You are on page 1of 5

Ethnicity, Class and State in Pakistan

Author(s): Feroz Ahmed


Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 31, No. 47 (Nov. 23, 1996), pp. 3050-3053
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4404794 .
Accessed: 13/04/2013 00:58

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Economic and Political Weekly.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 203.135.62.20 on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:58:11 AM


All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Ethnicity,Class and State in Pakistan integrity and evoked strong reaction. The
governmentpasseda law in 1975 prescribing
a seven-year imprisonmentfor individuals
Feroz Ahmed advocating the presence of more than one
nationalityin Pakistan.At least partof this
fear can be attributedto the failure of the
The current ethnic tensions in Pakistan are rooted in a number of
nationalitytheoryto distinguishbetweenthe
developments: the increasing ethnic heterogeneity of the country's characteristicsof a nationand a nationality,
provinces, the growing economic and political interdependence, and the while advocating the principle of nations'
ongoing processes of cultural homogenisation as well as the rapid right to self-determination.Lenin himself
ucrbanisation,and the sharpening ethnic asymmetries within Pakistan's had emphasised ad infinitum nations' right
elite. These very developments, however, offer the opportunity for to self-determination, without clearly
seeking solutions in a multi-ethnic framework. distinguishing them from nationalities.
InPakistanitself, not only did Bangladesh
secede, but demands for the independence
IN the era of globalisation of technology, sised national self-determinationand for- of Pushtoonistan, Sindh and Balochistan
capital, markets, and communications, a mulatedanelaboratenationalitypolicy,made were raisedfromtime to time. These actions
centrifugalphenomenondescribedby Isaacs any effort to distinguishbetween nationand were justified by some in the name of the
more than 20 years ago as 'massive nationality. Leninisttheoryof the rightof nationsto self-
retribalisation'of the world, is proceeding However, later day Soviet scholars have determination. The Marxist concept of
on an ever widerscale [lsaacs 1975]. Ethnic, tried to differentiate between nation and nationality in Pakistan, beside presenting
religious,andcasteconflicts aretearingapart nationalityby positingthe nationalitytheory the problem of being perceived as an
not only the former Soviet republics and on the bedrock of the Marxist theory of antithesisof the goal of nationalintegration,
eastern Europe, but many third world historical materialism. Thus, the various has been found to be less than adequateto
countriestoo. Pakistan,is one such country stages in the development of productive address some concrete issues of group
which is witnessing one of the most serious forces were linked with corresponding identification.
ethnic conflicts of its history.In 1995 alone, types of ethnic communities and their First, the Marxist definition of nation -
more than 1,700 persons, including more levels of ethnicconsciousness.Significantly, and thus nationality, in its simplest form,
than 200 law enforcement personnel, were Gankovsky (1964) adds the subjective cri- equates one language with one nationality.
killed in its major city, Karachi (Yasser teria of spiritual culture and ethnic con- Therefore,thequestionhasoftenbeenraised:
Hossain, 'Whodunnit?' in Newsline, sciousness to the objective criteriarequired how could the speakersof Balochi, an Indo-
November 1995) A militantethnic party,the of a nationality.A distinction is, therefore, Iranianlanguage, and Brauhi, a Dravidian
Mohajir Quomi Movement (MQM), is in madebetweenthe'nationalities'oftheslave- language, be members of the same Baloch
violent confrontationwith the government. owning and feudal societies and bourgeois nationality?This, obviously, is a somewhat
Ethnic polarisationin the province of Sindh 'nations' of capitalist and socialist stages. minorproblem,emanatingfromoverlooking
is almost complete and in Balochistanit has Gankovsky recognised that Bengalis, the dynamic nature of ethnogenesis and
shatteredthe traditionalfraternitybetween Punjabis, Sindhis, Pushtoons, and Balochs subjective aspects of nationality. People
ethnic groups. had all developed as feudal nationalitiesby speakingBrauhiat home in Balochistanare
the time of the British conquest. Since the integratedin every respect, including clan
CONCEPT OFNATIONALITY Soviet constitution,while categorising the organisation, with those speaking Balochi
majorethno-linguisticgroupsas nationalities alone, and have considered themselves
The term'nationality'hasbeenin common and organising the territoryon nationality- nothing but Baloch.
use in Pakistan to denote ethno-linguistic based republics, recognised in theory their Second, for nearly two decades there has
communities. It has been in the vocabulary right to self-determination,the right was, been a movement for the recognition of
of the nationalists and Marxists and now therefore,supposedby thirdworldadherents Siraiki language and nationalityin Punjab.
even right-wing- politicians from different of the Soviet nationality theory to be an The 1981 census, for the first time ever,
provinces, as well as Marxist and nation- inherent right of any ethnic community in listed Siraiki as a separatelanguage rather
alist scholars. The problems of language, a multi-ethnicstate that met the criteriaof than as a dialect of Punjabi. As a result,
culture, regional autonomy, allocation of Stalin's definition of a nation, and thus of Siraiki was reportedto be the language of
resourcesbetween ethnic communities, and nationality. 9.8 per cent of Pakistan'sand 14.9 per cent
political participationhave been subsumed In Pakistan'scontext, the Marxistdefini- of Punjab's households [Government of
under the rubric of 'national question' or tion of nationalitybecame the cornerstone Pakistan 1983]. This makes the Siraikisthe
'nationality question' [see Ahmed 1972; of the nationalitypositionof the multi-ethnic fourth largest community after Punjabis,
Zaidi 1992]. NationalAwamiParty(NAP)andotherleftist Pushtoons,andSindhis.However,questions
Stalin defined nation as a "historically and regionalnationalistformations.Among still persist about the stability, territorial
evolved, stable community of language, thepoliticalleaders,cadres,andintelligentsia compactness, economic cohesion, and
territory,economic life, and psychological of the dominated nationalities, as well as consciousness aspects of Siraiki-speaking
make-up, manifested in a community of among Punjabiand Urdu-speakingleftists, people. The objective andsubjectivecriteria
culture".All of the foregoing characteristics it became axiomaticthatPunjabiand Urdu- on the basis of which other communitiesin
must be present in a community to qualify speaking groupsdominatedthe state, while Pakistan have been recognised as nationa-
as a nation. Stalin's definition precluded Bengalis, Sindhis, Pushtoons, and Balochs lities are not easy to satisfy in the case of
race, and emphasisedemergence of nations were the oppressed nationalities. Siraikis. However, it may be possible to
as a phenomenon of bourgeois develop- Forthe governmentsof Pakistan,the word address the questions of group identifica-
ment.NeitherStalinnorLenin, who empha- nationalityhasremainedanathematonational tion, and cultural, economic, and political

3050 Economic and Political Weekly November 23, 1996

This content downloaded from 203.135.62.20 on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:58:11 AM


All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
demandsin an alternativeconceptualframe- reality to categorise and analyse social and mobilisationof thecommunity.Brass(199 1)
work. behaviouralphenomena. Most constructed termsethnic communitiesof 'politicalsigni-
A thirdissue of groupidentificationwhich social categories have the problem of de- ficance' as nationalities.
hasilludedthe Marxistconceptof nationality fining the boundaries,andall the individuals The prevalent usage of the concept of
and the approachbased on it to addressthe or elements cannot be neatly assigned to ethnic group thus, does not include territory
problems of ethnic communities is the watertight compartments.Any alternative as a necessarycondition.Freedomfromsuch
question of Mohajir identity and group concepts that may be suggested would, a bindingcondition makesthe concept more
demands. Mohajir is the term which was therefore, have some problem in applic- inclusive. Further,common culture of the
used by Muslims who migratedfrom India ability. The importantpoint is to see which groupis universallydeemedto be a necessary
to Pakistan at the time of the partitionof of the alternativeconcepts is more inclusive condition for a group to be considered a
1947- 70 percent of these refugeesin (west) for the purposeof analysis and, in the case distinct ethnic group. However, possession
Pakistanwere Punjabiswho settled mainly of Pakistan's ethnic question, allows for a of a distinct language is not always a
in (west) Punjab,spoke the same language, moreequitabletreatmentof differentgroups. precondition. In applying the concept of
assimilated to the indigenous population, The altemative concept suggested here is ethnic group to the conditions of Pakistan,
andshunnedthe Mohajiridentity.However, ethnic group. language would be the central defining
the Urdu-speakingrefugees from different The International Encyclopaedia of the featureof anethnicgroup.Since all linguistic
partsof India, who settled mostly in Sindh, Social Sciences defines an ethnic group as groups have more or less distinct cultures,
havecontinuedto maintainthe Mohajirlabel a "distinctcategory of the population in a in addition to many overarching cultural
for their group identification. larger society whose culture is usually characteristicsthat they share in common,
Even with this linguistic homogeneity, different from its own. The members of thecriterionof culturewouldalsobe satisfied.
the Urdu-speakingpeople do not satisfy the such a group are, or feel themselves, or are So far as the subjective dimension is
definition of a nationality.While they con- thought to be, bound together by common concerned, all the majorgroups are already
stitute a communityof language and share ties of race or nationality or culture".The characterisedby the possession of ethnic
a commonnon-materialcultureandpsycho- encyclopaedia definition does not include self-consciousness, and would qualify as
logical make-up, they are not a stable territoryas a criterion,andmentionsculture ethnic communities. Others possessing the
community,historicallyevolved in the land generally without emphasising a special objective attributesbut not subjective self-
in which they now live. They do not form position of language.EncyclopaediaBritan- consciousness would be accepted sooner or
a community of territory, for their large nica defines an ethnic group as follows: laterby the largersociety if they asserttheir
concentrationsin the urbancentresof Sindh "a social grouporcategoryof the population identity and demand status as a distinct
are not only established in the territoryofthat, in a larger society, is set apart and ethnic community.
bound together by common ties of race,
thehistoricalnationalityof the land(Sindhi), With ethnic group or ethnic community
but they vie for space with other migrant language, nationality, or culture". As a defined broadlyas above - not requiringthe
groups,principallyPunjabisand Pushtoons. general case, at the core of ethnic identifi- conditionsof an historically-evolved,stable
Nearlyone-thirdof theUrdu-speakingpeople cation are the "primordialaffinities and community of territory,there should be no
aresettledin Punjabwherethey arescattered attachments,"derived from place of birth, problem in categorising the Urdu-speaking
far and wide. What these contraindicators kinship relationships, religion, language, people of Pakistanas an ethnic community,
of nationalityfeaturesamongUrdu-speaking and social practices that come "natural"to on par with Punjabis, Sindhis, Pushtoons,
peoplesuggestis not thatthe Urdu-speaking an individual to attach himself to other Balochs, Siraikis and others. However, the
people should have an unequal or even individuals from the same background leadersof the MQM,who demandthe recog-
different status than other ethnic [Geertz 1967]. Students of ethnic identity nition of Mohajirsas a separatenationality
communities, but that the nationality formationandchange have notedthatgroup (the25-point'CharterofResolutions'(1988)
frameworkis not adequateto deal with the identities change, new cultural or ethnic included as the first demand:"Mohajirsbe
issues of an ethnolinguistic community identitiesarecreated,andold ones disappear constitutionallydeclareda separatenationa-
which is as largeas 7 percentof thecountry's[Brass 1991; Horowitz 1975]. lity in Pakistan". Reprinted in The News
population (more than twice as many as Brass (1991) defines an ethnic group on (Karachi) October 14, 1994) insist on a
Balochs)andone-fifthof Sindh'spopulation. the basis of both objective attributesand broaderdefinition of Mohajirthat includes
Finally, the processes of economic deve- subjective self-definition, and traces the not only the Urdu-speakingpeople, but also
lopment, economic integration, inter- stages in the ethnic community formation. all other non-Punjabigroups whose mem-
provincemigration,internationalmigration, Brass'definitionof anethniccategorybegins bers also migrated from India and settled
urbanisation,political alliances and inte- with the objective cultural markers of in Sindh. Although recognition of Urdu-
gration, and cultural assimilation, have language, religion or race, diet, dress or speaking people as a distinct ethnic com-
brought about changes in Pakistan which customns,which are susceptible to change munity does not pose a theoretical prob-
and variation. When a group uses these
makethelinguistic,cultural,social, political, lematic, extending such categoryto include
and economic problems of ethnic com- culturalsymbols in order to create internal ethnically diverse groups of self-identified
munitiesexceedingly difficult to be addres- cohesion and differentiation from other Mohajirs may still be problematic.
sed in the iron framework of the highly groups, it becomes a subjectively self-
objectified Marxistcategory of nationality. conscious community. Ethnic identity also ETHNIcrrY AND STATE
requires a claim to status and recognition
ETHNIcGROUPs:AN ALThNAnVE either as a superiorgroupor at least a group The state is both a resource in itself and
FRAMEWORK equal to other groups. In the next - but not a distributorof resources. In a multi-ethnic
inevitable- stage of developmentthe elites state, it is of importanceto assess how these
Sociologists understandthat social cate- of the self-conscious community articulate resources and state power itself are shared
gories are not objective social facts but social, economic, and political rightsof the by the different ethnic groups, and whether
theoretical constructs or abstractions of group as a whole, and resort to political state power is used differentially for the

Economic and Political Weekly November 23, 1996 3051

This content downloaded from 203.135.62.20 on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:58:11 AM


All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
differentethnicgroups.The view of the state the rank and file of the armed forces are speaking) and Sindh. Feudal-typerelations
taken in this writing is informed largely by mainly Punjabi and Pushtoon, the former of productionstill persistin partsof NWFP
the work of Hamza Alavi (1966) who generally believed to be nearly 70 per cent and there are many powerful Pushtoon
pioneeredthe analysis of the special role of and the latter25 per cent to 30 per cent. The landlords.However, the more prominentof
military and bureaucracyin post-colonial Urdu-speakingcontinue to be in the higher them also have business. Many of the
societies by reference to Pakistan, and ranksof the military,but they are much less traditional Baloch 'sardars' (tribal/clan
developed it into a theory about the nature than their populationproportion.There are chiefs), by usurping communal lands and
of the state in post-colonial societies [Alavi no senior Sindhi or Baloch officers in the privileges, have tumed themselves into
1982]. armed forces. Similarly, in the senior civil landlords, but most sardars are of modest
The Pakistani state can be seen as a bureaucracy,the Punjabis and Pushtoons means who depend upon government's
neocolonial (peripheral!)state, linked as an have a disproportionatelyhigh represen- largesse for their well-being. The Urdu-
appendageto the global capitalisteconomy tation, the Urdu-speaking, a one-time speaking community, being urban, has no
and politically subservient to the major dominant fraction, have slipped but still landowning class.
capitalist powers (metropolis!). The state, maintain a proportionatelylarge presence, Finally,therelativestrengthof theeducated
while perpetuatingthe existing relations of the Sindhis, despite some recent appoint- middle class, also varies greatly among the
productionand distribution,enjoys relative ments to high positions, still are under- different ethnic groups. The Punjabis,both
autonomy.The militaryandbureaucracynot represented,and the Balochs, also under- becauseof theirpopulationsize andrelatively
onlycommandtheinstrumentsof statepower, represented,aretoo smalla groupto have any extensive highereducation,have the largest
but pursue their own interests almost influence even if given a proportionalshare. educatedmiddle class in absolute numbers.
independentlyof the dominantcapitalistand The ethnic composition of the dominant However, the Urdu-speaking community,
landlordclasses. Because of thespeciallocus classes is also asymmetrical.The capitalist because of its urban background and
and role of the educated middle class in the class of Pakistanconsists mainlyof Punjabis traditionalreliance on education for social
society and vis-a-vis the state, the latter and members of the small business com- mobility, has relativelythe largesteducated
accordsit a privilege,or at least a sensitivity, munities who have migrated from Gujarat middle class. The middle class among
thatis not extended to the workers,peasants and Mumbai and who have now begun to Pushtoons and Sindhis is much less
and other subordinatedclasses. Further,as identify themselves as Mohajir.The Push- developed than among Punjabisand Urdu-
in many LatinAmerican,Asian and African toons arewell representedin all strataof the speaking people, but is expanding rapidly.
countries,thePakistanimilitaryis morethan capitalist class, having established their The Baloch middleclass is still rudimentary,
an equal of the civil bureaucracyand has businesses in all four provinces. Tradi- but gaining influence within its own ethnic
acquiredthe role of the ultimate arbiterof tionally, there have been only a few big group.
political power. Since the bourgeoisie and Urdu-speaking capitalists, but an Urdu- Several demographic, economic, social,
the landlord class are social classes and speaking bourgeoisie is well-entrenched, political, and culturaltrendsin Pakistanare
militaryandbureaucracyarewielders of the owning mediumandsmallbusinesses.There affecting: (a) the status of certain ethnic
state apparatus,at one level of analysis it is no Sindhi bourgeoisie to speak of. groups; (b) inter-ethnicgroup relations;(c)
is important to keep the two separate. Similarly,thereis no Baloch capitalistclass. the relationship between state and ethnic
However, while analysing the class and The landlordclass, which continuesto be groups;and (d) policy options pertainingto
powerasymmetriesin a multi-ethnicsociety, of analyticaland political interest, also has ethnic questions.
it becomes useful to treat both these types an uneven presence among differentethnic Large-scale inter-province migration,
as elements of a common aggregation. groups.The landlordswiththe largestestates mainly from Punjab and NWFP, to Sindh,
Therefore, we shall refer to the landlord and greatest political influence are to be continued existence of more than a million
class, the capitalist class, military, and found in lower Punjab (mainly Siraiki- Afghanrefugees,andthepresenceofmillions
bureaucracyas variouselementsof the ruling
class.
The differentethnicgroupsin Pakistando
not have an identicalclass composition.Nor
do they have an equal, or even proportional,
representation in the higher echelons of
military and bureaucracy. Therefore, the
various elements of Pakistan's ruling class Reddy R :
have a disproportionaterepresentationof Urban Water Crisis: Rationale for Pricing Rs. 270
the various ethnic groups in society. This
situation represents a case, not of cross- Gupta NL (Ed.):
cuttingcleavages,butof overlappingof class Integrated Water Use Management Rs. 475
and ethnicity to a large extent. Rathore MS:
Demographically,the Punjabiscomprise Urban Water Management Rs. 475
the largest single ethnic group (48.2 per
cent) in Pakistan'spopulation,followed by Gupta NL :
Pushtoons(13.1 percent), Sindhis (1 1.8 per Urban Water Supply Rs. 450
cent), Siraikis(9.8 percent), Urdu-speaking
(7.6 percent), Baloch-Brauhis(4.2 percent)
and Hindko-speaking (2.4 per cent). No | RAWAT PUBLICATIONS
statistics by ethnic group are available for 3-Na-20, Jawahar Nagar, JAIPUR 302004
thecivil serviceandmilitaryranks.However, Phone: 0141-651022 Fax: 0141-651748
it is an accepted fact that the officers and

3052 Economic and Political Weekly November 23, 1996

This content downloaded from 203.135.62.20 on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:58:11 AM


All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
of illegal immigrantshave broughtabout a many persons were reportedto be speaking viewed as deprived in comparison with
significant shift in the ethnic composition Urdu as persons whose mothertongue was other ethnic groups or the multitudes of
of Pakistan, especially, that of Sindh and Urdu. In 1981, 70.3 per cent of the impoverished peasants, workers, and the
Balochistan. Urbanisation, spurred by 1,47,45,234 literate persons were literate declasse (underclass!)elements. The Urdu-
internal and internationalmigration, often only in Urdu. However, the impact of this speaking lower middle class, having
containsethnicaspects.In Sindh,which was assimilationis notuniformon differentethnic struggledhardto get highereducation,found
already 43 per cent urban in 1981, urban groups and in different regions. the avenues for jobs and advancement
growth due to net migration, especially in Ethnicboundariesandethnic identitiesin blocked.Itfollowedthemodelof thedeprived
Karachi,has largely been due to the 'non- Pakistanare too fluid to be addressedby a or dominated groups (Bengali, Sindhi) to
indigenous' groups. This trendexacerbates framework requiring a highly objectified blame ethnic discrimination for its plight
the already existing urban-rural divide definition. If the purpose of public policy rather than following the model of the
between Sindhis and non-Sindhis. and political discourse is to secure justice dominant (Punjabi) group of blaming the
Regional andethnic economic disparities andequalityfor all groupsor even for one's 'system' or class oppression.It manipulated
created by Pakistan's patternof economic own group, then the concepts which imply the culturalsymbols of its groupto mobilise
development have been noted by scholars. stratification by designating some as the rest of the classes of its ethnic group in
Despite these negative trends, the overall nationalitiesand others as merely linguistic a militant nationalist movement.
thrust of economic growth and economic communities would largely be counter- While national integrationis a desirable
activities has continuedto be integrativeof productive. Due to the increasing ethnic goal, the primary emphasis on integration
thecapital,marketsandlabour.Muchdebate heterogeneity of Pakistan's provinces, the in the past has led to oppressiveaboutethnic
and discussion have taken place in south growing economic and political inter- diversity anddisparities. On the otherhand,
Asia about the natureand consequences of dependence, and increasingculturalhomo- if the primaryemphasis is placed on pro-
development in the agrarian economy. genisation, it has become imperative and motingequity andharmonyamongdifferent
However, it is quite clear thatdespite persi- even possibleto seek solutionsto theregional ethnic groups, nationalunity, security, and
stence of archaicinstrumentsof production, and ethnic problems in a multi-ethnic integrity would be the logical outcomes.
old oppressiveclass relations, social power framework. For example, redrawing of Suppressionof ethnic rights in the name of
of the big landlords,and traditionalvalues, provincial boundaries, which might have security, unity, or integrity of the country
theagrariansysteminheritedatindependence been possible in the early years of Pakistan, will have the opposite effect.
and conveniently labelled as 'feudal' no is no longer a viable, or even a problem-
longer exists. Capitalistdevelopment, with solving, option. References
all its distortions and unevenness, has Although the process of urbanisation,
intruded into the agricultural sector of particularlyin Sindh and Balochistan, is Ahmed, Feroz (1972): 'The National Question
Pakistan's economy, not supplanting, but taking place to the demographic and in Sindh', Pakistan Forum, Vol II, No 12
(September 1972), pp 10-17.
graftingitself on the old system. As a result economic detrimentof the local population,
Alavi, Hamza(1966): 'Militaryand Bureaucracy
of the technological changes, increased it wouldbe a fallacy to view the urbanisation in Pakistan',InternationalSocialist Journal,
populationdensity in the rural areas, and phenomenon as only an ethnic problem. March-April, 1966.
social changesfacilitatingalternativemeans However, in order to mitigate the divisive - (1982): 'State and Class in Peripheral
of acquiringwealthandpower,thetraditional effects of urbanisation,non-coercive pre- Capitalism', in Hamza Alavi and Teodor
'feudal' class is no longer tied to the land, ventive and remedial actions would be Shanin (eds), Sociology of Developing
andits youngermembersareseeking a share needed. Societies, Macmillan Press, London.
in the professions, capitalist sector of the Undoubtedly, the ethnic asymmetries Brass, Paul R (1991): Ethnicityand Nationalism:
economy, and state power, much the same within Pakistan's 'elite' and the substantial Theoryand Comparison, Sage Publications,
way as other elements of the ruling class. overlappingof class and ethnicity pose the New Delhi, pp 70-75.
In a politicalsystem with numeroussmall greatest challenge to removing ethnic dis- Gankovsky,Y V ( 1964):ThePeoples of Pakistan,
and regionally-basedpolitical parties, the paritiesandpromotingharmonyandnational Peoples Publishing House, Lahore,nd, p 16.
Geertz, Clifford (1967): 'The Integrative
electoralprocessandthe quest for powerhas integration.Given the ethnic specificity of
Revolution: PrimordialSentimentsand Civil
requiredthe buildingup of alliances across the armed forces and the spending of the Politics in the New States', in Geertz,Clifford
notonly ideologicallines butacrossregional largest portion of the budget on defence, a (ed), Old Societies and New States: TheQuest
and ethnic lines, both within and among more equitable distribution of resources for Modernityin Asia and Africa, Free Press,
provinces. This political deal-making has among ethnic communities is unthinkable New York, pp 108-10.
engenderedinterestingexamples of ethnic without drastically altering the ethnic Governmentof Pakistan(1983): Main Findings
and regional interdependenceand mutual compositionof the militaryor/andreducing of the 1981 Population Census, Statistical
trust among parties. the military budget. The civil bureaucracy Division, Population Census Organisation,
Although Urdu is the mother tongue of has been more amenable to ethnic diversi- Government of Pakistan, Islamabad.
only 7 per cent of Pakistan's population, fication, and given sufficient political Horowitz, Donald R (1975): 'Ethnic Identity'
historicalcircumstanceshave placedit in the pressure,the bureaucracycan be made to be in Nathan Glazer and Daniel P Moynihan
positionof being officially designatedas the more inclusive. (eds), Ethnicity: Theory and Experience,
HarvardUniversity Press, Cambridge, MA.
national language of Pakistan. Urdu has The chasm between the reality and
Isaacs, Harold R (1975): 'Basic Group Identity:
clearly established itself as Pakistan's perception of the Urdu-speaking people The Idols of the Tribe' in NathanGlazer and
principallanguageof education,mass com- concerning their deprivationunderlinesthe Daniel P Moynihan (eds), Ethnicity:Theory
munication, politics, business, and inter- inadequacyof the paradigmswhich look at and Experience, Harvard University Press,
province co-ordination. An increasing the 'class as a whole' or the 'ethnic group Cambridge (MA), p 29.
numberof Pakistaniswhose mothertongue as a whole'. Neither the Urdu-speaking Zaidi, S Akbar(ed) (1992): Regional Imbalances
is not Urdu are learning to speak and people, 'as a whole', nor the middle class and theNational Questin Pakistan,Vanguard,
understandit. In the 1961 Census, twice as - even the lower middle class - can be Lahore.

Economic and Political Weekly November 23, 1996 3053

This content downloaded from 203.135.62.20 on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:58:11 AM


All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

You might also like