Day 14: Rough road to the Saraiki sooba

Location: Jalalpur Pirwala, Uch Sharif, Liaqatpur, Jaittha Bhutta, Khanpur, Rahimyar Khan

(Click on image to enlarge)

The road from Jalalpur to Uch Sharif is divided between two extremes; the first half is extremely good and the under construction second half is very bad. I was told about it but was tempted to take it as it passed through the interior. But it was worse than my expectations.

I stopped to ask many donkey cart drivers but none were worried about the pathetic condition of the road. They were overjoyed by the newly built part and in fact, tried to comfort me by telling that this part will be constructed soon too. They were very happy about this 'wonderful gift' from the PPP government and optimistic that when completed this will 'change the fate of the area'. As I had driven over both parts, I could understand why the locals were so jubilant and thankful.

Roads matter. They ease out daily errands that helps people save time and energy, bringing in economic efficiency. They also open up new vistas, opportunities and joys. Motorcycles, which are affordable for a great many people, become viable and that alone gives the men and their families great freedom of movement.

I have learned that the PPP government has invested in a lot of such development projects in this area and that these will be its candidates' main strength in the coming contest. But the PPP has also given the Saraiki province issue a big boost in the last part of its tenure. Will this also help it win some votes here? Or in other words, is there a Saraiki card that the PPP is often accused of using to cut down the Nawaz League's domination over the Punjab.

Like that road the issue is divided into two extremes. The demand for a separate province has wide spread appeal here. I am not sure about the illiterate and the poor but you won't find even a semi literate person who will not be vociferous about the injustices of the Takht Lahore committed against the wasaib and tell you that a separate province is the panacea. The narrative constructed by the Saraiki nationalist intellectuals prevails. There is no difference between even the political right and the left on this issue; everyone wants a separate province.

But what makes the matter perplexing is that this universal wish does not convert into the most basic of an individual's political decisions – the vote. Saraiki leaders who have contested elections previously have not performed better than the mohallah level independent candidates. If you put a very specific question to common people about whether a candidate's stance on the issue of a separate province matters for them. The answer is invariably in negative. I fail to understand this dichotomy in political behaviour – the issue matters a lot and then, it doesn't at all.

I can't have a conclusive opinion about it but a mention of a few other attributes of this discussion, that I encountered during my meetings here, might help develop a better a understanding of the matter.

If you ask the most vocal of the Sooba supporters about its concrete and immediate benefits, 'more jobs for us' is their first and foremost response. Easy access (read travelling ease) to provincial head offices of various departments is the second that everyone identifies quite easily. But if you are still inquisitive about more, they find it hard to come up with another clear benefit and the discussion is likely to slide into the description of another episode of atrocities committed by the Takht Lahore. I think that the Saraiki identity narrative, in its prevalent and popular form, has limited practical utility and the electoral politics is all about interests and benefits.

The second important aspect that I noted is that there are a large number of non-Saraiki speakers in all the districts of the Saraiki belt. Their economic status is better than that of Saraikis and in the white collar services sector they are generally in majority. All of them are supporters of a separate province. This community will in fact benefit the most from the new province and yet they do not feel the need to own the Saraiki identity narrative. Their position reduces the whole issue to an administrative matter, something comparable, in nature, to the Abdul Hakeem area demanding the status of a tehsil or Chiniot becoming a district.

The previous PPP government has provided fillip to the Saraiki province movement but I am shaky about whether it can win the party the south or even play an important role in its electoral performance here. It might well have become a 'card' in the hands of PPP but it is not an ace.

The village Jaittha Bhutta is just before Khanpur and it is home to a very large sugar mill, that is purportedly owned by a central Punjab industrialist. The industry should by definition have a positive impact on the economy of this area but it discriminates against the locals. This might help explain the genesis of regional grudges. I talked to a retired worker of the factory, standing in front the factory's back wall.