Sent by Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia, USA
Selig Harrison, a Welknown author and American expet on South Asia in an opinion column published in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune says that Pakistan may not be able to survive for long unless it is restructured. It should be noted that Mr. Harrison is the director of the Asia program at the Center for International Policy and the author of “In Afghanistan’ s Shadow,” a study of Baluch nationalism.
The full text of the article can be accessed at:
Drawn and Quartered- New York Times- by Selig S. Harrision
Putting Pakistan together again- Herald Tribune- by Selig S. Harrison
Some of the interesting extracts from the article are as follows:
“But as matters stand, the Punjabi-dominated regime of Pervez Musharraf is headed for a bloody confrontation with the country’s Pashtun, Baluch and Sindhi minorities that could well lead to the breakup of Pakistan into three sovereign entities. “
“the Pashtuns, concentrated in the northwestern tribal areas, would join with their ethnic brethren across the Afghan border (some 40 million of them combined) to form an independent “Pashtunistan. ”
“The Sindhis in the southeast, numbering 23 million, would unite with the six million Baluch tribesmen in the southwest to establish a federation along the Arabian Sea from India to Iran.”
“In historical context, such a breakup would not be surprising. There had never been a national entity encompassing the areas now constituting Pakistan, an ethnic mélange thrown together hastily by the British for strategic reasons when they partitioned the subcontinent in 1947. “
“The breakup of Pakistan would be a costly and destabilizing development that can still be avoided, but only if the United States and other foreign donors use their enormous aid leverage to convince Islamabad that it should not only put the 1973 Constitution back into effect, but amend it to go beyond the limited degree of autonomy it envisaged. Eventually, the minorities want a central government that would retain control only over defense, foreign affairs, international trade, communications and currency. It would no longer have the power to oust an elected provincial government, and would have to renegotiate royalties on resources with the provinces.”
The debate on the future of Pakistan is becoming quite hot. In my view the option of restoration of the 1973 constitution with amendments that removes power of the Federal government to dismiss elected provincial governments and give substantial royalties on provincial resources makes much sense. I hope that the thinkers and other Sindhi leaders will share their view on the best option for Pakistan to survive.
Sources and Courtesy:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/31/opinion/edharrison.php
I am not an expert on this or any other issues. My views on this and other issues are just my personal views and they could be wrong. 
Mr. Selig Harrison is an eminent American Scholar and a director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy, Washington DC and a highly renowned expert on South Asian politics.
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