gathered in Arifwala and since i am politically current in a very Apolitical way, I had to ask them about views on present government and most importantly Seraiki province.  Well I'll say it again that Seraiki belt continues to baffle me. Well over my adventure at the last stop of Central Punjab, from what i can gather is that most in young generation prefer Imran Khan and his party "Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf while older generation loathe him. The reason is that they think since the likes of Hashmis, Qureshis, Legharis etc have joined him in Southern Punjab, they feel as if the commoner is betrayed but I have to agree with them because they are not the only one's to think like that. Young generation are no less than PTI trolls who are always hell bent on defending Imran Khan. Yes Seraiki youth is no different from youth from the rest of Pakistan. As for Seraiki province, the young generations want it but purely on Administrative basis as for most in older generation, They are against it. The reason they tell me is that they believe Seraiki-Balochs along with Gillanis, qureshis and Hashmis control Seraiki belt while local and migrated Rajput and Jatt tribes are in minority when it comes to control, they think they will completely be left at the behest of people they think who came from 'outside'. They think Southern Rajput and Jatt tribes like Hirajs,Dahas, Rana, Raos, Daultanas, Khichis, Maher etc etc MUST unite and promote their interest. Yes the Southerners like others too fight within themselves but their point is genuine. Another reason is that with Seraiki enforced, the likes of Ranghars and Upper Punjabis will be thrown out since many from North and even from Pashtun belt come here to conduct business. The hate shown especially for Gillani and Baloch clans is way too much, in fact not much different from Balochs showing hate for Punjabis, its pretty much the same thing.

Okay whatever Ive mentioned is specifically the view of my 'maternal family' from Southern Punjab, in fact it is the view of the 'MOST' in maternal family and it does'nt mean everyone in Southern Punjab will agree with them. Also my blog is not about Punjab or Seraiki belt, its just that Ive been very busy lately and i will continue to talk about general topics so people wait up and you will read more Insh'Allah....

Seraiki right; The administrative way

Few days ago, I came across an article on Tribune’s blog page which in my opinion was poorly constructed. I respect the writer’s opinion since it talked about half-truth and I being someone who has seen and witnessed the life in Upper and Southern Punjab, feel the need to make my argument as well. 

Firstly what is ‘Alien ethnicity’ according to writer? Punjabi is not an alien ethnicity. Punjabis are equally part of Pakistan the way others are. Second, How come Sikhs invaded Punjab? They are from Punjab. They are locals who grew strong and established their empire. Guru Nanak was not from any other place. Ranjeet Singh was not from somewhere else. They were from Punjab, they were Punjabis. No one should discredit his Muslim Punjabi brothers just because of Sikhs. The writer should know that Punjab, Seraiki belt and Sindh are remnants of age old Indus Valley Civilization. Seraiki is a different language but remember that it is influenced by Punjabi and Sindhi both. If any Seraiki is called Punjabi then it only takes a simple act of good etiquette to tell you’re not Punjabi but Seraiki. Punjabis are not some ‘untouchables’ of Pakistan. Every Pakistani no matter from any ethnic or religious background must be respected at all costs. I am a person who loves Southern Punjab and Lahore, also love Punjabi and seraiki equally. After all, I am a local lad from both places, having roots in Lahore as well in Khanewal with family in both places supporting ‘Seraiki Province’. Both places are my homes.

Now I have to discuss the ‘ethnic’ side of it since that is exactly the reason Seraiki Nationalists and PPP want new province for. Fact remains that the likes of Gillanis, Hashmis, Qureshis, Qaiseranis, Mazaris, Legharis etc who make up the heavy weights of Political arena in Seraiki belt were not here forever and they are the one’s who are pushing for Seraiki Province. Unlike Nationalist Punjabis and Sindhis who claim their land is at least 5000 years old and rightly so, are right when they claim that. Fact remains that Heavyweights mentioned earlier were NOT in seraiki belt for 5000 years but at most 500-1000 years, mostly after Islam came to Sub-continent. They either came from Arabia,Persia or Balochistan. The real people on the other hand, the actual Locals of this entire area, The descendents of people of original Indus Valley Civilization, the like of Rajputs, Jatts, Gujjars etc have been living in Southern, Central, Northern Punjab, Sindh and surrounding areas ever since the Aryans arrived in Sub-Continent and they have been living there a lot before when Gillanis,Hashmis etc came to live there.

Some of the Rajput,Jatt, Gujjar tribes in Seraiki belt are known as Khars,Hirajs, Berahs, ,Kanju,Kamboh, Toors, Daultana, Khichis, Rao etc and they are the original locals of the land and yes, many of them want Seraiki province as well and rightly so. But we must remember that they have been there since a lot longer. Not just this you will find them not just in Southern Punjab but Central and Upper Punjab as well. I would like to ask How are Rajputs and Jatts of Seraiki belt ethnically related to Qureshis,Gillanis etc ? How is a Kharal, Kanju, Berah, Rao any different to person of same tribe and caste residing in Upper and Central Punjab. What about the likes of Qaiseranis, Mazaris, Legharis etc who are Baloch tribes living in Seraiki belt? For me they are locals as well just like others and since most of them speak Seraiki as their mother tongue so they deserve equal rights. I would like to ask how many of the Baloch tribes would still like to mingle with Gillanis, Hashmis, Raos, Berahs etc who are not Balochs? Would they consider them equally as Seraikis? The point im trying to make is that Seraikis majorly are a linguistic group where many nations and different tribes resides.

I ask Seraiki Nationalists how they make a distinction. How will they guarantee Non-Seraiki speakers a safe life in new province when we know Punjabis and Urdu Speakers are brutally murdered in Balochistan just for their ethnicity? How will Seraiki-speaking areas in Sindh and Balochistan cope? I for one want an answer.

Punjabis and Seraikis must also be told the truth. Truth that Seraiki politicians like Ghulam Mustafa Khar , Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Sardar Latif Khosa, Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa, Sardar Farooq Leghari,Yousaf Raza Gilani and many more ruled Punjab as Governors, CM’s and even went on to become Presidents and PM. There is no doubt that more money is spent on Upper Punjab but why should onus lie all on upper Punjab? They must know that their leaders spend most of their time in Upper Punjab. Here in Lahore, they prefer to live in posh localities of DHA, Gulberg and Model Town while their own people suffer in Southern Punjab. Why they never did anything? Why Seraiki nationalists have chosen cursing Lahore as their solution? I have no idea. The people of Khanewal, DG Khan, Bahawalpur etc are equally slaves of “Takht e Multan” if they are of Lahore.

In the end, only Seraikis have the right to choose what is best for their land. I for one would love a new province carved from my beloved Khanewal to all the way to DG Khan but would not like it being named on Ethnic or linguistic basis. This in my opinion may lead to blood shed. Southern Punjab and perhaps divided Punjab must not become Balochistan or Bangladesh.

Good on you, Mr.Khan!

 I have always been Imran Khan’s fan but deep down I also knew he was not like any major politician in the country but this was to be proven wrong on 31^st october,2011 as not only he made sure he’s taken serious again but he finally stake his claim on Pakistan’s political ground. According to him, it was his 15 years worth of continuous hard work that lead to more than 100,000 people mostly Lahoris to attend his rally at “Minar e Pakistan” and of course I have to accept the reality that no matter whatever the number, Imran Khan did in fact made his rally very successful.

I did not attend the rally since I was busy preparing for my exam the very next day but since I have already attended Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf’s rally twice before so I did not at all feel being left away when most of my friends were there. For me, Imran Khan has finally come of age and this has made politics in Pakistan way more interesting. For many of his old and new followers he is their new “Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto” who too had somewhat similar charisma and initially that was entirely the reason he was elected by the people and Imran Khan certainly did mention Bhutto in his speech because to him he was “Nationalist” which his party’s current co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is not. But Imran Khan had a point nonetheless but why blame PPP alone? And he did not stop there as it was Nawaz Sharif and his political party “Pakistan Muslim League-N” who faced most of the brunt. Right now the province of Punjab is all up for grabs and Imran Khan seems in better position to not only form and consolidate his position in Urban Punjab but also stealing PML-N’s vote bank as well. Same pretty much goes for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as Urban Khyber too seems to be favoring Imran Khan and his party.

Now again to his rally, around 100,000 or more people attended as I have mentioned but what I liked the most is a fact that Pakistan’s political scenario is changing and it is changing very fast and this is great for country like ours since democracy here never thrived much but I have to give it to Imran Khan as he has been successful in bringing most young Pakistanis from elite to lower class background on one forum and they all yearn “change” under him. Another change in Pakistan is that slowly but surely people are continuing to realize the importance of voting and hence big parties like PPP and PML-N are not the only one's getting votes but smaller parties like MQM,ANP,JI,PTI are people's choice as well and Pakistan is at a stage where no political party can have 2/3rd majority anymore, this is astoundingly democratic in nature and perhaps this is exactly the "change" that we needed. I for one absolutely love this change. I have recently registered my vote and I will be voting for the very first time next time around thanks to Imran Khan and PTI’s “Get your votes registered” campaign.

Let me make it clear again that even though I admire Imran Khan and have attended his rallies in Lahore before, I certainly have a lot of reservations against his party as well due to various reasons which I hope to write on about next time. But 31^st October belonged to Imran Khan, PTI and his followers and I have no qualms in admitting that. Good on you Mr.Khan!

Why PPP is not a right choice for Pakistan.

 Pakistan Peoples Party was founded by Pakistan's former Prime minister and President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto way back in 1967 and over the period of two to three years,PPP became arguably the most famous party in Pakistan and after the fall of Dhaka,took control of Pakistan and Zulfiqar Ali bhutto became President and later Prime minister of the country.

Ideologically PPP is leftist in nature and secular but I being a person who has kept close eyes on PPP over last few years can safely say that whatever PPP did in their history so far had nothing,absolutely nothing to do with "Secularism" .Not only are they not secular in real but would also like to jot some points below about how they have been disastrous for Pakistan and how are they not right for our future.

First of all, PPP being leftist believes in "Islamic Socialism". I can understand their socialistic ideology but "Islamic Socialism" is exactly what ? seems this term is another name of "Pan-Islamism" or if not then what else is it ? Yes,it is an oxymoron. Socialism is a different thing altogether from 'Islamic' system.

Secondly, PPP made Pakistan "Islamic Republic". Any party that claims to be leftist and secular in nature would never eye a country based on "religious beliefs". Not only PPP made mistakes but used "Islam" just as much as Jihadis and ruined her image,not to forget ruined Pakistan as well through it.

Thirdly, PPP branded a religious minority group "Heretics" . Why would any party being leftist brand others as heretics ? Is it secularism or plain old Fascism. I think its the later one.

Fourth, PPP though claim itself to be against military establishment works with same establishment in spreading their tentacles all over Pakistan and that too in the name of religion. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto started his career under the shadows of a military general and former President Ayub Khan. Apart from Zia's era,PPP have always worked with military.

PPP through Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto started Jihad way before Zia ul Haq in 1970's when we decided to have    Afghanistan as our unofficial 5th province. ZAB was supporting the young jihadis to get rid of government in Afghanistan that was anti-Pakistan. PPP and ZAB ruined Afghanistan.

PPP never cared for the people of Balochistan and the recent "Aghaz e huqoq e Balochistan Package" is a farce as well since it was during PPP's government that Zulfiqar Ali bhutto ordered the most brutal military operation against balochs resulting in deaths of 15000 Balochs. Balochistan was carpet bombed by military over Bhutto's orders.

PPP never cared for Pakistan's economy. In fact his nationalization policies brought Pakistan and her economy to its knees and sank Pakistan deeper into sea of poverty. Rather it was General Musharraf's privatization that lead to Pakistan having better Economy. Even Nawaz Sharif's policies were better than PPP. Pakistan today under PPP is still doing bad and our economy is in deep slumber.Corruption is sky high while President and PM are on foreign tours every two months using our own taxes.

PPP government is responsible for creating Taliban in 90's. It was during Benazir Bhutto's government that Taliban were made by Pakistan to counter already Anti-Pakistan Northern Alliance and various Tribal militias in Afghanistan. Afghanistan never suffered more in any other government but did suffered hugely under Taliban. That too because of PPP lead government of Pakistan.

PPP plays this "Race" card to counter Political parties in Punjab and MQM in Sindh. Due to this card, a federal party like PPP from Sindh made itself look like just another ethnic nationalist party that is always hell bent in putting all the blame on Punjab. They do the same to Punjab to this day while their own treacherous Punjabi leaders give in from time to time. There is a reason Punjab is hated in Pakistan and these treacherous leaders and PPP is one of those reasons.

PPP's behavior towards provinces is so wrong that in order to counter PML-N, PPP is willing to divide Punjab ,the same Punjab which elected ZAB and it was Lahore where PPP was originally formed. Division on "Administrative basis" is needed but PPP is willing to divide on "Ethnic basis". The move will give rise to Punjabi nationalism and may result in Punjab going the Balochistan-way.

Many leaders from PPP have given their lives over the years and we do appreciate some of the work they did but PPP being in power never brought the main culprits who were responsible to justice. In fact the planners of Benazir Bhutto still roam free,while the murderers of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti too have not been punished so far. Fact remains that our establishment worked with few extremist groups over the years and PPP have been known to give them leverage from time to time as well.

These are just some of the reason why Pakistan is in deep doodle because of a party like PPP and there are many more reasons as well. In the end,these are my views but I hope a common man realizes that He has been voting for wrong party since many years that has brought nothing but misery to Pakistan.

The plight of Punjab !

I am going to talk about my land,my home province of Punjab. The land of  Sufis like Bulleh Shah,Shah Hussain,Waris shah,Sultan bahu etc ,the land of Epic folklore like Heer Ranjha, Sonhi mahiwal  and Mirza Sahiba,the land of Martial races like Rajputs,Jatts,Gujjars etc,The land of Poetery, Spirituality, Cuisine,Music,Martial traditions,Epic culture, Architecture,Values and this does'nt end here as Punjab possess history that goes way before 5000 years.
Today Punjab is divided between Indian and Pakistan and the last division took place in 1947' based on religion as millions of Ethnic Punjabis who were muslims,the hindus,the sikhs and the jains laid their lives, left their homes and moved to new countries.My family too left our East Punjab(Patiala) and moved to new west Punjab in Lahore. Faced hardships of all sorts but in the end it never made any difference as we were still breathing the same Punjabi air except the city and towns were new but culture,traditions and languages were all same .But Im only going to talk about Pakistan and especially Punjab as just like every other ethnic group here,Punjabis too suffer the brunt from ethnic cleansing in Balochistan to deep stereotypes,not having real autonomy over their land and not getting their due rights that Muhammad Ali jinnah promised to everyone in Pakistan.

There is no doubt that Punjab is the most populous and perhaps the most developed province of Pakistan but its development should be gauged due to its high population. Had Punjab been less in population,it would have been in ruins like Balochostan which I think is truly the only province which suffered more than anyone in Pakistan,more than Punjab,sindh or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Punjabis still languish in age old feudal shackles of Jageerdars as well. Punjab is not just Lahore,Rawalpindi,Faislabad or Multan etc but from upper Punjab to lower Punjab,the rural areas which feed entire Pakistan are not much different from Balochistan,FATA or Internal sindh.Punjab contributes almost 60% to Pakistan's economy and another fact remains that Punjab which was once known as the Granary of the south Asia feeds Pakistan as Agriculture lands here in Punjab accounts for 21% of Pakistan's GDP,80% for country's total export earnings,a major share in agriculture economy by producing 83% cotton,80% wheat,97% aromatic rice,63% sugarcane, 51% Maize,66% mangoes,95% of citrus,guava 82% and dates 34% a major share in the agricultural economy of the country. In short,Punjab too feeds Pakistan and had Punjab complete autonomy then if others demand full rights for their own resources,Punjab too should be able to make her own decisions if they want their OWN food to be distributed to the rest. There is no greater resources given by God then that of food and Punjab possess it in abundance so why should not Punjabis have it for themselves ?
Second,Punjab again possess five river which are now reduced to mere three so Punjab being the granary of Pakistan need more water as well so why should not it get more water ,after all she is producing more food for Pakistan so when Punjab talks about Kalabagh dam,others talk about dividing Punjab so have it their way so when Punjab will be divided into most probably 'Seraiki-Rohi soobah' and Bahawalpur Province so why do people think these two wont ask for water ever so who will the rest blame next time around ? Seraikis or people of Bahawalpur for their own misfortune ? so why double standards and why cant they be like Punjabis,work hard and move on once and for all instead of beating the banter again and again on 'Punjab neh Yeh kardia,woh kardia etc'
Third, No province in Pakistan enjoys autonomy so what if Punjab wants autonomy then what ? An autonomous Punjab should be there so that Punjabis can have their own resources for themselves and then distribute it to others on their OWN terms. Same goes for other provinces so that then they'll know if Food is bigger resources or same old Oil and gas.
Fourth,Urdu is NOT Punjab's language ,Punjabi,seraiki and Potohari are Punjab's regional languages while Majority speak Punjabi. Nationalist parties have always maintained that Urdu should be limited to Punjab so I ask them why Punjab ? Why cant Punjabis learn and study their own languages but there is a problem because since Pakistan came into being when british left,Pakistan adopted the same british policies so much so 150 year old ban on Punjabi language in Punjab is still in place so when Sindhis can learn sindhi in their schools or when pashto can be taught in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(that too recently) then why cant Punjabis ? during Ranjeet Singh's rule,every house hold had to have "Punjabi qaida" but today Punjabis cant even learn their own languages hence you have different parties,nationalist parties finally stepping up in Punjab as well. One such group is known as "Punjabi Language Movement". This group is ran by Nazeer Kahut who believes in Punjab having autonomy,Punjabi language being taught in schools,the control of punjab's resources ALONE in Punjab's hands etc. So if others have ANP,JSQM,BNP,we have PLM as well though not as popular as others but the initiative is brilliant to start with. Punjabi language is vanishing slowly from Punjab and the act is a deliberate one by Pakistani government as the government from 47' onwards have imposed Urdu language on different ethnic groups in Pakistan. Of course being Pakistanis,we love urdu as well as it connects with others but our regional mother tongues are older and more advanced than Urdu. So,Punjabi along with Sindhi,Seraiki,balochi and pashto must be Pakistan's national languages as well.India is a country that does not even possess sindh province have Sindhi as one of her 15 national languages so why cant Pakistan learn from India in this regard and treat ethnic groups equally.

Lastly, Punjabis are hated for the wrong reasons and there is no doubt that others especially  Balochs have suffered way too much but Punjabis too are suffering and they want their rights as well.Historically Punjab and Sindh were part of same Indus valley civilization hence are distant cousins as well,Also historically the relationships of Punjab and Balochistan have been great because famous Baloch hero Mir Chakar rind is buried in Punjab near Sahiwal and Okara and his descendants today speak Punjabi as their first language in Punjab. Even if we consider Seraiki as Punjabi's dialect then most seraikis too consist of people of Baloch lineage hence more balochs are in Punjab then Balochs in actual Balochistan.So much so,Current Punjab governor Sardar Latif Khosa too is Seraiki of Baloch lineage. Though there are a lot of misconceptions and hate is there as well especially when one dictator killed a famous baloch politician Mir Nawab Bugti but over all,a common Punjabi suffers the same fate as Baloch. Same goes for pashtuns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindhis as Pashtuns in FATA are targeted by Taliban,drones and Pakistan military while sindhis have been treated like red-indians in their own home province of Sindh.

In the end,for better Pakistan ,every province MUST enjoy autonomy to the fullest and that Punjab in particular should enjoy it more as well especially ban should be lifted on learning Punjabi language so that we can have better future for Punjab and Pakistan. But if it should continue as it is continuing then perhaps yesterday was Bengal,tomorrow may very well be Balochistan's and Punjab's turn.So who would like to see 'Republic of Punjab' next time around ? Being a proud Pakistani,i dont want that but do want an autonomous Punjab for myself and millions of other Punjabis because Habib Jalib's Punjab is soon going to wake up and when it does,im afraid it will be too late...