Identity is one thing. Governance is another. Take schools. Whether we are Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun or Baloch, we want good schools for our next generation.
If a city government can run schools in my area better than the provincial government, that would not change my mother tongue – only the government responsible for running the schools changes.
Take Sindh. Eighteen years. One party. More than Rs12 trillion from the federation. The question is no longer whether Sindh had money.
The question is: what did Rs12 trillion buy the citizen? Rs12 trillion is the equivalent of Rs12 lakh for every household in Sindh.
Remember: Identity tells you who you are. Governance tells you who must deliver. Whether I live in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar or Quetta, I want good hospitals for my parents. If someone from within my district can run the hospitals in my area better than the provincial government that would not change my culture – only the government responsible for the hospital changes.
We all want good roads, don’t we? If the power to build roads moves from the provincial secretariat to the mayor, a Punjabi does not stop being Punjabi. A Sindhi does not stop being Sindhi. A Pashtun does not stop being Pashtun. Only the decision-maker changes.
Look closer: My mother tongue does not change because the management of my school changes. My culture does not change because the management of my hospital improves. Language and culture are identity. Schools and hospitals are governance.
The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation has been trying to complete the K-IV pipeline since 2014.
Already spent: Rs95 billion. Twelve years. Four federal governments have come and gone in that time. The Sindh cabinet has turned over completely, twice. The pipeline is still not done. None of that touches Sindhi identity. A Sindhi does not stop being Sindhi because a pipeline is completed twelve years late instead of on time. The real issue is simpler: when the tap runs dry, who answers?
Take building permits. What if building permits are issued by your city instead of the provincial capital? Would your language change? Would your culture change? Only the file travels less.
What if Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are divided for administrative purposes? Will Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto or Balochi disappear? Will their cultures disappear? Sindh remains Sindh. Punjab remains Punjab. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Balochistan remains Balochistan.
Strip away the rhetoric: The real question is not identity. The real question is: who runs the school, who runs the hospital, who fixes the road, who supplies the water – and who do you hold responsible when nothing works?
