The Founder and Leader of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) Mr Altaf Hussain has said that the idea of one nation cannot take root unless all the nationalities, ethnic and cultural entities are treated equally. He said that equal rights should be given to all and none should be treated as “less patriotic”. He was speaking to a delegation of students of various universities of the Punjab who had come to MQM Head Office Nine Zero. The delegation is on an inter-province study tour of different cities of Sindh at the invitation of Provincial Minister for Youth Affairs Mr Faisal Sabzwari.
Mr Altaf Hussain said that countries normally do not consist of a single racial entity rather they are made up several racial, linguistic and cultural entities and together they form a nation. He said that if a country is inhabited by different linguistic and cultural entities and notwithstanding the differences of religion, nationality, caste, colour and language, all the entities are treated as equal, an ethno linguistic cultural pluralism takes hold and the idea of one nation gets promoted.
He said that when all the linguistic and cultural entities in a geographical area not treated as equal and there is discrimination on the basis of provincialism and regionalism, it created ethno-linguistic cultural particularism and hence the idea of sub-nationalities take hold instead of the idea of one nation.
Citing the example of the Great Britain Mr Altaf Hussain said that Britain is inhabited by races of varied origins. He said that England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland comprising the British Isles have their own parliaments and the people living here are of different cultural stock, but despite everything we do not see any hatred and sharp differences among the people that we see in Pakistan. He said that the reason for this is that in Britain everyone is treated equally and there is no discrimination. All the differences are resolved amicably through negotiations.
He regretted that in Pakistan different linguistic entities were discriminated against and those who raised their voice in protest had to face the brute force of repression and violence. He said that it was because of this discrimination that the East Pakistan seceded and now Baluchistan is on the brink of separating from the country.
He said that it is necessary for promoting national solidarity and the idea of one nation that all ethnic and linguistic entities in the country are treated equally and there is no discrimination and preferment in appointments. He asserted that the corrupt political system that empowers only the 2 per cent of the people while the remaining 98 per cent people remain deprived, is at the root of every problem in the country. He said that the MQM wants to bring to end this corrupt political system in the country.
He said that the MQM had a chance to serve the people for five years in the previous government and its elected Nazims changed the face of Karachi. There is no dearth of able and educated youth in Pakistan and MQM wants to bring them to the forefront. He said that the students are the backbone of any country therefore the student community should come forward for weeding out the corrupt political system from the country.
