Brief Report

Discussion Forum on

23^rd March 1940, Pakistan Resolution Day

“OPPRESSED NATIONS OF PAKISTAN:

Self Determination, Autonomy and Sovereignty”

Organized by The World Sindhi Institute (WSI)

March 23, 2007 at National Press Club, Washington, DC 

WASHINGTON , DC: The World Sindhi Institute (WSI) hosted a ‘Discussion Forum’ held in commemoration of 23^rd March 1940 , the Pakistan Resolution Day, at the National Press Club, Washington , DC on Friday, March 23, 2007 . The interesting and vibrant event spanned over two hours from 5:00 to 7:00 pm , during which very open and frank discussion took place among individuals representing various groups and organizations from Pakistan, U.S. and other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, India and Bangladesh. Participants of the forum came from different backgrounds, including journalists from international media, members of non-profit organizations, researchers and scholars from American Universities and Research Institutes, as well as individual activists and persons interested in the theme of the discussion. Participants of Pakistani background represented all nations of the country, including Gilgit-Baltistani, Pashtun, Baloch, Saraiki, Punjabi, Kashmiri and Sindhi. Four highly knowledgeable Speakers of the event were as follows:

Dr. Haider Nizamani from Political Science Department of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver , Canada served as Moderator of the evening and conducted the program with tremendous professional command over the subject.

Each Speaker was given fifteen minutes to express their opinion freely. Time limit was followed with utmost accuracy, for which the Moderator commended the Speakers in the end of the session. A general concern expressed by each speaker was that of a highly centralized governance system prevailing in the country ever since independence of Pakistan, which demonstrates absolute negation of the basic principles of the ‘Lahore Resolution’, as it was initially called; later to be named as ‘Pakistan Resolution’ after creation of Pakistan in 1947. The founder of the country, Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s aspiration, as articulated in the document of the Resolution in clear words, that the newly formed country would be a Federation, with autonomous and sovereign units, has been simply denied. Each speaker gave considerable account of the situation of autonomy/ lack there-of in their own individual area with examples, which gave a clear picture and back ground of the complex issues hence generated in that particular area as well as in the whole country.

Dr. Wahid Baloch informed the forum about historical facts evolving the relation of Balochistan and Pakistan since 1940. Balochistan being a separate secular state called State of Kalat with its own Head of State and Upper & Lower Houses of Parliament did not participate in the decision  of creating a fundamentalist Islamist State , neither did its Parliament agree to be a part of the newly created country later. It was a year later, when the Head of Kalat State had to sign an instrument of accession under duress and without the consensus of his assembly, due to which   a merger was established clearly articulating autonomy of Kalat State in all administrative decisions, particularly regarding its resources. Ever since then, Pakistan government has enforced numerous Military Actions on Baloch people and their leadership and kept plundering the land’s resources till the latest action still going on. Thousands of Baloch have been missing, tortured, executed and families displaced. Due to extreme dictatorial centralization of federal government of Pakistan , Baloch leadership has now resorted to ask for intervention from the International Court of Justice. He urged the international community to take notice of the open violations of human rights practiced in Balochistan not only in the Pakistan occupied part, but also in the Iran occupied Balochistan.

Mr. Mohammad Mumtaz Khan pointed towards the dummy existence of Kashmir Parliament and the supremacy of a Pakistan Army officer as the head of each major institution and decision making forum in the so-called ‘Azad’ (free) Kashmir . He termed the two portions of Kashmir as Pakistan administered Kashmir and India administered Kashmir . He also mentioned the issue of Islamic fundamentalist influence on his land in the hands of Islamist regimes in Pakistan .

Mr. Imtiaz Hussain from Gilgit/Baltistan attributed the issues of his area to the strange situation where the Gilgiti and Baltistani nations are not only denied their basic identity, being grouped as the ‘Northern Areas’, but are also denied the right to vote or to participate in elections. Thus they do not have an Assembly or representative/s in the Pakistan Assembly, nor can they vote for any member of the Pakistan Assembly, because they are not considered as a part of the country, yet they hold Pakistani passports. This confused state of affairs is superadded by absolute authority of controlling all decisions about that land by Pakistan Army personals. He declared this situation being even worse than that of Pakistan occupied Kashmir , where at least a dummy Parliament exists.

Ms. Humaira Rahman began by expressing concern over the judicial crisis that Pakistan is currently facing in the hands of yet another military dictatorship. She narrated the perspective of Sindh by presenting statistics on the economic indicators and contribution of Sindh in the growth and development of Pakistan being quite close to almost half of the rest of the country.  She then mentioned the lack of facilities and opportunities resulting in extreme poverty and backwardness of this potentially rich land and ascribed it to faulty and centralized policies of the federation. She insisted on following the principle of provincial autonomy referring it to be imperative for survival of the country.

Although each perspective was presented different from the other according to individual variations in the regional condition, but the basic fact emphasized by all speakers was that the only way to manage the country’s affairs is through a decentralized and equitable approach, failing which the consequences can be grave. It was also pointed out that precedence of ignoring this fact has already demonstrated unfavorable consequences for Pakistan in the form of separation of Bangladesh and it is high time that the authoritative policies of the center be altered for a better harmonious survival and growth of all.

During Q&A session, more issues of international nature came under discussion that drew attention towards the similarity of the basic problem of centralization in more than one state in that region. The role of international community and their policies for South Asia and Middle East also came under discussion. Impact of religious fundamentalism accentuating the issues of the already oppressed nations was highlighted.

Finally, most participants were in consensus that some pro-active and solid measures need to be taken for addressing the issue of negation of autonomy or ‘Oppression’ of most nations in the hands of few. This has to be undertaken by all oppressed nations joining hands and raising a voice against the violation of their basic human rights from one platform. The idea of a coalition thus emerged, which was agreed to be followed up over the course of time.

Although the subject had many more aspects to be explored and the interest of each participant beyond doubt demanded more thorough discussion, but strict discipline of time compelled the forum to come to an end. In the end, Dr. Haider Nizamani thanked all participants for their extremely useful and thought provoking input and also thanked WSI for taking the initiative of organizing an extremely well thought forum on a very appropriate occasion. Gratitude was also expressed for the media for providing coverage and appreciation extended to the National Press Club for the fabulous arrangement of the meeting.