SMOKERS’ CORNER: A SEPARATE PROVINCE?

The debate over whether Karachi should be separated from the province of Sindh is one of the oldest in Pakistan. On one side, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) argues that Karachi is the heart of Sindh. On the other side, parties representing the Urdu-speaking Mohajir population, such as the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), argue that Karachi is neglected because it does not have a Sindhi majority.

The MQM views the PPP as a ‘Sindhi party’, even though, till 2008, the PPP had an impressive vote bank in the country’s largest province, Punjab, and currently it is the ruling party in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, apart from, of course, Sindh.

Karachi’s Mohajir population, whose political support is distributed primarily among the MQM, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), believes the city can only improve if it becomes its own separate province or falls under federal control.

Most political commentators describe this as a conflict between Sindhis and Mohajirs. But this is a simplistic view. It ignores a crucial factor: millions of non-Mohajir residents living in Karachi are likely to oppose separating the city from Sindh. The city’s non-Mohajir groups make up nearly half of the city’s massive population. Their fears and historical experiences explain why plans to create a separate Karachi province will face stiff resistance. It is not Sindhis alone who are resisting the call for separating Karachi from Sindh.

The demand for a separate Karachi province is often presented as a battle between a Sindhi provincial administration and Mohajirs. But the city’s own millions of Pakhtun, Sindhi, Punjabi and Baloch residents as well as other communities have their own reasons to resist the idea

Indeed, while Mohajirs remain the largest single group in the city, Karachi has become far more ethnically diverse over the decades. According to the 2023 census data, Mohajirs are in majority (50.6 percent), followed by Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Punjabis, Baloch, Seraiki, Hindko, Gujarati and Bengali communities.

Together, non-Mohajir ethnic groups make up half of the city’s population. Because of this, any major decision about Karachi’s administrative future directly affects millions of residents who do not identify as Mohajir. To understand why non-Mohajirs largely fear a separate Karachi, one must look at the history of the city during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Karachi suffered from intense ethnic violence during these decades. The MQM rose to power as the dominant political force representing Mohajirs. At the same time, violent clashes broke out between different ethnic communities. The trouble began in earnest in 1985, which triggered a long-running conflict between Pakhtuns and Mohajirs.

Over the years, politically backed Mohajirs, Pakhtuns, Sindhis and Baloch fought fierce turf wars over transport routes, real estate, local markets, and government jobs. A major flashpoint occurred on May 12, 2007, when political/ethnic violence paralysed the city and left dozens dead in broad daylight.

For nearly three decades, non-Mohajir residents in many neighbourhoods lived under constant tension. They faced political exclusion, strikes and extortion [bhatta]. Due to these experiences, non-Mohajir communities developed a deep distrust of MQM and its Mohajir constituents. The memory of single-party control over the city streets remains fresh.

When political leaders propose carving Karachi out of Sindh, non-Mohajir residents do not hear a plan for better infrastructure. Instead, they view a ploy to restore Mohajir dominance. The main fear is that, if Karachi becomes a separate province, local administrative power will fall entirely into the hands of ‘chauvinist’ Mohajir groups. Non-Mohajir residents worry that, without the oversight of the PPP-led Sindh government, they will once again face political marginalisation and localised harassment. This is a legitimate concern.

The city’s non-Mohajir groups have many other specific reasons as well for opposing a drastic change. Pakhtuns run transport businesses, small shops and construction services across the city. They fear that a Mohajir-led administration would target their businesses, restrict their trade, and bring back extortion networks. Punjabi residents fear that political dominance by a single group will lead to violence and market closures.

For Sindhis, Karachi is the historic and economic capital of their province. They view separating Karachi as an effort to divide their historical abode and turn them into strangers in their own capital. The Baloch communities fear losing their lands to urban development projects controlled by a Mohajir-dominated local administration.

Non-Mohajir residents may not be entirely in love with the current PPP-led Sindh government. But when given a choice between a ‘flawed’ PPP provincial government and a local city government run exclusively by political groups that they view as expressions of Mohajir ‘chauvinism’, they consistently choose the provincial government.

This insight was used by the PPP to shape its strategy for the 2022 local bodies elections in the city. It resulted in Mohajir-majority areas largely voting for JI and PTI, and non-Mohajir areas casting their ballots for the PPP. The MQM boycotted the polls and its votes were split between the JI and PTI.

The PPP-led Sindh government acts as a counterweight that prevents any single group from dominating Karachi. Unfortunately, this is not fully understood in ethnically homogeneous provinces such as Punjab. Punjab’s political circles are some of the loudest critics of Karachi’s politics, especially since the city is the capital of the PPP’s stronghold, Sindh. But it is quite ironic that, for example, while flash floods in Karachi are roundly mocked by Punjab’s provincial governments, devastating rains regularly wreck the infrastructure of various cities across Punjab itself.

Even though flash floods have become quite common in major cities around the world due to climate change, in Pakistan the issue of climate change is entirely drowned by belligerent political rhetoric between major parties accusing each other of bad governance.

Another reason that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led governments in Punjab especially often criticise the Sindh administration and Karachi in particular, is a lingering, almost-subconscious recall of the fact that the PPP used to have a huge vote bank in Punjab. It seems the PML-N is still impacted by that memory, despite the fact that only a portion of that vote bank remains.

Karachi is no longer the city it was from the late 1980s till 2008. It has grown into a vast metropolis built by workers, traders and families from every corner of Pakistan. Any serious debate about the future of Karachi must accept this demographic reality. Dividing Sindh is not just a disagreement between political leaders in Islamabad and Karachi. It is a sensitive issue that directly affects millions of non-Mohajir citizens who fear losing their safety and political voice.

Until political leaders can guarantee an inclusive system, in which every ethnic group of the city feels secure and represented, any plan to separate Karachi from Sindh will face strong opposition, not only from Sindhis, but nearly half of Karachi’s residents.

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 6th, 2026