The politics of ethnic based voting in Pakistan and the political parties
Submitted June 21, 2020, 8:59 p.m. by LoudAdeptness_2a quick way to understand the ethnic division in Pakistan and its issues is to look at the major political parties
First you have to understand what Pakistan was supposed to be, The Idea of Pakistan was started by a small group of upper class, Urdu speaking Muslims, who envisioned a enlightened Islamic republic where everyone will be equal and people would give up there ethnic identity, language and culture over time, almost immediately when Pakistan was created it was wrapped with ethnic violence, sectarian violence, military takeovers and two attempted ethnic genocides(one done on a state level from the top down and one done by mobs and death squads)
every party in Pakistan is quasi or outright an ethnic based party in all but the name
so while the Pakistan People's party(PPP) officially claims to be a democratic Islamic socialist party, its a party overwhelmingly supported by rural Sindhis who only want to be left alone, free from the government
similarly the Pakistan Muslim League(PML) claims to be moderate Islamic republican party, its a party supported by Punjabis of all social classes and its representative members are all Punjabis
these 2 are the oldest and largest political parties with in Pakistan but many other smaller ones have made an impact
the MQM is infamous with in Pakistan, the Muhajirs are a unique people group with in Pakistan, Muhajir is an Arabic term which can mean immigrant or refuge, it was never supposed to be a ethnic designation but it became one, Muhajirs were Muslims who fled primarily from the regions of Utter-Padesh, Bihar and other central Indian Muslim provinces to start a new life in Pakistan and at the start they had it pretty good
they quickly took a good chunk of the new government and factory jobs, they were more educated then the majority of the population of Pakistan and they could speak Urdu( which was not native to Pakistan, barely anyone could speak it but was chosen as the national language)
what happened next was that resentment against them grew, everyone blamed the foreign muhajirs for there problems, didn't help that muhajirs stood out in Pakistan with there slightly darker skin tones and so hate attacks them against them crew, lynchings, targeted rape and mob attacks on muhajir communities
this turmoil and abuse led to the creation of the MQM the Muhajir Qaumi Movement, a Muhajir nationalist group that served as a defense squad for Muhajir communities, they were violent, had a number of torture cells with in Karachi and often would dish out the same abuse they suffered, the ANP (A pashtun nationalist party) and the PPP worked together to eliminate them, this led to civil war with in the city of Karachi, where ethnic paramilitary death squads were killing each other and civilians
eventually the Army had to be called in and thankfully things came to a rest
even now these ethnic parties exist and people vote based primarily on the race of the representative they're voting for
Ty for taking the time to type and share this.i honestly know almost nothing about Pakistan beyond a vague knowledge now Im curious. Did the upheaval of people moving because India and Pakistan were divided prevent programs that would have helped to minimize ethic conflicts or was it always a pipe dream with little hopes of working?
the whole idea of Pakistan is always stupid, the leaders to this day need translators for the rural population, and the fact that Urdu isn't the native language for 86% of the population but its still the only legal language for all courts, major tv and newspapers is a great source of resentment
Thanks for sharing and explaining all this.
I always find it interesting how while the west segregates itself across racial lines, racially homogeneous countries in the eastern hemisphere segregate themselves across ethnic lines and when the country is also ethnically homogeneous, they segregate across tribal lines. Same shit, different hemisphere.
the difference is that the majority of those living in the west (barring those of African ancestry) choose to be their or are recent immigrants from African or middle east countries
in Pakistan the people have been for thousands of years, the tribal conflict and ethnic hatred goes back hundred of years
"oh your people raided our area in 17xx with the kaffir sikhs"
"oh well your people invaded our area in 16xx with the kaffir shias"
everyone here has some reason to hate each other, cause we've all conquered each other in a never ending cycle