Ethnicity comes from ethnic, which means “of a racial or tribal group.” So ethnicity is racial or tribal. feeling and desire to stay within the race or tribe to which one belongs. It also gives paramount importance to language. We can see for ourselves how much strong ethnic feelings are in almost every corner of Pakistan. The uneducated and uncultured Balochis, Pathans, Sindhis, and Punjabis very often think in terms of their races, castes and tribes or clans (large families or groups of related people).
Islam means submission to God, and all Muslims are expected to obey Him in the same way. The entire Muslim community or “ummah” is expected to be one in its religious life. Therefore, Islam does not favor the division of Muslims into racial groups or sects or social divisions on a linguistic basis. Let us see how ethnicity and sectarianism have harmed us.
Firstly, extreme. ethnic groups limit their attachment or devotion to themselves. They begin thinking, without any real basis, that they are superior to all other groups or communities. In Sindh, the MQM in the cities and the Sindhi nationals in the villages were two prominent ethnic groups in conflict with each other. The Pashtuns in the Frontier province form one strong ethnic group, but fortunately, most of them are not so much in conflict with the other ethnic groups of Pathans. The Saraikis around Multan form another powerful ethnic group. The Pashtun, the Balochi, and the Brohi are the ethnic groups in Balochistan with their own social attitudes and policies.[the_ad id=”17141″]
The greatest ethnic group in terms of money and landed estates is the feudal (jagirdari”) class. Vast and spread all over the country, it has been regularized or institutionalized nationally. It has been ruling the country through Parliament and has been crushing the total population except for the industrial lords, rich merchants, powerful civil servants, and military commanders.
Lastly, a general and basic kind of religious education should be provided through the mass media (the radio, TV, the press and the Internet) and in schools and colleges. This can negative the effects of ethnicity in some ways instead of accentuating (making more forceful) them in any way. For it is a fact that those who do not or cannot attach themselves to religion or a very healthy national outlook can easily embrace some ethnic group or ethnic interests.
