ADVISER to the Sindh chief minister on information Maula Bux Chandio stated that the Urdu-speaking community should declare itself Sindhi just before the 2017 census. I fail to understand as to how our ministers and officials can be so ignorant of the consequence of such statements.
Firstly, Pakistan was never founded on the basis of a single ethnicity. It is, on all accounts,afederation ofprovinces, and thus a federation of ethnicities. Pakistan is a multi-cultural country and in any multi-cultural country,no one should be asked to surrender his own ethnic identity.
Our statesmen must understand that Pakistanis have different ethnic identities but only one national identity, which is Pakistan. There is no Punjabi Pakistan or Sindhi Pakistan. It is such statements that erode national unity. If a person feels threatened to compromise his ethnicity, the resulting resentment can be exploited by anti-Pakistani elements.
A number of European politicians have claimed that multi-culturalism has failed in terms of national integration and progress. I pray that the Pakistani model proves them wrong. I for one would loathe to even consider that a federation of different ethnicities can never prosper together as country, and that Pakistan as a nation is built on shaky foundations which cannot withstand the ravages of time.
