South Punjab has been identified for last few decades as a region with high sense of deprivation. Intellectuals and academics have been pointing out its under development while policy-makers have recognized that the area has lagged behind Central Punjab in terms of industry and infrastructure uplift. Poverty, hunger and illiteracy have marked people's existence. The vows of the feudal dominated society have been compounded due to the phenomenal growth of religious militancy — a consequence of the highly centralized system of government.
Southern Punjab makes the heart of the Indus Valley. Being the junction point of the five mighty rivers of Pakistan, the area has been suitable for the agriculture. Without any doubt, the region has stayed prosperous through ages and has attracted invaders from regions as far as Europe and as closer as Central Asia and Middle East. The persistence of foreign rule has patronized inequality and promoted injustice in the society.
A recently identified archeological site in Cholistan, Ganveri Wala, contains the secrets of four civilizations. Even in recent times, the region has undergone the process of colonization, beginning with the invasions of Abbasids (from Sind) and ending up with the massive allotment of lands to the peasantry of the Central Punjab.
It is not surprising that religions promoting love and peace for humanity have flourished in area. Once it was Buddhism, recently it is Sufi's Islam that has guided people's life. Multan boasts of having a large number of shrines of Muslim saints. It is the city of sawa lakh pirs (1,25000 spiritual leaders). Uch is the only city in the region that has had a parallel existence with Multan. The two cities are regarded the oldest living entities in the world.
The legend passivity of the people and their hatred to violence has another reason than the particular religious beliefs. The atrocities of the invaders against the local populace are evident from the ruins of cities scattered through out the belt. Multan and Uch are the living examples that were burnt and raised to the ground many times.
"You have given birth to one Alexander and are crying for him, every mother here gives birth to an Alexander," the Greek invader wrote aback to his mother while at Uch. The region has rarely been able to stay independent. Indian and Iranian dynasties have competed for influence over Multan after over throw of Greek rule.
Qaramtas got a foothold in Multan due to the Iranian influence in the region. Why they were accepted in the region was their religious tolerance as well as their mourning over the tragedy of Karbala invoked sympathies among the indigenous people due to their own suffering at the hands of the invaders. Even Hindus have been taking out Ta'azias in Multan in the memory of the martyrs of the prophet's family.
The Shia-Sunni Cold War in the Muslim World has been fateful for Multan in the context that the Afghan kings have invaded the region on the pretext that Qaramtas, a pariah in Middle East, were getting strong in Multan. From Umayyad to Ghaznavis and Durranis, the conquests have not only drained its wealth but also changed the religious beliefs of the people. The region has been mainly under the Afghan influence till the British entered into the scene.
The British entered into the region by defeating the Sikhs who once had spearheaded movement against the Afghan rulers and had proved equally ferocious rulers. Bahawalpur was saved from the hands of Ranjit Singh through the intervention of the British when the state appealed to them to invoke the provision of the Amartasar Treaty that required Sikhs not to cross down the Sutlej River.
However, the end of Sikh rule did not restore Multan's provincial status. Instead, Bahawalpur was annexed into Punjab after the demise of One Unit. The resentment to this end has found expression in the form of the emergence of a dozen Saraiki nationalist parties, originating in the anti-Punjab movement of early 1970's in Bahawalpur.
Ethno-nationalism in the area has witnessed growth as the country underwent the Islamisation process particularly since Zia era. Southern Punjab has proved as a base camp for recruiting and training of jihadis to liberate Afghanistan from Soviet rule. The names of religious outfits like Rasheed Ghazi and Allama Masood Azhar are identified with none but Southern Punjab.
There are 971, 397 students and 363 such schools in what used to be the Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan divisions. In Multan, 140 seminaries belong to Deobandis, 175 to Brelvis, 30 to Ahl-e-Hadith and 13 to Shias with 6,076, 12,878, 3,880 and 726 students, respectively. In Dera Ghazi Khan division, 146 religious schools are being run by Deobandis, 191 by Brelvis, 27 by Ahl-e-Hadith and 33 by Shias. The number of students studying here are estimated 10,897, 13,565, 4,109 and 940, respectively. The Bahawalpur division has 368 seminaries of Deobandis, 540 of Brelvis, 39 of Ahl-e-Hadith and 21 of Shias with 38,404, 35,238, 5,549 and 841 students, respectively.
Needless to say, the phenomenal growth of religious seminaries is neither an ordinary affair nor it is without repercussion where the power structure is dominated by feudals, traditionally having nexus with the religion. Jihadi organization has penetrated the area from every side given the central position of the region in geographical terms. Come with them has introduced itself the phenomenon of arms trade and drug trafficking. The whole business goes unrestricted while the militant organization are helping to sustain social equalities and acting as balancers in the power structure of the feudal dominated society, clearly divided on sectarian lines.
Though feudal candidates in Southern Punjab are favorite for all the political parties contesting elections in the region, the difference is that these are taking place while religious militancy is top issue of Pakistani politics. The phenomenon has become all the important when the society is right passing through communication revolution. Media is increasingly focusing on the civic and social problems of the people. The tolerant face of the region is getting prominent and its importance is being duly recognized by the policy-makers to get a proper place for the country in the comity of nations. Too, when the country is searching for its identity through looking at history beyond the introduction of Islam in the sub-continent, Southern Punjab has to play a crucial role in constructing such an identity given the remains of past civilizations abundantly found in the area.
It is worth mentioning here that holy books of Hindu religion were written nowhere but in Hakra Valley, Buddhism was once a dominant faith here while the area has been home to Muslim Sufis and their message of love and peace is well preserved through their poetry in a language now recognized as Saraiki.
The region has bright prospects as policy-makers move to make the polity more governable. The policy of decentralization and regional trade rightfully means promising future for the region. Whether it is matter of opening ancient trade route connecting Asia with Europe through Bhitanda connecting Bahawalpur with Delhi through rails or importing energy from abroad to the benefit of the South Asian region, all has to benefit Southern Punjab, consequently the whole country.
