The Genesis of the Sindhi–Muhajir Conflict (1947–1984): A Study of Challenges and Responses

This paper attempts to explore the Sindhi-Muhajir Conflict, its genesis and the factors causing it, with reference to Arnold J. Toynbee’s Challenge and Response Theory. The Sindhi-Muhajir conflict primarily dates back to the creation of Pakistan. It came to the surface directly in the 1970s. From 1947 to 1972, Muhajir enjoyed bureaucratic cum political powers in Sindh. During Pakistan’s first twenty-five years, they accounted for only three percent of the population but held twenty-one percent of the jobs and other administrative positions. The relative shift in the power structure in Sindh during the rise of Sindhis on the national level in the 1970s, and their responses to the challenges they had faced since 1947, created challenges for Muhajirs. The challenges for Sindhis took the form of: the introduction of Urdu as the national language, the separation of Karachi from Sindh on administrative grounds, the allotment of Sindh’s land to non-Sindhis, the imposition of One Unit. The Pakistan People’s Party-led Sindh government responded by introducing a rural-urban quota system in Sindh in the 1970s. Besides, the introduction of the Sindhi language bill in 1972 posed challenges for the Muhajirs. Also, the Movement of Sindhu-Daesh from 1972 onwards raised unwelcome questions in the minds of Muhajir leadership. The relative decline in the socio-economic and political fortune of Muhajirs during the 1970s raised unwelcome questions in their minds. Nevertheless, after facing challenges from Sindhis, Muhajir leadership responded by forming the MQM to preserve the earlier status quo and further develop. By applying Toynbee’s framework, the paper argues that the challenges faced by both communities not only intensified their ethnic consciousness but also contributed to the shaping of their respective political identities within Sindh’s political dynamics.