That is an opinion. Pakistan i do not believe is either secular nor is it in any way an Islamic republic. It failed in the vision of its founder @
liontk which was a secular Pakistan because of the mullahs and it failed to become an Islamic republic. I am glad u made it clear that there are 2 views on the given subject @
Armstrong. Seriously my brain would fry trying to teach someone about us.
But about the MQM you did not give the various views when he asked?
Let me go into the background. This may be surprising but I am a self-deprecating Muhajir.
That is I am Muhajir by birth but I have chosen to abandon my ethnic identity which 2 illiterate MQM supporters here are unwilling to read or understand.
There are links to Pashtuns, albeit weak but unconfirmed.
Why would I want to abandon my ethnic identity and my 100-200+ years of Lucknowi (its a town in what is now India-google it, its from where I am originally) heritage? I will explain that in Armstrong's reply but in simple terms it is in sheer frustration of the atrocities Muhajirs militant wing the MQM has committed and how despite sacrificing everything they became bigots. It shows short sightedness on our part because making a long trek with half of you dying across the border shows that you really care about the cause.
The term Muhajir basically wasn't supposed to be an ethnic identity. Let me tell you what it means... it basically means a pilgrim or a traveler... one who moves basically for religious reasons. Now in 47 I admit we were travelers... but once a person has settled is he still supposed to be a Muhajir? Come on its a common sense question. Now let me tell you what happened. There was a mass migration as you know... but there are 4 provinces... Muhajirs settled in mostly the eastern ones (Punjab and to a larger extent Sindh) There was a small trickle that went to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Now the ones that went to Balochistan and KP merged with the ethnic groups present there. The ones in Punjab too did the same to a large extent. The issue was in Karachi. If you look at it at least 60-70% of the population is Muhajir. In other words a massive wave of refugees from India settled there. Now Sindhi's speak sindhi and there are a few cultural differences that ensured Urdu speakers became a separate community. I hold that this was on account of our parents/grandfathers failure to integrate, learn the language and respect the local people.
These people from Karachi are actually the only ones who actually failed to integrate within the various ethnic groups already existing. They are also the more populous of the refugees as most moved to Karachi and Sindh.
Frankly fine... why should there be a problem if Muhajirs became a separate ethnic group? It is no issue as such but the problem is much larger than this. In Pakistan ethnic politics has become a large issue and it is in the interest of a leader who takes part in it to make communities fight... if they do it means that their votebank is increasing. This is how terror-chief Altaf gains votes and this is why target killing is common in Karachi, the city inhabited by guess who-us loveable fluffy muhajirs who think everyone else should just dance for us and stay under our thumb.
But this has become a cause of major issues. Urdu is the national language of Pakistan... but it was meant to be a neutral language. The language of no single ethnic group. The muhajirs by failing to integrate created a major issue. Our language is basically being imposed on others and @
Monkey D Luffy (a half-hearted separatist) can claim the setup favors the Muhajirs inherently. I hold this is actually true to an extent. According to H&H research Muhajirs have a GDP per capita Rs 13,000 higher than that of the ethnic group that is second, Punjabis and much higher than that on the bottom. A case study would be the directors for radio pakistan. In total muhajirs are 8% of the total Pakistani population (this is inflated since the census favors urdu-speakers because lots of ethnic groups are losing their regional languages in favor of urdu and the census doesn't ask ethnic group but mother tongue.) but 30%+ of the directors for radio pakistan were urdu speakers. Even @
darkinsky @
American Pakistani and @
Karachiite will confirm that this is a reality and they make up the well-educated section of society in a much better position than others.
That puts in the rubbish claims by @
Karachiite of non-existent oppression (how can oppression take place against a community in a better position) but do note this is the national trend. Even if you find a king in Pakistan he will feel he has somehow been oppressed. What I think it is, is ethnic chauvinism because it can only be that either all of us (all ethnic groups) are oppressed or none of us. I have fought Luffy too who is from my adopted ethnic group the Pashtuns... just I did MQM Muhajir bigots but of course i cannot as openly criticize many aspects as of the muhajirs. You see monsieur the thing is you are from Quebec, you criticize people from white horse there is a possibility you may be labelled a bigot but if you criticize people from Quebec even if you decide for some reason to call urself a nova-scotian you will feel you have a bigger right... and only a fool can call you a bigot. You get it?
What armstrong conveniently fails to mention here is that I am by birth a Muhajir. who is by choice a Pashtun and for the past few years has been adopting Pashtun culture and gradually even language. @
Armstrong... let me be clear... no one quits his ethnic group unless he is totally pissed the **** off. As long as the MQM exists they will not just come off as holier than thou but will constantly 24/7 be insulting Punjabis, Pashtuns, Kashmiris and basically everyone else. If you don't believe me check @
darkinsky's last 50 posts, do it. Just check everything he wrote-he is by nature a bigot-Allah has cursed him to be like this for the rest of his life. I mean there is so much self-victimization in these guys and fakhar over their role in partition that they have shut themselves up in a bubble. They refuse to acknowledge that anyone exists outside this bubble. It is all about them and this is what they mean when they say MQM gave us an identity which is basically one of looters, bhatta-khors, target-killers and kidnappers but it is one they aren't ashamed of.
Man armstrong... what the hell you know about us? You know how our family talks? We pass by a Pashtun colony this is what they say, "MQM and police recently removed all the Pathans from here. Why don't they go and stay in Afghanistan. Very good move. Only MQM can protect us."
We talk about Sindhis... this is what they say. "Those people are all traitors anyway." A Sindhi watchman is sitting nearby and they say "These jahil sindhis want to come to karachi."
We guys are racists of the highest order. You want to know MQM I am a journalist... ask me what kind of crimes these guys have committed. They feel Karachi is a baap ki jagir... they are feudals in their own way. They don't respect anyone else. Man you think you know these people? How idiots like Luffy are born. When they see the bias... in our company Muhajirs used to band up against Pathans and bash them calling them things like Afghan ki awlaad, jahil, aur meri jooti pey hai Pakhtoonkhwa (when the name was being changed) You think this is right. @
darkinsky and @
Karachiite are hypocrites but they know even they themselves and their relatives talk in this way at home. I will post Ajmal Pahari's confession right now and they will go on defence mode.
No atonement on our part is perhaps going to wash our sin of voting a bigot in all the time @
Armstrong. I can start naming you case studies of people killed by the MQM. A friend still cries about a father the MQM killed, an uncles restaurant was shut down, every businessman knows how much bhatta these guys collect.
That term Muhajir is a demeaning identity but basically you see these people are too attached to it... @
darkinsky and @
Karachiite will start shooting off at me for criticizing how my family behaved after it moved from Lucknow but they won't look at the possibility that they are just stupid. Forget disengaging them from Muhajir identity I can't even disengage them from MQM.
@
liontk Issue is basically what the respective parties representing these ethnic groups particularly the Muhajirs has done. And @
liontk do note that Armstrong is not from this ethnic group... so basically he is trying to be a very nice person. He has seen some of the stuff MQM supporters have said here and at many other places to other ethnic groups and people but basically he cannot agree with me.
If he says I am right... he being from an ethnic group other than muhajirs may be labelled a bigot. He doesn't want that so he is taking the morally high position and basically defending the right of Muhajirs to exist as a separate group... his way of showing his support for ethnic solidarity which I admire... but I would like it if he let me deal with these bigots who hate everyone else.
Me, the thing is I openly call myself Pashtun (another word for Pathan) in my efforts to integrate and eliminate the ethnic issue but i will always have a right to speak about the atrocities of the MQM, the decline of the muhajirs from those who sacrificed their lives for high ideals to bigots and will forever be saddened by how our extended family let us down by becoming part of a cycle of hate that is drowning my country.
I hope that is an answer. I would like to tell you what Haji Khan did when he met Greg Mortenson... he said please keep quiet when Greg tried to speak and told him to learn things and understand them. You have too little knowledge my canuck friend to make judgements of that type. Westerners sometimes aren't liked because they are judgmental about our society.
i hope this clears up a lot of misconceptions.