/2009/11/07/jsqm-freedom-march-rally/#comment-9121

and i recommend EVERYONE to read the following article;

Pakistan, Sindh, Sindhis and New Great Game

but don’t blame the dance-floor…blame the dancers

no province has been blessed with good leaders and no constitutional change can change that…

and if that is not changed the state of all the provinces shall remain the same…

so all the recomendations except the linguistic ones are USELESS

“In terms of natural and economic resources, federating units are rich and self sufficient, particularly the Sindh being the richest province of Pakistan, but unfortunately the people of people of smaller federating units, particularly Sindh remain amongst the poorest.”
“Sindh contributes the lion’s share of the national revenue but is always in deficit due to the step-motherly treatment meted out by every federal government and even when the same political party is in power both in the province and at the centre, Sindh has to keep on complaining about its share from the federal funds.”

SINDH IS IN TROUBLE BECAUSE ITS LEADERS GIVE IT THE STEP-MOTHERLY TREATMENT NOT PAKISTAN!!!IT IS POOR BECAUSE OF THEM AND THEM ALONE AND THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT TAKES TO CONCRETE STEPS TO TAP THESE ‘REASOURCES’.

go and ask them why they refused to tap the water potential of the indus delta and solve all the water troubles of lower sindh!

these fancy proposals of yours hold no meaning until proper leadership germinates and after that they would become meaningless as people would not care about autonomy and nationalist parties,which feed on the vulnerability of minds of the desperate poor,would loose support…

the proposals are very impractical and there are several reasons but all i will say is that the 1940 resolution was grafted under the understanding that pakistan would consist of 3 states that would not border each other.as that was not possible in 1946 and pakistan was only gonna get 1 state in the west and a moth eaten bit in the east of india,the movement redrafted its proposals.jinnah was asked what form of government he wanted and he singled out america,australia or canada.and the time to vote for pakistan came in the Sindh assembly AFTER Jinnah had made his intentions clear…these proposals propose not a viable pakistan but a weak and inevitably destroyed pakistan due to a weaker centre than any federation in the world(no taxation power and provinces with armies!!!)…confederations NEVER survive…

the only way to save Pakistan and Sindh is good leadership

not so fast here

the clauses in the 1973 constitution were not implemented due to interferance with the democratic process by zia…do mention that…

and what karachi is is what it has became because of these migrants…to ask them
to start packing and giving them the boot NOW would be a great injustice

and get out of this mindset that sindhi language is threatened by pakistan….agreed that it is not a national language but it is an official one…and its development was greatly accelearted AFTER pakistan cam into being…an example is that Sindhi evolved into a language of major prose apart from only being a mainly poetic one…this is currently the sindhi language golden era…

the senate should not be given the powers suggested as this would place Punjab in an East Pakistan like situation wherein they would be denied one-man one vote and it would undermine democracy as minority parties(for example a party with a majority in the provinces of Balochistan and NWFP,accounting for only 20%-25% of the total population,if Sindh and Punjab have highly politically divided electorates)will control the center…

you boast of all these resources…BUT ALL OF THESE ARE USELESS AS LONG AS YOU KEEP ON ELECTING CORRUPT AND SHORT-SIGHTED POLITICIANS TO THE SINDH ASSEMBLY…i shall present an example in my next post…

as for Karchi,it is nothing without ALL of Pakistan and the trade and business that keeps the city alive and useful is mainly due to the northern provinces so Sindh’s claim an all the fruit it bears is illogical…

if Sindh’s leaders had managed her better,and she would have reached her true potential,then Sindhi nationalism and separatism would not have existed.

a better solution would be to adopt an american type constitution with a parliamentary centre…

I congratulate the drafters of this resolution for capturing the essence of the founding principle of Pakistan. I hope those privileged to have the decision-making power would take this resolution seriously.

The following are my suggestions for minor corrections and enhancements:

1. 5th Paragraph from top – there is no word “cofederal”, suggest changing it to “confederation” .
2. I personally think that the paragraphs reproduced although are factual have no relevance to the essence of the resolution. I propose that these be removed from the draft:

In terms of natural and economic resources, federating units are rich and self sufficient, particularly the Sindh being the richest province of Pakistan, but unfortunately the people of people of smaller federating units, particularly Sindh remain amongst the poorest.

Sindh is home to two major sea ports and the largest international air port and the trade worth billions of US. Dollars is done in and through the province. Majority head offices of the banks, financial institutions and multinational companies are based in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, making it the commercial and financial nerve centre of the country.

Whereas Sindh is the largest producer of oil and natural gas. Sindh accounts for 99% of the coal reserves of the country which are located at Larkha, Sonda, Thar, Badin and Metting-Jhampir, with Thar coal field being largest in the world.

Sindh contributes the lion’s share of the national revenue but is always in deficit due to the step-motherly treatment meted out by every federal government and even when the same political party is in power both in the province and at the centre, Sindh has to keep on complaining about its share from the federal funds.

3. In my view, the 13th point “13.That the thousands of acres of land given in prize to civil and military bureaucracy shall be taken back distributed among landlesspeasants. ” is unnecessary as the only purpose it serves is to harden the attitudes of those who benefitted from this unfair land distribution. There are many other equally damaging unfair actions by Pakistani governments that have harmed people of Sindh and other provinces. The impact of including only one such demand only dilutes the essence of the resolution.
4. The following text of the resolutions passed at the 25th annual convention of Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) is reproduced below for consideration of the resolution drafters:

I. Reaffirming the principles of 1940 Resolution
WHERE AS, Pakistan was created on the basis of 1940 Resolution guaranteeing sovereignty and autonomy, this commitment remains unfulfilled after more than sixty-two years of Pakistan’s existence.

WHERE AS, according to the 1973 constitution the concurrent list of subjects currently under the jurisdiction of Federal government would be abolished by 1983, the said provision still remains in the constitution thirty-three years after the inception of the constitution.

THEREFORE, this gathering appeals to all people of Pakistan including political parties and other components of he Pakistani society to work together to implement the following constitution changes:

(a) Enhance the 1973 constitution to provide “autonomy” and “sovereignty” in accordance with the 1940 resolution. The role of the federal government should be limited only to the subjects of Defense, Telecommunications, Currency, Foreign Affairs, and facilitating interaction among provinces.

(b) Strengthen constitutional provisions giving provinces the ownership of the oil, gas, mineral, and other natural resources located in their provinces.

(c) The senate should be composed of 25 members from each of the four provinces. Its powers are extended to initiate money bills and to approve key Federal appointments, including high court judges, Federal Public Service Commission members and the chiefs of the armed forces.

(d) The power to appoint municipal and district officials should be returned to the provinces.

(e) The powers of provincial governors appointed by the central government should be strictly limited so that they are not able to undermine the powers of the provinces.

II. Recognize and promote National identities and ensure their majority in their provinces

WHERE AS, Sindh agreed to join the union of Pakistan with the understanding that it will continue to promote and enrich its native language and culture, however, the succeeding central and provincial governments have undermined Sindh language and Sindhi culture.

THEREFORE, this gathering demands that Balochi, Pashto, Punjabi, and Sindhi be designated as the national languages of Pakistan. We also demand from the Sindh government to vigorously enforce the 1972 language law in the province and to enact laws that promote further use of Sindhi language in public and private sectors. We further demand that the federal and provincial governments take steps to discourage any mass migrations to Sindh from other provinces or foreign countries that threaten the majority of Sindhis in Sindh. Instead, the government should take steps to create temporary facilities near the affected areas so that any displaced persons can easily return to their homes when the peace and order is restored in those areas. We ask that steps be taken to encourage those have already migrated to Sindh to return to their home countries and home provinces.

Once again, many thanks to the organizers and workers of the “Save Sindh Movement”. Indeed the proposed resolution will sve Pakistan and I second the essence of the resolution.
Sincerely,

Khalid Hashmani
McLean, Virginia, USA
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[Courtesy: Khalid Hashmani and Sanalist@yahoogroups.com]