Quota or Chaos

The Muslims who chose to migrate to Pakistan in 1947 did so out of fear of being targeted in post-independent India. They had already been facing communal riots in which Muslims were slaughtered en masse. Their struggle for identity already existed when they were in India and it is unfortunate that it continued for generations even after they moved to Pakistan. The Muhajirs initially constituted a privileged, elite and educated class, but their standing amongst other ethnics groups in Pakistan diminished over the decades. The stirring of a Muhajir consciousness began in the early 1970s, prompted by government policies that created a negative impact on their education and affected their employment opportunities in Sindh. Over the years, demographic changes, ethno-political conflicts, militant and sectarian groupings and vested political interests coloured the Muhajirs’ view of their place in Pakistani society. The MQM emerged as a party that claimed to represent Muhajir grievances. Its main two planks were dissolution of the quota system and repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. But it soon became a criminal enterprise, diluting the legitimacy of the Muhajir cause and its leaders simply exploited the Muhajir youth for their own ends.

The significant question is to understand that the place for the Muhajirs in Pakistan relates to their socio-economic and political contributions. The Muhajirs are a large community and cover almost the entire urban areas of Sindh. They are mostly in the middle class, have a sizeable percentage of literacy and are also free of the traditional influences of tribalism and feudalism. The odds in front of them are so many that even today, they continue their struggle to define their identity. They resist being drawn into fragmented ethno-political groups in Karachi and aspire to establish a political society as a positive and effective force that wants to defend itself against the challenges posed by such threats as the quota system.

It has now been fifty years since Z.A. Bhutto launched the quota system – a system that drew a line across Sindh on the basis of the rural-urban divide. Unfortunately, that line not only still exists – but has become more deepened. It was amazing to observe that in the recent provincial services selection, all candidates selected were from rural Sindh origin and there was not even a single one from Karachi.
It should be interesting to note that a quota system on the basis of creating a distinction between rural and urban areas, only exists in Sindh, while in other provinces of Pakistan, there is no rural-urban quota. In Sindh, economic and social entrepreneurship have also been damaged by the quota system as it has created inefficiency, over-staffing and a high level of corruption. Consequently, Karachi suffers with all sorts of complications and there is a constant deterioration in the life of the city’s inhabitants. Although Karachi said to contribute more than 65% to the national economy and more than 90% to Sindh’s economy, the city is totally ignored when its comes to development projects for its residents.

The only solution to rescue Sindh from further deterioration and to recognize the significance of its urban centres would be to dissolve the quota system altogether and treat the people of the province’s urban areas as part of the mainstream, recognizing their rights on an equal basis. This would entail their being part of an equitable process of selection and their appointments on merit basis.