8. Nationalist Political Parties, Sajid Khan
Nationalist Parties in Electoral Politics of Sindh Muhammad Sajid Khan ∗ Abstract Sindhi nationalism emerged with narrative of marginalization, exploitation and threat of domination. The continuous waves of migration since 1947 further sharpened this consciousness, created polarization in Sindh and curtailed the process of assimilation. The ethno-linguistic and cultural identity markers surfaced as an agent in shaping the political landscape. The political actors were forced to use nationalist symbols and idioms to lure masses. The Pakistan Peoples’ Party, despite its predominantly centralist character, responded to popular aspirations of Sindhi nationalism and maintained its dual and sometimes conflicting or divergent image of centralist and regional political force to consolidate its popular support base and effectively applied its Sindh card for mass political mobilization. Despite their radical popular appeal and agenda and presence of prominent figures like G.M. Syed, Ayub Khuro and Rasool Bakhsh Palijo, The Sindhi nationalist political forces failed to translate their electoral support to defeat the MQM in urban Sindh, and its counterparts; the ANP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the nationalist parties of Balochistan. They did not succeed in evolving an umbrella organization and it ∗ Ph.D. Scholar, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and Lecturer in Department of History, Govt. Postgraduate College Asghar Mall, Rawalpindi. 144 Pakistan Journal of History and Culture, Vol. XXXVIII, No.1, 2017 remained personal network of loyalist without elaborate party structure. The parties were unable to perform in electoral sphere. They, however, sometimes opted to abstain from electoral process and at times joined electoral alliances with ideological rival centralist or Punjab dominated political forces to counter the PPP.
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