Benazir Bhutto’s killing has been endlessly debated in all forums and the consequences of it have been enumerated. One of the end results of the assassination, which is now being bandied about, is the possibility of Sindh breaking away from the rest of the country. There is still a lot of resentment amongst Sindhis against the elite Punjabis, occupying key positions in the country. The Pakistani army top brass is dominated by men from the Punjab province. This emotion was strongly enforced after Benazir was killed.
Sindhis feel that whenever some person from the province gains prominence in the country, he (or she) is bumped off. This view has some substance. After the formation of Pakistan, luminaries from Sindh like Liaqat Ali Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and of course his late daughter have all faced unnatural deaths.
But, some factors discourage separatism. Sindh, as a province has many poor people. The cream of the society is large landholders, who have been so for many years. The have-nots resent this inequality. This problem is internal and not a result of Punjabi repression.
Sindh has more of its own problems. The MQM (Muttahida Quami Movement) is one of them. The movement is fighting for the rights of the Mohajirs (Pakistanis, who emigrated from India during partition). It feels they have not got their due from the original residents of Sindh. Also Sindh’s agriculture largely depends on the Indus waters, which comes from Punjab. It is doubtful that a Sindhi nation could sustain itself without this water.
Presently, the danger of Sindh seceding from Pakistan is not as potent as the threat from suicide bombing by the Islamist radicals. But, the fracture remains and care has to be taken so that the crack does not widen.
