Since the formation Pakistan, institutional structure has been infested with such anomalies and distortions that hardly any decision taken by parasitic rulers of this unfortunate federation had been acclaimed across the country.
Military dictators and their democratic pygmies have given no importance to the rights of provinces. Legitimate claims of provinces to promote their cultural identity, to read, write and speak in their respective languages and to have ownership to their mineral and other economic resources that should never have been a contentious issue according to 1940 resolution, have been misinterpreted and misperceived as treachery by blind loyalists of federation. Nationalistic agenda driven by the establishment and their civilian cronies never did bother to take into account the diverse histories of these provinces and distinct patterns of social organization.
Although, an all encompassing Pakistani nationalism beamed in Urdu dominated public and private print and now electronic media, the idea has never been able to take routes among the people of these provinces because could not relate to it. These strategies over a period of time have backfired and never inspired the confidence of people from Sindh, Balochistan, Pakhtunkhuwa and Siraiki belt because sentiments and diverse needs of these areas have no place in any nation building project so far initiated by Khakis and their patronized politicians.
In the wake of outcry from the people of these regions over the deceptive and deceitful tools of ruling elites on maltreatment in constitutional arrangement, administrative dispensation and trampling upon of provincial jurisdiction, power holders, who have solely maneuvered and manipulated the coercive power of the state, have persecuted the people in the name of establishing writ of the sate and laughably integrating the people under duress without recognizing their rights. All these measures have never suppressed the genuine voice coming from these areas. Despite being tortured, disappeared and imprisoned, they have steadfastly voiced out their grievances on the highhandedness of the centre.
This atmosphere of oppression and coercion has never brought about the results being expected by power wielders and sole saviors of the nation. People feel deserted and disillusioned on the part of ruling class for violation of historical promises of equal and fair treatment in each matter of the state and province. Intermittently, the so-called representatives have failed to respond to rational and genuine aspirations of the people. The ruling elite rather than listening to the voices of the people have repeatedly flexed the muscles and came down hard on the masses.

This approach of nation building or forcefully getting the people integrated on the terms of those powerful has severe fallouts witnessed in all these regions. Today none can persuade the Baloch to come on negotiating table for settlement of their issues. Pronouncements of present government devoid of any substance are being looked at with extreme skepticism by Baloch due to their bad experiences of past. Pukhtun society is completely fractured and shattered. Common Pukhtun is compelled to subscribe to contesting and borrowed ideologies of Islamic extremism, which have no mooring in their ethos. Siraiki is in state of utter hopelessness and despondency. Sindhi feels alienated with each decision coming from federal power corridors. This precarious situation demands a nationwide dialogue that should not be dominated by the outmoded nationalistic agendas of dictators and their protégés. If timely response does not come from power circles, these groups may never stand with the state in fighting any internal or external threat and the sense of alienation may fulfill the hopes of those powers looking for the disintegration.
Apparently, people of Pakistan got liberated from the yoke of colonial forces decades ago, but the common people have never got the feeling that they have been given fair deal in the affairs of state after independence. Local social structures in the form of chiefs, maliks and feudal lords have been strengthened and entrenched by the power holders of newly formed state to hamper any positive change or transformation. This strategy has been followed till today by hidden as well as political forces so that they should not respond to the needs of common people. No investment has been made in improving the life of common people who can eventually rip these structures apart and ultimately capture the reins of power from ruling elites.
On the other hand, patterns of development are colonial in their very nature. Internal colonization is encroaching upon resource rich areas of the provinces for ruling elites and their collaborators. Oil and gas exploited in various parts of Sindh and Balochistan has never raised the developmental indicators of these areas. In Sindh, each common observer can feel that Badin is the most economically deprived area, short of basic infrastructure like schools, health centers and roads even though it contributes 80% of petroleum production extracted in Pakistan.
Misery of the people has taken worst form due to the destruction caused by Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD). Saline water and sea intrusion has whisked away the fertile tracts of land from the people of Badin and they are living in abject poverty. In the oil and gas fields of Badin, not a single person from the area is in managerial position, who can defend the rights of his/her people. The common saying in Badin is that our people are unable to become peon or Pesh Imam of mosques at these places. A big joke with these people is that residential staff of fields gets the food prepared by chefs of five-star hotels through chartered flights. From outside, the compounds of these fields could be rightly termed as fairy castles; the villagers are compelled to use unsafe water that has devastated their health. The case of other areas like Sanghar, Chondko, Qadirpur and Maripur where resources are being exploited through Multi National Companies (MNCs) in collusion with federal authorities is not different. People have no stakes in these installations falling close to their villages and they are forced to live the life in penury.
The situation of Balochistan is also similar where fifth low-level insurgency is going on over distribution of resources. Previous government broke all the promises given to the Baloch leadership in the shape of recommendations of parliamentary committee and persisted with their arm-twisting techniques and selective army operation. Deaths of Baloch leaders, disappearances and displacement of the people from their abodes are adding fuel to the fire. The situation has taken such a worse shape that Balochs are no more talking about autonomy. Even moderate voices are facing danger of being isolated if they seek the resolution through autonomy. Secessionist tendencies are on their high and the idea of self-rule and independent Balochistan is gaining currency among youth. Rhetoric of reconciliation with estranged Balochs is yet to be translated into reality. If present government takes too much time in devising modalities to engage with Balochs and it does not immediately address the day-by-day worsening situation, then we may happen to see another debacle.
Present democratic setup has to sail through troubling waters when inflation is on its peak, Islamic insurgents from FATA have permeated settled areas of the NWFP and provincial mistrust from the centre touches its pinnacle. Then there is great need to be extremely cautious in taking any step involving provincial issues. Recently, federal government has taken a very centralizing and unpopular step of abolishing Sindh Coal Authority and establishing Thar Coal Authority on the pretext of luring investors into unexploited coal of Thar. The reason being conjured up for bringing the coal of Thar under federal control stands quite contradictory to the constitution and claims made by present government to abolish the concurrent list and deliver on provincial autonomy enshrined in the Constitution of 1973. On all fronts, the present government is going one step ahead and two steps back that is deepening the mistrust among people in the dispensation.

This decision has sent a shock wave among the people of Sindh and everyone is stunned over finding no difference in the way of doing things either by dictators or so-called democratic setups. No autonomy could be made concrete and tangible if the right to resources is not recognized. Without financial autonomy, this will remain only rhetoric without substance. Present government should think twice before enforcing this decision of bringing coal into its claws because it can incur the wrath of people of Sindh, who have always reposed confidence in them. Gallop surveys indicate the receding popularity of PPP led government because so far they have failed to deliver to any promise made with the people. If they are going to hound the natural resource of Sindh in this callous manner then they could face a backlash from the area, which is traditionally considered bastion of PPP.
People all over the Pakistan were expecting positive difference to be made by the new government in dealing with sensitive issues. In the beginning, the government gave such gestures that inspired the confidence of the people, but in the last couple of weeks, they are on the decline. In the spirit of constitution and promoting the integration among the estranged people of various provinces, there is a great need that all political forces should put their heads together and devise long terms strategies to give real sense of participation to the alienated people rather than centralizing their resources. The host of problems in which the state finds itself today needs a sagacious approach on the part of present leadership. If they are again following in the footsteps of usurpers then none from these provinces will be convinced that anything good could be expected from Islamabad. For this, the government should initiate the reconciliation with the political forces of all provinces and stop implementing such policies, which add to the sense of alienation and estrangement.