Wednesday 12 April 2017

How Urdu Speaking Muhajirs Lost Domination in Government of Pakistan?

According to the 1998 census, the population of Urdu speaking Muhajirs in Pakistan was 9,939,656, which was the 7.57% of total population of Pakistan.

1 Sindh 6,407,596 (21.05% of Sind population)

2 Punjab 3,320,320 (4.7% of Punjab population)

3 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 100,320 (0.95% of KPK population.

4 Islamabad Capital Territory 81,409 (10.11% of Islamabad population)

5 Balochistan 63,032 (0.96% of Baluchistan population)

6 Federally Administered Tribal Areas 5,717 (0.18% of FATA population)


During 1947 to 1958 Urdu speaking Muhajirs held much more jobs in the Government of Pakistan than their ratio of only 3.3 percent of the country's population.



In 1951, of the 95 senior civil services jobs, 33 were held by the Urdu speaking people and 40 by the Punjabis.



Urdu speaking Muhajirs dominated the bureaucracy of the early Pakistani state. Gradually, Sindhis and Pashtuns, as well as other ethnic groups, have started to take their fair share of the pool. However, the early years were dominated by the Urdu speaking Muhajirs, both in politics and in jobs in the Government of Pakistan.



On 27 October 1958, General Ayub Khan imposed Martial law in Pakistan. The percentage of the Urdu speaking people declined in the civil service as the percentage of Pashtuns increased.



In the Pakistani presidential election, 1965, the Muslim League split into two factions. The Muslim League (Fatima Jinnah) supported Fatima Jinnah, the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. While the Convention Muslim League supported General Ayub Khan. The Urdu speaking people had supported the Muslim League since before the independence of Pakistan in 1947 and now supported the Muslim League (Fatima Jinnah).



The Pakistani general election, 1970 on 7 December 1970, Awami League won the elections. The Urdu speaking people voted for the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan.



The nationalization of Pakistan's educational institutions, financial institutions and industry in 1972 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan Peoples Party impacted the Muhajirs hardest as their educational institutions, commerce and industries were nationalized.



Then the quota system was introduced that limited their access to education and employment.



The 1972 language riots were caused by the passage of "Teaching, Promotion and use of Sindhi Language" bill on 7 July 1972 by the Sindh Assembly declaring Sindhi to be the only official language of Sindh. Due to the clashes, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto compromised and announced that Urdu and Sindhi will both be official languages of Sindh. The making of Sindhi as an equal language to Urdu for official purposes benefited the Sindhi people to receive the share in government services and it decreased the ratio of the Urdu speaking people in government services, as they did not speak the Sindhi language.



In the Pakistani general election, 1977, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan joined in a coalition named Pakistan National Alliance. The Urdu speaking people voted mostly for the Pakistan National Alliance. The Electoral fraud by Pakistan People’s Party caused protests around the country. On July 5, 1977, Chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq imposed Martial Law.

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