Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
By: Mehlab Kashani
Pakistan, a dream land of every Muslim in subcontinent; a land of freedom; a piece of earth whose basic foundation was laid into three principles Unity, Discipline and Faith, today is among those countries where these three principals are sporadically found. A country where people dreamt of living with fraternity, today has the rate of terrorism on its peak. Why this so? One of the major reason is Provincialism which is continuously eroding the integrity of the country, as result originating instability in country.
Past 72 years, Pakistan has been governed under five constitutions and three martial laws, so this regards that since its creation, Pakistan is a victim of political instability. This instability which still revolves around the country have also previously led to the catastrophe of disintegration of Pakistan by the formation of Bangladesh. One major reason which is still contributing in the growth of provincialism is “injustice”. There are nationalist movements within Pakistan asking for justice which is hardly found in courts of Pakistan, in doors of governor etc. A denizen in Pakistan is deprived of the confidence to have justice in courts of Pakistan and so with demotivation they join nationalist groups.
Besides, if we cogitate about the distribution of economic wealth, we will observe that there is an inequitable economic distribution. The provinces of Pakistan are biding royalty for instance: Baluchistan is demanding for royalty of gas in its province and KPK desires to have the ownership of Tarbela and Warsak dam. In Pakistan the wealth is not divided equally among the provinces therefore the spirit of provincialism is rising. Along with this the political parties are exploiting these issues, ergo, the spirit of patriotism is extirpating. The ethnocentrism, linguistic divisions are adding fuel to the fire. The linguistic issue is among the contentious issues in all aspects of country’s government. The majority of population censure Urdu as the national language.
Addition to it, the provincialism has egregious effects. If we look back to the history of Pakistan, we can see that we are a serious victim of provincialism. In 1971, Pakistan lost one of its wing which emerged as new nation known as Bangladesh on world map. The nation Bangladesh is the result of above issues mentioned. The congruence of Pakistan enervating. The killing, blasts, kidnapping, amputations had reached its pinnacle. There is a minatory situation in Pakistan, the law and order system is being difficult to implement. This problem is a foil to development and growth of Pakistan in social and economic means. The development projects cannot be started until there is stability.
Likewise, it also has a militate on economy of Pakistan. Pakistan has started on major projects of national importance. However, the provinces bitter differences, have convinced these main projects to shut down and put the future of country into threat. How can a country prosper in education means, raise the literacy rate if it’s economically unstable. Increasing the curse of terrorism will instinctively, dwindle the number of foreign investors in Pakistan. Similarly, the provinces are embroiling themselves over the CPEC.
Despite, all these issues there are always hopes for better future. There are many alternative ways, which could drive away the threat of provincialism. The country must prior the uplift of backward areas, provinces by equitable distribution of economic resources. Further, giving royalty of resources to the provinces this would boost up the confidence of ignored provinces. Good governance must be applied with all possible ways of justices, democracy, accountable and transparent. Nationalistic educational policies should be implemented. Appropriate measures must be taken to bring satisfaction to the people of Pakistan.
On the whole, we must remember the words of our great leader Quaid e Azam:” We are now all Pakistanis, not Balochis, Pathans, Sindhis, Bengalis, Punjabis and so on –and as Pakistanis we must behave and act, and we should be proud to be knowns as Pakistanis as nothing else”
Mehlab Kashani from class 11 Olevel studying in City school Quetta.
Published in The Balochistan Point on October 13, 2019
