Living on the Margins. Minorities in South Asia - EURAC

leave Karachi. Outward migration resulted in a 7.73 % increase in the number of Sindhi
speaking population in the province.
Table 7 - Percentage of population by mother tongue in Sindh
1941 1951 1981 1998
Sindhi 82% 73.8% 52% 59.73%
Urdu -- 9.7% 22.64% 21.05%
Others (Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi and
others)
18% 16.5% 24.96% 19.3%
In Pakistan policies of positive discrimination in favor of underdeveloped communities
and regions have been in place with regard to education, health facilities and
representation in public services. In the 1980’s Urdu speaking Mohajir demand for
elimination of the quota system peaked in urban Sindh. In contrast, the Sindhi speaking
population demanded quotas not only on the basis of their population in Pakistan but on
the ratio of Sindhi speaking population in the province. In Sindh, Mohajir were only 3%
of the population and held 21% of the jobs in the civil bureaucracy. In the fifteen years of
quota system after 1973, Mohajir representation in senior positions declined from 33.5%
to 18.3%. The emergence of MQM can be partially attributed to the quota system.
Significantly, the policy of recruitment to armed services was not allowed to be affected
by the quota system. The principle of merit rather than quota applied to the armed forces.
As a result, the colonial pattern of domination of Punjab, along with NWFP as a junior
partner, in the army continues unabated 28 . This has produced anti-Punjab feelings among
non-Punjabis all around.
Table 8 - Pakistan: Representation in Autonomous Bodies/ Public Corporations by provinces: 1993
Province percentage Prescribed Quota
Punjab 49.54 50.0
Sindh (Urban) 26.77 7.6
Sindh (Rural) 8.16 11.4
NWFP 10.17 11.5
Baluchistan 2.43 3.5
FATA 1.24 4.0
AJK 1.29 2.0
Source: Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad
The present ethnic composition of Sindh is such that Sindhis have already been reduced
to a minority in many parts of the province. Punjabis constitutes 10.6%, Pashtun 3.6%
and Balochi speaking 6% of the population and are primarily settled in highly developed
urban centers. Quota in jobs are determined by domicile and not by mother tongue hence
Punjabis, Mohajirs, Pashtuns because of their access to better education get preference
when competing for jobs in the public and private sectors. It is noteworthy, that the
majority of the Sindhi speaking population still favors the centrist Pakistan People’s Party
(PPP) rather than the nationalist forces.
The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) had a strong ethnic consciousness till the 70’s
but it too has changed with the progressive integration of the Pashtun population in the
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