Sindh: The Politics of Authority and Ethnicity

Abstract

Attitudes in Pakistan over the decades towards ethnic diversity, factors contributing towards pluralism and the articulation of Sindhi nationalism constitute the salient features of this chapter. By the use of ideological jargon and schemes such as parity, One-Unit, martial law or direct federal rule, the powerful ruling elite has denied heterogeneous communities any participation in national affairs, or has simply manipulated plurality in order to perpetuate its own power. The tensions between centripetal and centrifugal forces and between the centre and federating units have become more pronounced recently in Sindh, where a deep sense of alienation runs through the ‘peripheries’ against the ‘core’. This reflects the dichotomic and strained relationships among the plural forces within the province, characterised by militancy and violence rather than co-existence. Ethnic forces in the province operating in the large vacuum left by a state-civil-society imbalance tend to become involved in conflict rather than collaborative strategies. Administrative high-handedness and official reluctance to strive for a wider consensus while occasionally exploiting inter-ethnic divisiveness for temporary advantage, have dented efforts towards reconciliation and mutual co-existence. A peripheral role in the national/provincial/local political life, burgeoning economic deprivation, problems associated with difficult demographic realities and a lack of communication with other communities have all been instrumental in generating alienation.